When I was at college around five years ago, my father was diagnosed as having condition called gilberts disease. This meant that his body was unable to break down cholesterol properly, and as a consequence of this he had a mini stroke. This marked the beginning of his obsession with juicing. No piece of fruit or veg in our house was safe. If it had juice, he wanted to extract it.

The Philips HR1865 is his second juicer as he managed to wear out the motor on his first. Thankfully for him though, this wonderful piece of equipment seems to be able to take everything he throws at it, and quite often he will use it two or three times a day.

The machine is fairly large so it could be a pain if you don't have a lot of worktop space, but it is also very steady. It has a reasonably attractive design, and is primarily made of black plastic, and what looks like brushed steel (or possibly aluminium). It also comes with a convenient jug which attaches to the spout of the juicer. The jug has marks up it as a measuring jug does, so you know exactly how much juice you're getting.

When you use this juicer you need to watch out as it has a very powerful motor which will jolt the unit slightly when it is started. This movement usually causes the jug to move away from the spout, and if you aren't careful some of the juice may spill. Although it's never very much it is worth noting.

The big advantage that this juicer has over most oher juicers, is that it is able to take whole pieces of fruit and veg, so you don't have to spend a long time preparing your food prior to juicing it. Occasionally you will of course find something that won't fit in there without being made slightly smaller, but this isn't very frequent and so doesn't bother me too much.

This is one of the higher end juicers, and consequently is a lot more expensive than some products on the market, but I believe that in the case of juicers you really do get what you pay for. This juicer will give you considerably more juice from your food than a cheaper one will, and in the long term that can only save you money. That said, I believe that it is worth the extra money purely because it will accept whole pieces of fruit.

Not only will this juicer give you about as much juice as your fruit has to give, it will also be smooth. It does a very good job of sifting out the pulp, so much so that I woudl expect even the fussiest of children would drink juice from this machine.

Once you have finished using your juicer it is fairly easy to disassemble for cleaning, though cleaning a juicer will unfortunately never be a quick process due to the amount of pulp that will be stuck in it, particularly in the part which looks like a grater and does all of the work. Philips do provide a small round brush for cleaning this part of the juicer. It is best to scrub in a circular motion under warm, running soapy water. This prevents the pulp from sticking to the juicer, and allows you to see whether parts have been cleaned properly or need more attention.

All things considered, if you are looking to buy a juicer it is probably worth saving for this model. It is much better than cheaper versions out there, and the obvious health benefits of juicing are great.