I bought this blender because of all the rave reviews it received in using it to make smoothies. Please note that if you plan on blending FROZEN chunks of anything, it has a hard time pulling chunks to the blades. I use it primarily for fruit smoothies with small frozen fruit chunks and everytime I make one I have to stop the blender several times to manually push the chunks down toward the blades. It spins incredibly fast, creating a pocket of air right above the blades, which is probably why the frozen chunks don't get pulled down to the bottom. Not sure if the taller skinnier jar design has anything to do with that, either. Once everything reaches the blades, it does completely pulverize solids, but it takes several manual attempts to get the food to reach the blades.
Also, WOW, this is one loud blender! You almost need ear protection to use it! Best of luck!