First of all, I have to admit that I am a bit of a kitchen appliance junky. I am always looking for the perfect appliance or cooking implements that will perform multiple jobs. I have a number of cutting, chopping, liquefying for drinks type appliance, including Nutri Bullet, a Vitamix, a Ninja Master Prep Pro, and a Magic Bullet 17 pc. system in addition to a few other choppers by Cuisinart and Black and Decker.
First of all, some of the reviewer dinged the reviews because they got cut on the blades. Are the blades sharp - you-bet-cha. Can you get cut on them? Of course, they are sharp, and they need to be. Heck, I have cut myself on the Cuisinart mini chopper blades when I was in a hurry to clean them, and I also sometimes cut myself with some of the sharp knives that I have. Is this the fault of the product? Of course not. When you are handling any sharp objects you need to be careful so you don't cut yourself, but sometimes it happens.
As for any clittety-clack reported by one reviewer, I haven't heard any of that. Is it loud? - It is, but then so are any of my other high powered mixers and choppers. Even my Kitchen Aid mixer is loud, and the Nutri Bullet can be deafening. Any appliance with a lot of power is going to be noisy, and the volume often depends on what you are processing. Even the Magic Bullet can be noisy if you are pulverizing something hard like cinnamon sticks. If you are sensitive to noise, you might be better off mixing and chopping by hand.
So, on to the review for the Ninja Mega Kitchen System 1500. I did have the Ninja 1100 system, and sold it on Ebay. It didn't have the power that I needed or expected. I bought this system, and I really to like it and use it. It has the power of my Vitamix, but is more useful for many jobs and is easier to clean. On this system, the blades come out. So the blades and the container can be cleaned easily. On the Vitamix, the blades do not come out. So you have to put a soap solution in it and run it to get the underside of the blades cleaned. The Vitamix will pull food down into the blades as long as you have enough liquid and the food pieces are small. Otherwise, you have to use the plunger to push food into the blades. The Ninja System does a better job a chopping without liquefying the food at the bottom and leaving larger pieces at the top. The Ninja definitely wins at doing a better job of evenly chopping. I really don't find the locking mechanism on the Ninja to be an inconvenience. It's just a matter of placing the cover on and clicking down the handle.
I have used my Vitamix in the past to make a Caesar Dressing that uses whole garlic cloves and it does a good job mixing and creaming everything, but the dressing sticks under the blades and it's difficult to clean. Now I use the single serve cups on the Ninja. It does just as good on the dressing, but it's easier to clean. To make the dressing creamy, I just hold the pulse button down for a couple of minutes. The longer you hold it, the smoother the mixture. I haven't tried smoothies in this machine yet, but I imagine the pulse button would just need to be held down for a couple of minutes to make a liquefied drink. I don't think the blades of the larger jars would make a completely smooth drink, but the blade for the smallest jar is similar to the Nutribullet, and with the more powerful motor would likely make a very smooth smoothie.
I often use chopped onions, green peppers, and garlic in my recipes, and the Ninja has be great for this. I throw all of them into the medium container, and everything gets chopped with a few pulses. The chopping can be more or less fine depending on the number of pulses. What I like about the chopping this system does is that everything is evenly chopped. I don't get liquefied food at the bottom and larger pieces on the top as is the case with most choppers. At this point in time, I have disposed of all of my other choppers.
I haven't tried this machine for dough mixing, but I have my Kitchen Aid mixer for that. I generally make bread batches much too large for this machine. All-in-all, I am very happy with this purchase, and have used it often. With it's versatility and ease in cleaning, it has replaced my Vitamix on my countertop. Although I wouldn't get rid of my Vitamix because of the longer warranty and proven dependability, for now it has been put away in favor of this Ninja system. I have found this Ninja system to be much more useful and versatile.