I have a Magic Bullet which is good for mixing shakes, but not a great blender per se. I think the Ninja 1500 watt blender is probably the best bang for the buck and of course the old stand by Vitamix also seems to be very popular but also very expensive.
My wife and I have Oster Blender Pro 1200 blender. This machine is quite powerful and is made for any life situation. We like to make a smoothie with it and it's very cool that it can blend even frozen foods and ice. But, unfortunately, it's quite noisy, so you will surely wake your family.
