Anyone have a Vitamix or Blendtec blender?

[RichieZ]

i have a blentec, fairly new as it only has 113 cycles? that means I made 113 smoothies!

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Ok, we have a Blendtec at home. We could've bought a Vita Mix but Blendtec was at Costco that day, although 99% of the time I see the blenders there, its the Vita Mix guy. I guess my mom went on the wrong/right day to see the other guy.

Anyway, my mom is a smoothie freak. IT's not even a smoothie. It's like a V8. She just mashes fruits and veggies into her blender and hits blend. No ice. No juice. No water nothing. It's straight up pure fruit juice/veggie juice. It's the most disgusting thing ever but she loves it. It's healthy as heck, but I would gag the minute she shows me the orange liquid taht comes out.

We've got about 3x of those $30 Costco blenders, 1x $50 blender, 1x $79 blender, and some oldass blender from Target back in the day. It's not even funny. Those blenders DIE in like 6 months from my mom's abuse. She doesn't blend it for 30 seconds like they do at Jamba Juice. She goes blend for 2 minutes straight. It's not like the motors die. The blade assembly falls apart, or the main container starts cracking apart. It's also hard to clean the other blenders. Blendtec just makes it easy. Not to mention it's DURABLE. The hard plastic is very durable. I can bet my mom abuses the crap out of these things. I have a Magic Bullet that I used through college and it told you never to blend for more than 30 seconds. I'm pretty sure those 2 min blend cycles my mom did on her blenders killed them in no time. It's like redlining your car for a long period of time. The Blendtec was built for this though....

Well in the 1.5 years we've had our Blendtec it is still in pristine condition. We should've already gone through 3 of those $30 blenders from Costco by now, but the Blendtec is going strong.

I'd like to point out that while I think Blendtec rocks because it works well in our house and they can blend iPhones and cell phones and diamonds and what not, almost every commercial application has Vita Mixes.

- Starbucks
- Jamba Juice
- Hell's Kitchen TV Show
- Food Network

etc. etc. I see Vita Mixes in commercial locations all the time. I don't think you can go wrong with either. As for what Kaido said, I see Vita Mix marketing more of boiling soups. It's definitely hot from my taste tests at Costco. I don't think our Blendtec gets that hot.

 

[rhino56]

blendtec here also, very happy with it, 2 years of pretty much daily use making smoothies.

 

[SP33Demon]

I want to get a Blendtec.

 

[BoomerD]

Even the "pros" who review these can't make up their minds...

http://www.google.com/search?hl=&q=...ndtec+vs.+vitamix&spell=1&fp=54a56c157cf92bf8

 

[Demon-Xanth]

What is the difference between one of these things and a $30 thing from K-mart? (Seriously wondering.)
I think that's about what I paid for mine, and it's yet to give me trouble. It's been used at least once a week for a year now. I'd use it more, but I'm lazy about cleaning dishes.
I don't have any plans to puree an iPod or granite like a Blendtec can and should handle, so I figured a $30 blender would suffice.

The difference is about on par with comparing an old chinese moped to a 600cc supersport motorcycle. They do about the same job in theory, but one will to it much faster, do more jobs, and is all around made much better. (not considered disposable)

 

[vsawyer]

Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum! I got my Vitamix 5200 last year from Costco and I am blown away by how incredible it is. I use it just about every day now. I can't believe I can make my own ice cream and almond milk! The vegetable cocktails are amazing. I'm developing a product that has to do with Vitamix. Send me any question you have related to the Vitamix blender via this link http://vitamix5200.org/question and I'll send you a free copy of the product when it is finished. I want to make sure I answer everyone's questions! Really excited to hear your responses.

 

[Eli]

Another Vitamix vote. Most awesome blendar evar!

Edit: LOL.. I guess I'd already posted in this thread.

 

[destrekor]

Alright, well... I cannot possibly afford either blender.

But I am hoping someone here has experience with more affordable options.
Reviews seem very positive about the Ninja Master Prep. Can it really be? :hmm:

But also looking at the usual contenders: Cuisinart, Oster, Braun, Black & Decker. I just want something that can make a smooth, consistent smoothie, including making the ice perfect. I know that can be done with something cheap. Nice bonus with the Ninja is apparently it does great with chopping, but I want opinions from here if there are any.

 

[Murloc]

can these machines make grated cheese?
I mean grating a big piece of parmigiano reggiano or grana padano.
These are hard grainy cheeses to be used on pasta

 

[NutBucket]

Funny you should ask. The wife and I were at Bed Bath and Beyond yesterday and wouldn't you know they have both of these on the shelf now? Anyway, my parents have had a Vitamix for years and love it. Being able to compare these two side by side was great.

The wife worked at Jamba juice for a while and said that the Blendtec "jars" seemed to break regularly (granted, they get abused at JJ). Compared to Vitamix, the Blendtec jar does seem to be a lot thinner plastic and the bearing for the blade shaft looks much smaller. I'm sure under normal household use neither of these differences would matter much.

Then there's the difference in controls. Vitamix is simple, knobs and switches. Blendtec has a digital control panel and lots of pre-programmed cycles that vary speeds, times, etc.

Personally, I would still go with the Vitamix. Its tried and true (my dad had one 40 years ago. Not sure why he got rid of it) without "gimmicks". Sorry, I feel digital controls on a blender to be gimmicky.

So here's my take on it. I'm 99% sure anyone would be satisfied with either unit so get the one you like best.

Finally, I realized that on the standard 20% coupons BBB has, neither Vitamix or Blendtec is excluded. So, use that to your advantage before they become excluded (inevitable IMHO).