Vitamix vs other blenders...

[BigJake6904]

I have watched some reviews and have even had friends give me recommendations on springing for a Vitamix blender. Particularly because I love fresh fruit smoothies and they have been an integral part of my recent weight loss. Does anyone have one of these? Worth the cost?

 

[MadMonk]

Vitamix, Blendtec and Waring Pro seem to rule the roost. All good but I don't know how long Waring's warranty is. I think the first two are 7 years. I've gave my 2 or 3 yr old, at the time, Vitamix away about 5 years ago. Wasn't using it and a friend needed one. I haven't heard of it breaking.

Here's an interesting video on the Blendtec:

eta: if you like this video, check out the follow up were he blends gold ore.

 

[whylieineedacigar]

I have had a ninja for about a year and half and so far no issues, I use it everyday at least twice a day to make fruit and vegetables smoothies.

 

[Brickhouse]

I did my research a few months ago and asked on here as well. I ended up going with the Ninja with Auto-IQ and I love it. I don't think it could blend a broom handle....but who really gives a shit. For what I use mine for....food processing and morning shakes, the Ninja has exceeded all of my expectations.

 

[George Scott]

I bought a Blendtec about 8 years ago, really like it. My parents bought a Vitamix about 40 years ago! Now that they are gone, my sister is still using it!

 

[ironpeddler]

While I've had a HD Vitamix for over 25 years, I find it a bit of a PITA to clean. Works great, but I found myself not using it as much because of the disassembly to wash it when I was done....and if you use it daily, you just can't throw the parts in the dishwasher. Plus, it had a big footprint on the counter. It's now relegated to frozen bar drink duty.

While I hesitate to say this, I now use a NutiBullet Pro 900. I really like the smaller container size versus the Vitamix and Blendtec...and it comes with two size containers and 2 mixing bases (plus other stuff) when you buy the full setup for $100.00....LINK. It blends everything I throw at it...and that's mostly frozen fresh fruits for fruit smoothies. The leafy stuff, raw veggies, nuts, ice cubes, and powered additives are the easy part. Plus, once I make the drink, I can hand wash both parts in under a minute and then put them in the drying rack. For this amount of money, it's hard to go wrong. I turned on a bunch of friends on to it and they all love it as well.

 

[MadMonk]

Plus, it had a big footprint on the counter.

Yea, I was going to mention that mine was real tall. Did not fit under the upper cabinets on my counter.

 

[Not A Nice Person]

A coworker of mine has a Ninja, uses it almost entirely for smoothies, and really likes it. My mother had a Vitamix but there was some kind of issue with it and it never saw much use.

~Boar

 

[Not A Nice Person]

While I hesitate to say this, I now use a NutriBullet Pro 900. I really like the smaller container size versus the Vitamix and Blendtec...and it comes with two size containers and 2 mixing bases (plus other stuff) when you buy the full setup for $100.00....LINK.

I've looked at those before but always had the question: how do you get the glass off the motor without making a mess?

~Boar

 

[whylieineedacigar]

I've looked at those before but always had the question: how do you get the glass off the motor without making a mess?

~Boar

I have one of those as well and use it only to blend seasonings for my meats (herbs, garlic, onions etc). You screw the cap (which has the blades) to the glass and then put it on the motor.

 

[Puros Locos]

Yea, I was going to mention that mine was real tall. Did not fit under the upper cabinets on my counter.

That's my main issue with my Vitamix. Since it doesn't fit under the cabinets, my wife is constantly putting it in the cupboard. I find I don't use it as much as I would like because of that. I like the machine, but if I had it do do over again, I'd probably get the Ninja from Costco. IIRC, the Costco Ninja has a more powerful engine than the ones you can buy from Bed Bath, Target, etc.

 

[Not A Nice Person]

I have one of those as well and use it only to blend seasonings for my meats (herbs, garlic, onions etc). You screw the cap (which has the blades) to the glass and then put it on the motor.

That makes sense. Thanks!

~Boar

 

[golfgar]

I gave my Bullet to my daughter to take back to college. I use one mostly for frozen berry smoothies and the bullet didn't really work so great. Was at Sam's a couple of months ago and they had a "Skinny Girl" blender (vessel screws on base which houses blades and attaches to motor) for $20 and it works great for me so far)

 

[ironpeddler]

I've looked at those before but always had the question: how do you get the glass off the motor without making a mess?

~Boar

The base screws on to the plastic vessel. Then that unit goes goes on the base....line up the tabs...push down and twist slightly to engage the motor. The one I suggest is the 900 watt unit which is two steps up from the basic model. Here's the thing, this does a great job at making a smooth smoothie that can be sucked through a straw with a bit of pulp. The other more expensive units break up everything into a near water-like consistency. Personally, I like the pulpy like consistency...seems more natural to me.