I have had a Kitchen Aid stick blender for 3 years now and it
does all I need it to do.

There are attachments that I don't have but would work for bread crumbs and crushed ice.

I guess it really depends on how often you do those tasks you mention.

I have both and I only use the full sized blender for smoothies, shakes and frozen drinks. But for cooking I find the stick blender much more useful.

Have you thought about that Magic Bullet thingy from the infomercial for making shakes and crusing ice? I don't have one myself, but if space were limited I would think it would be a cool tool to have. I am also not sure if it is worth the $$$ or not. Maybe others can help.

I have both and use the full-sized blender more. When I was given a stick blender as a gift, I was thrilled because I thought I could pureee soups and vegetables right on the stove top. However, I don't use metal utensils on my pots and pans, so I was always worried about scratching my tin linings.

I have an old Bamix stick blender with several blades & a small counter blender with glass container. I have only used the full blender several times (several years ago) to make Pina Coladas. It's pretty much a waste of space for me. The stick blender does it all, easier, better, & much less space & clean up. I probably could have just as well used it for the drinks, too, since it will make "snow" out of ice cubes! The counter blender will probably go in my next yard sale.

Food processors do a lot of useful things but they do not replace blenders because they don't work well for large volumes of liquid.

If you use the blender mostly for beverages, as I do, a regular one is more convenient. When I tried a stick blender I used it so little that I gave it away. Maybe it was habit, or the fact that I keep my regular blender out on the counter but kept the stick in a cabinet. Even for large pots of soup, I found it less tedious to use the regular blender, even when it took several batches, than have to have to stand over the pot holding the stick. Plus it never achieved the same velvet-y smoothness, while a regular blender can be used to make a rougher soup.