Customer Reviews

Hamilton Beach 54615 Wavestation Express Dispensing Blender with 48-Ounce Jar, Black

5 star:		(97)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(23)
2 star:		(20)
1 star:		(36)

 

 

I purchased this blender about a year ago from Wal-Mart. I've had a number of blenders over the past 30+ years but always ended up giving them away because I seldom if ever used them -- too much bother -- and have this thing about getting rid of unused stuff but finding yet another excuse why I "need" to buy another blender. I got it strictly for smoothies. My sister convinced me they were good for me, but I wasn't about to pay $3-4 a pop for one smoothie. I was going to do all the research but saw this blender in Wal-Mart and just liked how it looked and really liked the price, around $18 at the time. I thought the spout thingee was neat, but I was really blown away by the 500 watts on this thing. I figured how bad could it be with 500 watts. I'm not a technical person but after comparing the wattage of this one with the others on display, I thought what have I got to lose? If it blew out after recouping the price of 4-5 smoothies, to me it would be a fair tradeoff.

It's plastic, very lightweight and easy to move around. That works for me. Soooo easy to clean and disassemble when doing a thorough clean. Immediately after use I rinse it, fill it less than half full with hot water and a drop of liquid detergent, hold the lid down and give it a couple of whirls on pulse. Take it off and shake it around to get the top clean, then rinse again and make sure I open the spout to let it drain. If you don't clean it right away, you'll have to scrub it clean. You can disengage the spout, replacing it with the screw cap at the bottom of base, if you don't want to use the spout. My smoothies are so thick now I just pour it out.

The first few times I used it, I smelled burning rubber but I do push this thing as far as filling it with ice and whatever else I want and doing it as quickly as I can, using the setting that gives me the quickest results, be that pulse or smoothie or whatever. Again, I like this blender so much I figure I'll replace it with the same if I blow it and it's not under warranty. So far, so good. (It's a 3-year warranty.)

No more burning rubber even though I still fill it with ice and a mixture of everything. I'm reading "Green for Life" so I've added greens, celery, carrots and other vegetables, chia seed gel, flax seed, a little honey, etc., to my juice and fruit mixtures, both frozen banana and other fresh and frozen fruit, all of these things at the same time. DELICIOUS! My husband didn't like the vegetables added at first but now he really looks forward to them, which is just about every day or every other day now. The blender works like a charm. It doesn't pulverize the greens (spinach or romaine lettuce)100%. There's a small amount of greens that doesn't get chopped up - but very minute bits that aren't that noticeable and not worth the price for a higher-priced, "better" blender, as none of them get 5-star reviews anyway and mine works well enough to suit my needs. No problem whatsoever with ice. It has only bogged down on me once, but I just turned it off and nudged it around with wooden spoon and it's been good to go. Now, if I can remember, I put the ice cubes in after the juice, which is first. Sometimes I put them in last.

I'm not that easy to please, but I'm very satisfied with this blender. It's still a pleasure to use. I'm sending one to my son for his bday.

I bought 2 Wavestations this summer for an annual beach blender party I throw. Armed with a portable generator and tiki bar, I literally mixed over 100 batches of frozen drinks in each unit in just one afternoon (I stopped counting at 100). I have bartended professionally and recreationally for over 20 yrs and I have never run across a commercial blender, let alone a household version that can create fast, consistent smooth blends AND serve them to the last drop from a built in pour tap without ever having to remove the top from the base. Yes, the tap actually works, and works great! I'm buying more just in case some corporate idiot decides to drop the line. Don't let the low price scare you, the Wavestation is really one of those rare items today that actually work as advertised. Enjoy, and remember to party in moderation, or at least give your car keys to somebody how can! :)

I bought this for $20 at Wal-Mart, and after using it for a few weeks, I went back and bought an Oster blender for $25 and I am so much happier. With this Hamilton Beach Wave Station, my smoothies had ice chips, which I could ignore, but what really sent me back to the store was that the way the bottom is attached to the blender, you have to take it apart every time you use it because otherwise the smoothie gets down into the threads of the blender at the bottom and then spoils. Disgusting! Just washing out the blender doesn't get the smoothie out of that area.

Bought this at Walmart a few days ago (around October 15 2010). It was under 20 bucks and looked good with the pour spout. Even though made in China just like all your name brand stuff is, Hamilton Beach products have served us well when we have had them.

As soon as I got it home, I decided to read reviews. Many really liked it but there were a lot of negative reviews. I read everything from the pour spout would clog, to the lid leaking, to the blender not working anymore and finally someone saying the spout will not come apart to thoroughly clean.

Unlike me, I told the wife to read the manual before using it as I did. The manual covered all these complaints for us anyway. First off, straight ice will take s a little time but seemed to do the job, obviously the crushed ice cannot come out of the spout. When putting ice in thin liquid the manual says to add after agitation has started. We have had no problem with these instructions. The spout does not clog on us when you use the dispense setting as the manual says. The spout comes totally apart for very thorough cleaning. Also we observed not filling with thin liquid above the prescribed line and the lid has not leaked so far. One other note is that one review said they got no response from Hamilton Beach. I got customer service on the first try to register it.

So while reading the manual has served us well (and we realize that others may have read the manual also and still had problems) I cant say much for durability as we have not had it long. Fibrous items such as orange pulp will have little bits but are way smaller chunks than what our old blender produced.

Will update later if we run into anything. Good product so far.

Update April 15, 2011. Have made smoothies everyday with this and used for other reasons...........no problems. Would buy again and buy for gifts to give as well.

Update July 14, 2011 Still working great. Because we take this totally apart everytime we use it, we seemed to get a situation where the spout interfaces into the port in the blender vessel. I called to look at getting a new spout and because the spout is part of the vessel assembly, we got sent the whole assembly vessel with spout assembly! This also was under warranty so great service and got customer service first try and did not have to wait on hold.

I've only owned two other blenders, which almost always sat in the cabinet unused. This is the first time I use a blender on a regular basis. Now, I only use it to make smoothies or daiquiris, so I can't say how good it would be for other purposes.

This blender takes up very little space, is easy to clean and the spout is great and makes for less mess when pouring. The spout has a couple of downsides, though. It won't produce anything more than the smallest drip if it's used while the blender is off. There is a setting on the knob that's for dispensing your drink while it's at a low setting. Also the spout sticks out a little ways, sometimes making it difficult to put in the freezer or fridge.

But those things are not flaws in design or engineering, just personal things. Overall, I am very happy with this purchase and hope that it lasts me a long time.

I did hours of research, visiting stores, reading discriptions, asking friends, looking online, reading reviews... I finally took the chance on this inexpensive blender from Walmart. With it's 3 year warranty and Walmarts generous return policy, I figue I could buy 4 of these for the same price as one Kitchenaid if I had to, and still be ahead. I have used it almost daily for 2 weeks, now, and am VERY happy with it. I use it for smoothies and pureeing cooked veggies. The machine has NO trouble with frozen berries or small ice cubes. I'm not going to push my luck with nuts or large ice cubes. I would have preferred this product with a glass canister and without the spout. The spout dispenser is just a germ collector in my eyes, so I was happy to find that the unit comes with a cap that I can use instead of the spout. It has been easy to clean and easy to use. Noisy, yes, but I don't mind since I usually don't make smoothies while my family sleeps. I would have liked a simple safety feature; that the switch locks out if the canister is off. I have to be careful to always unplug the unit as it turns on anytime my kids feel like twisting the button. Thanks to all who wrote reviews on this product and thereby helping me decide on my purchase.

I make protein shakes & fruit smoothies a lot. Every blender I have had always left chunks of ice or fruit. This is by far hands down the best for anything ice/frozen fruits etc. Blends everything really smooth. Extremely happy with this product.

I bought this blender after my last one died. I tend to go through blenders a lot. We make smoothies almost daily for my toddlers.

So far this is the only one under $50 (we found it for $20 on sale at Walmart) that I've found to not leave ANY ice chunks. Another good thing is having two very active boys...the harder plastic is great and doesn't break/crack.

I'm not partial to any brand so believe me I've tried them all. This one is by far my favorite because I don't have to worry about my boys choking on ice chunks or it breaking when things are thrown in the sink with this sitting in there.

One con I have is that I don't like the fact that it is powered by a turn dial and that it sits on the side. I would prefer buttons, but hey at this price and with no ice chunks I can deal with it.

I received this blender as a gift and use it all the time to make frozen drinks. It works really well for the most part and the spout is great. However the spout always seems to clog up with ice and you end of having to pour it like a normal blender.

We've used this blender probably a dozen times now, and it's had no issues handling what we've thrown in it. Everything from milk and yogurt, to ice cubes and frozen berries, and it doesn't have a problem chopping up and helping us to make some delicious smoothies.

The only complaint we have is that if there is a little too much thin liquid the cap will leak both at the outer edges and at the top through the ice cube hole. But for the price, a little extra cleanup (we don't have a dishwasher) isn't much to complain about.