However, beware the star blade unit’s sharp metal base because it will almost certainly scratch your Teflon coated saucepans if used without a lot of care. It might be ‘just’ a hand blender ...

Probably the best hand blender I have ever used was made by KitchenAid. It wasn't this one. It was an extremely expensive cordless hand blender that was probably rather over-specced for my needs.