Customer Reviews

Oster BVLB07-Z Counterforms 3-Speed 2-in-1 Blender/Food-Processor Combo with 48-Ounce Glass Jar

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

This unit cannot be compared to the "Oster 4119-022 2-Speed 500-Watt Beehive Blender" model which has a weaker 500w motor and different layout.

This unit CAN be compared to the "Oster BRLY07-Z00 600-Watt Fusion Blender" which has the same motor, power, and drive/blade sytem, and buttons, BUT are same but in a different base layout.

This "Counterforms" model has so far received good reviews, but the reliability will most likely be similar to the "Fusion" since it is actually the same motor,drive,and blade system with only a different base design.
Most Users reviewed the "Fusion" good as well.

The "Counterforms" is prob the best Oster model under a $100,
BUT you should not push either above mentioned models hard, because as others stated for the "Fusion":
"The "All Metal Drive" is half rubber and shears off after about 6 months of regular use."
Others state 2years and going strong, so it really depends how you use it.
I determined an average of 25% users had breakdowns, so it is low, but exists.

Nevertheless, I see this model as an excellent buy for the performance/features it has at only $60.85.
Since no blender today under $200 will last you more than 2years, and if this one doesn't last 1+yrs, then you can deal with warranty or just get another $60 new model a year down the road, so it balances out.
If you want a model that will last 3-5+years, now you have to spend $300-500! Think about it, why bother?

Also DO NOT buy ANY model weaker model than a 600W, which is approximately 0.8 HP.
Don't get me started on weaker motors having problems blending ice cubes and frozen fruits.

Also don't be mislead by other brand names having "terms" such as "peak power" !
In reality, the "Actual" Power will be much less than "PEAK" Power!
Realize that most of All units under $100 are going to be rather cheaply made in a place like "China"...
Other brand Claims of 700-800W "Peak power" I have estimated to be just a 450-500watt motor :p

I was debating between this "Counterforms" one and two others:

KitchenAid KSB465WH 4-Speed Countertop Blender
490z "polycorbonate" jar
0.9 Hp motor; 650+ watts, ok-good reviews
$99.99

KitchenAid 5speed =
old (pre may2008) 56oz Jar had leak problems
manufacturer updated "polycorbonate" jar with new non-leak Jar recently last yr
0.9hp, 6amp draw=670W
$88.65

These are Prob "hands down" the best 4 units under $100 so far.
I spent a long time researching/reading a few hundred reviews here on Amazon of 18 other models, under $150range, and of them all, only these 4 are the most likely best choices.

After a week of daily usage:
I did a lot of research and read lots of reviews, finally chose this blender when it was on sale at $50 from Amazon. First impressions, glass pitcher is sturdy but reasonably light, nice size, fits under my counters. I've used it for smoothies with frozen solid fruit and it does blend quite well. The low and medium settings are much quieter than my old Osterizer. But, the high setting is super loud and overpowering, the whole blender shakes across the counter and the lid rattles...I will stick to using low and medium. The pre-programmed cycles are a bit chintzy. It does a cycle on low, then reverses and goes to high power, again way too strong and vibrates all over the place.

My other complaint is that the pitcher doesn't settle well into the base. You have to jimmy it to get it to lock down. The plastic skirt around the blade unit is super cheap plastic and will probably break soon. The manual says this skirt is designed to help stand up the pitcher on the table top, but it doesn't really do anything useful and makes it more difficult to line up the pitcher with the base. I may just toss it, the blender works fine without it. The lid has a very small hole, only about 1 inch by 1/2 inch, so it's very difficult to add liquids or powders during blending. Solid foods have to already be diced up to fit through the hole. And the cap to the hole doesn't fit well, it slides off too easily and has flown off when I used high power. The pour spout on the pitcher is too wide and makes it difficult to pour into a glass accurately.

Overall, it does blend very well and is decently quiet on low and medium. It has some quirks that require getting used to. For $50, a good blender, but for $80 there's probably a better product out there.

I just bought this blender from Costco about 2 weeks ago. Its base is all black though, not stainless steel, and I love it. We had an Oster beehive for about 3 years and then the little metal part on the base that the jar fits over just broke one day. So I started looking at reviews for one that made smoothies really good and I was looking at the Oster Fusion, but then I saw this one at Costco that basically had the same features, at least the reverse blending mode. We have made shakes and smoothies in it with the frozen drink method and it makes them perfect without having to stick a spoon down in and mix it around (we had to do that with the beehive), I will update when I have had it longer, but so far we love it!!

I bought this blender because it received high reviews from Consumer Reports. It is great. Works well, nice looking, and quiet. Easy to clean also.

I bought the one featured at Costko today, at fifty bucks. The model as stamped on the bottom of the base is BVCBO7-B. I made a smoothie with it, looked over the manual. The thing is, you cannot reverse the blade direction at will. The "pre-programmed" buttons (Frozen Drink and Food Chop) have a reverse direction phase in their cycles. The pre-programmed actions are finite and stop after some seconds, Frozen Drink cycle being 30 seconds. You can, of course, continue blending by pressing buttons. The BVCB07-B seems similar (basically identical except for the appearance of the base) to the Fusion and the other "Counterforms" blenders, but less expensive (at least at Costko, and I imagine that the BVCB07-B might be a Costko exclusive). The Fusion and Beehive (which is not a "Counterforms" blender in any sense other than having a 600 watt motor) are currently $60 at Wally.

The Counterforms blenders and the Fusion (all these are the ones featuring "reversible" action), have a 6 bladed cutting unit as opposed to the standard 4 blade unit that comes/came with all the other Oster blenders over the years. If you look over the box carefully you would think that there's a means to reverse direction of the blade assembly, but there's really no means of doing so. The blades go backward for only a split second several times during the pre-programmed Frozen Drink and Food Chop cycles, should you choose them by pressing either of their dedicated buttons. The function of this is clearly to dislodge jammed material. The 6 blade assembly is sharpened only on one side (all 6 blades), so reverse blending wouldn't work (unless they sharpened the blades on both sides).

I bought the all black one. Costko also sells it in silver/black. The base is plastic, not metal. The Beehive appears to have a metal base except for the plastic at the top (which is said to break sometimes). The Costko display, which states the price and a resume of the features presents it as a "Counterforms" blender, however the word "Counterforms" does not appear on the box, the manual or the unit! From what I have seen, I'm inclined to think that it is essentially the same as the Fusion and the other Counterforms. I believe the motor, the electronics, the controls, the container are all the same.

So far I've made 3 smoothies and they came out fine. I don't find it to be terribly loud, either. In fact it seems to be definitely quieter than the other two Oster blenders I've owned, a recent 450 watt 14 speed and a 20+ years ago bought 120 watt 10 speed.

Update after using for 6 weeks:

I'm completely satisfied so far. I'm using it to make smoothies 90+% of the time and it's great for that. I don't have to chop my frozen food pieces the way I would with a typical blender to keep the blender from being stuck. The Frozen Drink 30 second cycle reverses directions several times for the first 10 seconds or so and then goes into a ~20 second high speed action and shuts off. I then hit High and let it wail for a minute or two and I have a very very smooth concoction.

A little history:

Two months ago I burned out my old 20+ year old 120 watt 10 speed Osterizer blender when making peanut butter (I've made several other types of nut butters in the past as well), which I've done many times but one time too many. Suddenly blenderless (and in smoothie season), I immediately launched a shopping campaign. I had a $10 Osterizer food processor attachment (which I love!) and more than one glass container + blades, so I was in the market for some kind of Osterizer blender. A few weeks after buying the "Counterforms" I made peanut butter from roasted nuts and my heart skipped a beat when the blender suddenly stopped in the middle of the process. Whoops! However, after a few minutes cool-down, it came back to life. There's evidently a safety mechanism built in so it doesn't burn out, a useful feature! I decided to blend smaller amounts of nuts at a time in the future.

Edit, May 4, 2011: I've had this blender two years now and am completely satisfied. I stopped making nut butters, deciding it's not worth the trouble when I can buy organic peanut butter cheaply at Costko.

My wife and I cook more than anybody we know, heck we only eat out like one or two time a month so good kitchen tools are highly valued by us. This blender is the best we have found for our everyday needs as it has lots of power and is easy to clean and is also well built. However, the thing that really separates this from the others is the pre-programmed frozen drink feature. More times than not this reverse feature helps blend items that would simply not otherwise blend and break down in other single direction blenders. Some might complain that you can't manually change the direction to reverse, but I say its great to be able to put it in blended mode and walk away while the machines pre-programming does the direction changes, leaving you free to do something else. Two years of heavy and daily usage so far and it still works and looks like new.

We just got this blender a few days ago and so far we're loving it! I love that it has presets and the option to do manual blending/chopping. We've made a couple smoothies so far and frozen margaritas, all have turned out perfect! I'll try to do an updated review in about a month or two, after we've really put it to the test! I really love that it has a reverse option to work at getting things blended or unstuck (so far nothing has stuck for us)!

UPDATE: For anyone who uses a blender more than once a week I would not recommend anything short of a vitamix. None of the cheaper name brand blenders last because they aren't made to be used daily, sometimes multiple times a day. If you don't use a blender often then I do think this is a worthy purchase, it just depends on you.

I used to own the Oster BPST02-B Professional Series Blender, which was decent. Heck, what more can you ask for if it isn't a Vita-Mix.

Anyway, I was just gonna purchase the same thing, but I noticed the price had rose because Amazon didn't carry it anymore. It used to be $50 + free shipping, but now it was around $70 by a third party vendor.

Instead, it seemed like Amazon had chosen this new blender as their flagship affordable model. It was only $50 with free shipping. It boasted slightly more power and six blades, as opposed to the standard four. It also had more speeds.

In theory, it's an upgrade. In practice, it might actually be a downgrade.

The six blades are obviously better than the previous standard of four blades, but it also ends up creating a bigger air pocket. So basically, you have the six blades turning at a high speed, but it's not connecting with the fruits and veggies. Thus, you're forced to stop the engine, pop the lid, and shift it around with a spoon. Then shut the lid again, let the engine roar for a few seconds, and repeat shifting, etc.

The same smoothies I easily made with the BPST02-B model, are causing a lot of hassle, because of the air pocket that builds up with the six blade. Granted, the air pocket was also existent in the four blade, but it's more prevalent with the newer six blade model. Not sure what Oster can do to fix this... My friend has a Vita-Mix, which provides a plunger that comes equipped with the lid. It's very practical, but they must have a patent on it, considering they've had that feature for the past decade, but other blender companies like Oster refuse to catch on. Unfortunately, I don't have $600 to spend on a Vita-Mix.

Another glitch with the blender, is the lid. With the previous models, the lid was made of rubber, and it sealed nicely. The new lid however, seems more stylish and modern, but it's made of plastic, so you just have to shove it down the top of the container as much as possible and hope it doesn't leak once you power on the blender. You'll get the hang of it once you figure it out, but even so, you never know if the lid is completely shut, until some of the content spills out.

And because the lid is something you just jam on top of the container, you also encounter a problem when you open it, because you have to pop it open. Usually when you do this, some of the content will splatter out.

BTW: The lid comes with a food chute, but it's so small, you'd be lucky to insert a grape. Virtually useless in my opinion. I guess it's more for display purposes, but sometimes the contents leak through the chute, because the chute is very lightweight and it easily bounces up and down during the process.

Lastly, I noticed that with my previous Oster BPST02-B, the manual suggested that I simply fill the container with water, drop some dishwasher soap, blend and rinse for cleaning, but this model does not recommend that method. I can see why now, considering the lid tends to leak, and water will spill out.

I purchased this blender to make smoothies and a pina colada now and then. I've only tried it on frozen fruit smoothies but can attest to this being one of the best blenders I have used. You can basically set it and forget it as it works. Your perfect smoothie is ready a minute later. It slowly starts, speeds up, and reverses several times until no chunks are left. Excellent, well built product.

Wanted a blender to make smoothies with frozen fruit as well as ice cubes. Bought a cheapy a couple month ago and burned it out within a week. This blender is great. The reverse feature is great for ice since it does not freeze up. Would recommend.