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I've got the Cuisinart Smart Stick, which comes with a mini food processor and whisk attachment and I love it! It's so much smaller than a regular blender, and comes apart to fit nicely in a drawer - great for those of us who do not like to collect kitchen gadgets.

I use it every morning to make smoothies with frozen fruit, and about twice a week to puree soups (so much easier than transferring to a blender or FP!!). I've had it for 4 - 5 years and it's still going strong.

As for the egg whites, you can use the whisk attachment to beat them, but you have to use a deep bowl or you'll have a mess on your hands. Also beats cream into whipped cream. Highly recommend :)

I love my immersion blender- a Braun also. It does whipped cream, soup, etc...and does not take up much room at all in my cabinets. I do have a more basic model-no attachments. But it does everything I want it to and I've never been disappointed. Oh, and be careful of what type of bowl you use for things like whipped cream/egg whites....as bitchincamero said, it will spatter if your container is too shallow. Between my immersion blender and my regular blender, I never miss having a food processor.

I love my stick blender; convenient, inexpensive and versatile. I barely ever use my regular blender...food processor though--that's a must!~

The immersion blender is the appliance/gadget I'd keep if someone made me choose from among it, my food processor and my regular blender. As others have written, I've got the model with a small chopper attachment and a large blender jar attachment. I use all of them regularly. It will do a decidedly better job than a food processor and is quite a bit safer than transferring soup from pot to processor and back while hot.

For really smooth soups, you'll also want a mesh strainer. Puree the soup in the pot with your immersion blender and then strain it into serving bowls or a large bowl (or another pot if you need to do more seasoning or add more things).

I use my cuisinart for different things than my stick blender, however the one I grab when pureeing a soup is the stick blender. I don't have to dirty another container, and I can blend as little or as much of the soup as I want.

My stick blender is probably at least 20 years old now, a krups my mom bought when I was a kid and let me take when I moved out. It's going strong. I've used it for everything from soup to whipping cream to smoothies.

I too, love both my KitchenAid stick blender and food processor. I agree that using the stick blender for soups is the way to go. You don't have to worry about transferring hot soup, and you have total control over the consistency.

Also the "footprint" of a stick blender, even with attachments, is pretty small. I think it's much more than a one-trick pony. I can't remember the last time I used my regular blender.

i have all three and use all of them for different things. i use my blender mostly in the summer because i live on coffee frappes {a tray of ice cubes, a few spoons of instant espresso, a big splash of milk, a pinch of cardamom, and a big spoonful of sugar, buzzed for a couple of minutes until the ice no longer crunches.} i do love my braun immersion blender and use it quite often in the winter when i am making soup. they're not very expensive and well worth it.

i'll have to try that mayo trick, squeezebottle.

I love my stick blender. It's the Williams-Sonoma--it was pretty expensive a few years ago and I would not foot that pricetag again--I saw one for $20 the other day which would be sufficient for the amount it's used.
But when I want to use it, it's great.
LOVE it for pureeing soups (carefully) right in the pot. (Of course, I'm always convinced I'll electrocute myself).
I also use it for whipping cream or egg whites with the other attachments.

Okay, I am new to the immersion blender world and I have what many of you will probably think is a stupid question, but so be it.

I've only used it once so far, to puree a tomato gravy. Is there supposed to be a vacuum thing that goes on between the stick and the bottom of the container? Because I had to fight the thing to keep it off the very bottom and then I would overcompensate and wind up with gravy all over me and the stove. What am I missing here?

@huney ~ You keep your kitchen tools in your garage? Is it because you have a small kitchen? I would think they would smell funny being out there.

I love this tool and find it great for soups as well as quick salsas (this takes a delicate touch!).

A great use for an immersion blender: if you're making a hollandaise or bearnaise sauce and it breaks, don't throw it out. Pour the sauce in an appropriate container and blend it with the immersion blender while putting in another egg yolk. Then return to the pan to thicken as needed.

It's also great for "cream of X" soups, just reserve a portion ahead of time if you want some full-size chunks of asparagus, broccoli, whatever.

i would give up my FP before my immersion blender. it is great for all of the pureed soups i love. milkshakes are much easier. scrambled eggs (love me some bacon, eggs, and biscuits) are light and fluffy.
for the record, i have the kitchen aid 9 speed immersion blender. don't bother with a knock off brand, as they are not worth the money. make sure that what you are considering has a removable blade housing (much easier to clean).

@huney ~ ;-D Sorry. Couldn't resist. My last kitchen actually had an appliance "garage". You wouldn't want to see the beautiful appliances you spent a fortune on, right? I never used it. Well, that is not exactly true: if I wanted to mess with DH, I would take something he was using when he tuned his back and hide it in there. hahahahahah!

Yes, they generally do want to suck the bottom. I tend to angle mine at the spot between the side and the bottom of the pan after some up-and-down passes to break up the larger things. My original one somehow had one of the plastic "teeth" that are around the blade broken off, and that made the bottom grabbing less of a problem and the whole thing more efficient, but I haven't had the nerve to try to repeat the defect with the one I got after the first one died of old age and much use.

I have a stick blender, but I rarely use it. I prefer the food processor or a regular blender. The regular blender is what I use for pureeing soups. If I ever used the stick blender enough for it to wear out, I wouldn't replace it.

This may be just me, but I feel that they have totally difference uses. Although if I must have a preference, I'd probably choose a stick. I know that there is nothing faster than shoving it into a pot to puree something. On the other hand, I love tossing a few ingredients into a blender (VitaMix for sure)- a nice tomatillo salsa comes to mind...

I do love my stick blender. I especially like it for breaking up the tomatoes for my spaghetti sauce.

@HappyHoarFrost -- ME TOO!! I'm always convinced I'll electrocute myself!

My hubby laughs at me because I'll very carefully unplug it before putting it in water to wash it.

I spent a week wrestling with eBay and finally scored a "vintage" Bamix (model M122). It only had the puree blade and the original instruction/cookbook of ghastly 1950s recipes :) Had to buy replacement whisk and blender blades elsewhere, but even so I saved about half the current retail price. The first thing I made with it was a beautiful, velvety potato/leek/broccoli-stem soup.

My Bamix is only 85 watts, and believe me, that's PLENTY. It'll still make mayonnaise in 10 seconds, puree a pot of soup in a minute or two and over-blend mashed parsnips or potatoes if you're not careful. I admit I have not yet tried to grind raw meat with it. I did accidentally puree a raw carrot, though, so it might stand up to raw meat.

I still prefer my food processor for chopping, grating, slicing lots-o-stuff and for kneading bread dough. But anything too liquid for the food processor is just right for the Bamix. Right now I'm looking for an excuse to whip egg whites.