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Vitamix High-Speed Blenders - Are They Worth It?


clayrae

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Consumers Report recently rated blenders and found Ninja brand to perform equally or slightly better than Vitamixes and at about one quarter the price or less.  I kid you not.  Anyway, has anyone tried one of these machines and if so what did you find?

Here is a link to the Consumers ratings, but it is a subscriber website so I don't know if one can get in without a subscription

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/appliances/kitchen-appliances/blenders/blender-ratings/ratings-overview.htm

I happen to be thinking about getting a new blender.  My cheapness instinct is considerably stronger than my prestige instinct, so I'm attracted to one of these things.

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I couldn't justify buying one before but after using them at work, I was hooked.  I bought a factory refurbished one and it works perfectly well.  It has a 5 year warranty so I am covered.

I read a lot of the comments on the VitaMix site and plenty of people have bought the refurbished ones and been happy with it. I am glad I went that route.

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does anyone have any feelings on vitamix vs blendtec, or is the best strategy just to get whichever one you can get cheaper? if it matters, i think i'd use it most for soups, purees, and turning frozen fruit into sorbets, and think it'd just stay out on the counter, so weight/portability should not be a big issue.

 thanks!

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I have them both.

Blendtec is for home use and vitamix is for the restaurants. I find the blendtec a little flimsy for its container(but still strong enough to handle all the tasks). It has multiple programmed 1 touch buttons which are actually really good and makes sense. I have not had a single problem.

Vitamix is all manual speed control and no programmed buttons(they have different models). I enjoy this and find it very useful for making soups and sauces. Also the container feels very strong(saying like `bring it on!!`)

I am happy with both without a question. I think it is all preference.

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I have a vitamix and my sister has a ninja. I think in most of the uses we have for the blenders they are pretty similar though, maybe I've been influenced by the vitamix demos, they are more versatile.

Really my thought process in purchasing it was quality of produced blended ingredients and durability. I would like to believe the vitamix will last over ten years or more, just like a kitchenaid mixer or how craftsman tools use to with their lifetime warranty.

We'll see!

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Wait until Black Friday and get one at Costco. They heavily discount them that day.

My current blender is definitely going to die before then, and I think we're going to let our Costco membership lapse (without a car and in a small house, we just don't get enough use out of it).  What are their prices like non-black Friday?  In other words, would we get a price break just buying it at Costco now?

My biggest concern with the reconditioned models is that a lot of the reviews talk about black flecks getting into the food (from one of the parts or something).  Doesn't seem to be an issue with newer ones, but maybe someone here has further info?

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I have them both.

Blendtec is for home use and vitamix is for the restaurants. I find the blendtec a little flimsy for its container(but still strong enough to handle all the tasks). It has multiple programmed 1 touch buttons which are actually really good and makes sense. I have not had a single problem.

Vitamix is all manual speed control and no programmed buttons(they have different models). I enjoy this and find it very useful for making soups and sauces. Also the container feels very strong(saying like `bring it on!!`)

I am happy with both without a question. I think it is all preference.

Any tips on the speed/settings to use for soups? After having been wowed by your soups on two occasions, I asked my friends to lend me their Vitamix for my dinner club this Saturday. I'm planning to make a corn soup and to also use to puree an egg free ice cream mixture before freezing (ricotta and milk mainly). Any suggestions? Is it possible to overblend in these things?

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We impulse bought one the other day because Target's Cartwheel app provided a 20% discount on top of the existing 20% off sale.  Between that and signing up for the REDcard, our final price for the Pro 200 came out to under $300.  It's been great already for making pureed foods that our baby daughter surprisingly enjoys, and we had strawberry lassi last night to boot!

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