Hi Everyone,

I'm looking to buy one of these hand blender things, and I was wondering what types people would recommend for blending bases.  I have two main concerns:

1) The length of the stalk the blades are attached to:  is it long enough for "reasonalby" sized pots of > 6L?

2) The power output/chopping ability:  My gut feel is that a smaller one would burn up quickly and I've no idea how the blade shroud design will affect the size of the vegetables you can use when cooking the base.  Granted, they should be soft enough by the time you blend, but I don't want to spend the money for the thing and then end up still using my blender at 1L/time to get a smooth curry base.

In having a look around one of the 3 main shops here today, I found a Braun, 300W jobber that looks like this:



A 400W Moulinex 3-piece kit:


Specs: http://www.moulinex.fr/products/preparation-culinaire/mixeurs/robot-marie.htm

and a 3-piece, brand X kit that is similar to the Moulinex, but a bit cheaper.  There's also another Moulinex one that's pretty similar, but I can't find a picture.  Price range is ?25-50, and I want to buy one here (we're in France visiting the in-laws), because past experience says they'll be cheaper here than in Dublin.  I'm also going to need a serious curry fix when I get back, so next weekend I'll be hoping to break it in on a new batch of base.

Any experience, recommendations, things to look out for, etc. would be most appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

ast