VitaMix vs BlendTec
So I came in from running and started to make a blenderful of GS. Sometimes if my BlendTec is full of something else, or my kids put the container somewhere that I can’t find, I use the VitaMix instead of the BlendTec.
This photo shows another reason why I promote BlendTec over VitaMix. This is the third time this has happened to me in the past few years with my VitaMix: while blending, for no good reason, the entire base and blade assembly comes apart from the container. I had to pull the container off the base and quickly dump it into my other container (losing some all over the counter in the process). I had to stick my hand into the container of green goo and fish out the blade assembly.
So I told my son to grab the camera so you could at least be entertained by it. Don’t get me wrong–VM is a good machine, makes awesome smoothies, and they honor their warranty well (I’ve burned up a couple of their machines). But you can read my 6 reasons (besides this design flaw) why I choose to promote BlendTec, by clicking here.
hee hee. I wasn’t even aware that the blades could come off like that. I borrowed a VitaMix so that I could compare it to my Bosch blender. I can’t tell any difference with the green smoothies, but the hot pink smoothie is ot as smooth, and the blades almost always try to come off when I throw in the frozen strawberries. Also, I would guess that the motor of the Bosch may not last as long, and then I might have ruined my breadmaker, food processor, and wheat grinder at the same time.
Oh our dear Robyn —— you seem to be turning into the hulk!!! LOL Thanks for sharing. Atleast when my last cheapy blender cracked apart in the base I didn’t have to go on a treasure hunt for blades in the depths of the green goo
Ooh, the Bosch. I have that one, too. The blades don’t stay sharp long and eventually make seriously yucky, undrinkable green smoothies. And yeah, I burned up the motor and had to have it rebuilt, trying to blend frozen fruit.
I should say that I was able to put my VM container back together, THIS time, screwing the blade assembly and base and container all together. I guess I need to check more often to see if they’ve come loose. Other times, though, it has actually BROKEN out of the plastic in the base of the container, and VM has had to replace it. The design flaw seems to be that the metal base/blades are too heavy for the plastic in the bottom, which breaks away.
Robin, your house looks so clean! How do you do it?
My house was clean until the VM blew up.
And, at first I thought I was getting the the Incredible Hulk as a compliment because of my ripped muscles, but no . . . you meant because my hand is covered with green!
Robyn, I just wanted to introduce myself and say what an inspiration you’ve been to me. I found your site through Live Lightly Tour. My family and I have been drinking green smoothies daily for over a month now. I won’t go into all the specifics, but the health benefits have been impressive to say the least. And this is from someone who thought they had a pretty healthy diet before!
I also got your basic recipe collection and have made several things and we love it. Oh, and the quinoa (protein) cookies? I tweaked that recipe to add whole oats, cinnamon and raisins. It tastes like an oatmeal raisin cookie!
I was concerned about the money at first. I’m pretty frugal by nature and the weekly cost of making the smoothies seemed staggering. But after a couple of weeks, I noticed that I wasn’t spending any more money for groceries…and was perhaps spending less? So, because I’m me, I had to do a cost analysis. Long story short? We’re *saving* appr. $58 a month by drinking green smoothies.
I couldn’t believe it! Who would have thought that possible? The cost analysis can be found here:
http://glorious-mayhem.blogspot.com/2008/05/green-smoothie-cost-breakdown.html
if anyone is interested.
I’d love to hear how much it costs others in other parts of the country/other grocery stores etc. And also any tips on saving even more while improving our health.
Thanks again for the website.
Hi Michelle, and welcome! I’m always glad to hear when people aren’t spending more while providing great nutrition, and even better when they’re spending LESS! What’s the Live Lightly Tour? You should post your version of quinoa cookies on the site.
Robyn
Hi Robyn,
I totally agree with your assessment and sold my Vitamix on Craigslist to get some money toward a BlendTec. Couldn’t be happier. I’ve never experienced issues with the Vitamix assembly, but the tamper is required for so much of the blending I do and the smoothies – among other recipes – just weren’t all that smooth. I also found that the Vitamix splashed ingredients all over the lid every time I started it. No such concerns with the Blendtec – super smooth, no eruptions. Thanks for your blog – good stuff!
Hi Robyn, thanks for the welcome.
It took me forever to figure out how I found you. The Live Lightly Tour is this sweet family that are touring in an RV powered by vegetable oil. The website is:
http://www.livelightlytour.com/page/1/
But for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how I found YOU there. Then I remembered that the mom has a website called Happy Foody and I found you through her here:
http://happyfoody.com/2008/03/15/how-to-make-a-green-smoothie/
As far as my recipe on the quinoa cookies, I truly took your recipe and added 1 cup of rolled oats, 1 t cinnamon and 1/4-1/2 cup raisins. I’ve got pictures of them on my blog if anyone is interested. I deliberately leave some of the wheat in a more “cracked” stage and it gives the cookies this terrific texture.
http://glorious-mayhem.blogspot.com/2008/05/quinoa-protein-cookies.html
Hi Robyn!
Thanks for posting this with the photo too! I’ve linked to it from my site. I run a raw vegan culinary studio in Singapore and we have both Blendtecs and Vitamixes. Everyone who has used both at the studio invariably prefers the Blendtec! Glad you didn’t get hurt when the assembly came apart – always a fear when the machines going at full power.
I was just in Singapore–what a beautiful place you live in! Organized, clean, beautiful. Wish I’d known you had a raw studio and could have visited.
Hello Robyn – Thanks for the heads-up on the Vitamix. I was really torn between the Vitamix vs Blendtec, but the 7 year warranty on the Blendtec seems worthless since they count cycles, and when you hit 10,000, your warranty is up. And Blentec container only has a 1 year warranty, so when it begins to leak, time to buy a new container (and blade). So just comparing warranties, Vitamix is far superior since they cover every thing for 7 years excluding the tamper. The Blendtec rep misrepresented the warranty at the demo making it sound like their warranty was even better than Vitamix due to the lifetime warranty on the blade and coupling. After reading the fine print, I am very disappointed that Blendtec is not up front with their warranty and leaves out the cycle counter – a glaring omission. And there is some thing very disturbing, at least to me, about a warranty that attempts to track the usage using a counter. I really get the impression that Blendtec is unable to really stand behind the durability of their blender over 7 years, but it sounds like you have had excellent results with Blendtec. BTW, your cycle count must be off the charts.
I don’t get it. I’ve loved my Vita-Mix for YEARS and everyone I know does, too. I’ve heard that the Blendtec just isn’t the workhorse that Vita-Mix is. Robyn, is Blendtec paying you to be a promoter?
Allison, are you saying that Robyn faked the picture to make a sale? I don’t think she would do that. Remember my favorite quote – “the plural of anecdote is not data”
Just because this has never happened to your blender doesn’t mean it can’t happen.
Just wanted to include a retraction to my previous post regarding the Blendtec warranty. I was told by a rep from Blendtec that the 7 year warrany also increases the cycle count to 20,000. After using the Blendtec for a while, I realize that even under heavy home use, you are unlikely to reach the 20,000 cycle limit in 7 years. Even though I would often need to run through several cycles to make one smoothie, using the manual cycle to add more time or clean the machine did not increase the cycle count.
So I gave both machines a work out for about a month trying different recipes. Having taken the warranty off the table in the decision process, I was ready to buy which ever one I liked better. As Robyn mentions, they are both great machines, and I would not mind having one of each. But I had to choose one, and the Vitamix was the winner for me. The main reason was that I could make recipes much faster in the Vitamix primarily due to the tamper. For instance, when I made hummus, I was able to crank that recipe out on the VM in about a minute while it took me over 5 minutes with the Blentec. The tamper is a necessity when blending thick mixtures. With the Blendtec, all I could do is let the machine run for a few seconds, take the lid of and shove the ingredient into the blade, put the lid back on, and repeat over and over and over again. I made a very nice frozen dessert in the VM using frozen fruit, some ice, and tofu which would have been impossible with the BT without adding water and making a more runny dessert. Even getting smoothies to start blending was much more difficult with the BT where as the VM tamper always got thing going in a matter of seconds. I was much more efficient using the VM and the tamper.
I did like BTech’s square container and single blade which made getting thick mixtures out easier. And I like idea of more power. But in the end, the VM was just easier to use, was more efficient, and seemd to do a wider array of things from chopping using the slow variable speed setting to quickly making smoothies using the tamper to get things blending in a matter of second regardless of the type and order of ingredients.
I could promote BlendTec or VitaMix on this site, or both. They pay the same affiliate commissions and you don’t have to choose one or the other. I chose to promote BlendTec exclusively after I put up this information-only site, and then had people asking me what blender to buy (and I was inadvertently “selling” anyway), for the 6 reasons listed on “Best Blender” on this site. Like I said, I think the only two blenders worth buying if you’re gonna be a greensmoothiegirl are VM and BT. I have said on this site several times that I love my VM (both machines have pros and cons) and have owned one for longer than I can remember to count. I don’t like that my VM can’t fit under the counter, and I *hate* traveling with it. I don’t like that people have to spend $80 extra to do dry grinding in a separate container.
I have people with .vitamix.com writing in response to this blog and have not chosen to allow them to post. I mean no harm to VM–everyone has an opinion, and this is mine.
John’s comment from a few weeks ago (as he wrote me today) isn’t correct since the cycles limitation on the warranty just limits you from commercial use, and it would take me almost 10 years to reach that kind of cycle quantity, at my current (obviously high) usage. Who can blame BlendTec for not wanting to warranty a home-use blender against commercial use.
And I will be blogging shortly about both my and BlendTec’s response to the warranty questions, or what has been stated here, so you know why I think you are more than adequately covered with that exceptional purchase.
Robyn
Can’t see John’s email address to see if he’s one of those writing with a vitamix.com email (I would guess not), but he wrote this (plus some other stuff):
“Just wanted to include a retraction to my previous post regarding the Blendtec warranty. I was told by a rep from Blendtec that the 7 year warrany also increases the cycle count to 20,000. After using the Blendtec for a while, I realize that even under heavy home use, you are unlikely to reach the 20,000 cycle limit in 7 years. Even though I would often need to run through several cycles to make one smoothie, using the manual cycle to add more time or clean the machine did not increase the cycle count.”
John likes the tamper that you use to muscle your stuff down into the container. Some people love it. Some people hate it. Older people hate it pretty universally.
[John, if you see this, could you email me?]
–Robyn
Where can I buy one blendtec blender here in Singapore. Please give me contact or address.
Thank you, Doris
Contact EWebb@blendtec.com and she can put you in touch with a dealer there.
Why do u need to bash Vitamix?They don’t care if use it to crush rocks,they will still warranty it,comercial or not……I saw a guy(leftysway.com)promoting blentec this last weekend @ a costco.Its not bad,but I got tired of him bashing vitamix.He told me that blentec has been around for over 30 yrs,I told him, so has vitamix.Check on ebay and see who still has the old blender for sale…I also have gone to lots of trade shows and seen vitamix,never blentec.Vitamix has never bashed blentec…..its got to tell u something
Robyn, what about the BPA issue? http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-10-31-bpa-fda_N.htm
My wife was sold on the Blendtec (the VitaMix being extraordinarily ugly) and was bummed to learn that the carafe is Lexan. Lexan _is_ BPA.
Just felt the need to post a comment to update the previous posts I have made re: vitamix vs. blendtec. Bottom line, these two machines seem to offer the most bang for the buck. I do not think that you can go wrong with either machine.
Having said that, I had mentioned in an earlier post that the Vitamix jar had developed a crack after just a few uses. Actually, I have found that the crack was really only a seam that is created during the manufacturing process. Vitamix sent me a new jar, and the new jar had the same seam that definitely looks like a crack but is not a crack.
Meanwhile, my Blendtec jar started to develop a leak around the coupling area which would leave a ring underneath the jar below the contents of the jar (cycle count of 200). I was a bit concerned about this development and planned to contact Blendtec regarding this matter. I finally did contact BTech, and, of course, they would replace the jar (it has a warranty of 1 year). But the fact that the jar leaked after only 200 cycles made me wonder about the lifespan of the BT jar. The final straw was when I ran the BTech blender with an empty jar, and it almost vibrated off the counter due to the blade not spinning freely, and it spewed out a bunch of brown rusty looking liquid underneath the jar.
I have returned the BTech blender and the extra jar to Costco. I am now an exclusive user of Vitamix which, so far, has been flawless. Something else has really impressed me with Vitamix, and that is their customer service. Vitamix sent me a new jar, no questions asked, before I had to return the old jar (cross shipping) which enabled me to not miss a beat in using the VMix machine while I waited for another jar. And then after I discovered that the original jar was fine, VMix told me to keep the new jar that they had sent me (probably knowing that at some point during the 7 year warranty that they give on their machine including the jar, I might need a new jar anyway at some point). VitaMix customer service could not be any better.
That’s one person’s experience who gave VM and BT a fair shake and used both machines for 6 months before making a decision between the two.
Dear Robyn,
Would you mind checking for a dealer in Singapore for me ? I like to drink smoothies, bubble teas and eating ice cream. I heard Blendtec blenders have all these functions and would you mind me troubling you to check for me a dealer in Singapore ? In any part of Singapore . But one thing is that I may only consider buying and can the Blendtec Blender blend homemade ice? Those ice that you pour water into it and put into your freezer. So could you check for me a dealer in Singapore and do not give me the Blendtec email dere coz I think it is not very convenient to reveal my identity.
Thanks .
Dear Robyn ,
Could you check for me where can I buy a Blendtec blender in Singapore? Give me the address instead of the contact please . And can the Blendtec Blender blend homemade ice ? Pls give me a reply soon.
Thanks.
Robyn,
Thanks for the input. Went into Costco today looking for a Vitamix and there was a demo on the BlendTec. The guy was cool about it when I asked the difference. He didn’t slam the Vitamix, he said “it’s a good machine, but this has a higher horsepower”. I appreciated that vs. the typical sales pitch. REALLY appreciate hearing input from an owner of both. Oh, I read that the Blendtec can’t handle whole pieces of fruit – like apples b/c they don’t get down to the blade on their own. In the demo, he used frozen fruit but no large whole pieces like an apple. Any comments on that one? Glad I found your blog.
Jennifer-The Everyday Organic
Robyn,
I purchased a BT Total Blender off the website while on sale for 399.99. I’d been looking at BT and VM for some time as both had made the rounds at my local Costco for some time. My parent have a VM and they seem to love theirs, but the tamper scared me a bit and then after reading your post I decided the last thing i needed was a health food machine that would risk my kid’s/wife’s health if it few apart so I got the BT…
I do have a few questions.
The thing is INSANELY loud. Do you use hearing protection? Can you recommend some? I’m not fond of using the set I use when I use my table saw as they are unwieldly for the kind of use I want to put int my BT so if you can recommend something a bit more “stylish” that would be great
At Costco it wasn’t nearly as loud, but that’s because it was a massive warehouse. I have a large kitchen (200 sq ft with 13 ft ceilings) but the noise is piercing. Could something be wrong with the motor? I watched a video online and they never seem that loud but most of those are marketing videos. The real world videos always sound worst because of the gain on consumer camcorders. I know the VM isn’t nearly as powerful as my less power, but my parent’s unit it not nearly as loud as mine so I just want to make sure I’ve not got a problem unit…
One thing I was really looking forward to was making peanut butter. My old Olde Tyme mill died a few years back so it was one of the first things we tried to make. However it seems take me forever. Do you have some tips? I find myself starting the machine running it and then switching it off at least 8 times to pat the nuts back down before I get a paste. As much as the tamper on my parents VM scared me now I’m wishing I had something like it.
Regarding my parents, when I told my dad what happened to you he called VM. The first thing the customer rep asked was if he’d removed the blades to clean the unit. He said he’d just heard that this can happen. They said under normal use the blades should not come loose, but it can happen in rare instances. The rep told him its more common that that they find people remove the blades themselves but then don’t tighten them to the correct torque (he said they have a special tool for that). As an engineer my dad seemed to be happy with that answer but I’m not convinced. What was your experience, had you ever removed the blades?
BTW My parents have a mini container for their VM they got at Costco. Its not as tall so assuming you keep yours around you might want to look into it.
Bought a BlendTec because of you. Love it, use it at least once a day. You have inspired me to drink green smoothies, too.=) I watched your video on YouTube and in your demo you make yourself a QUART of smoothie? Is this correct? On YouTube there is another guy doing videos and he says you have to “chew” it so you produce saliva that helps with the digestion (Running Raw: Green Smoothies- Tips and Techniques). What is your take? I can’t “chew” a whole quart of something that doesn’t taste all that good…
Thanks for a super cool blog.=)
BTW, my Blendtec is very loud, too…is this supposed to be?
Chewing it is ideal, but if you don’t chew it, you still have plenty endogenous enzymes (that came with the food itself) for digestion, so if this is a deal-breaker for you, slam the green smoothie if chewing is too hard for you.
Robyn,
I found this site when I was searching Costco and Sams Club for a Vita-Mix. I was torn between the VT and BT(seen the BT demo as well). The BT was more cost effecient, and they seem to do more demos at these warehouses. Since reading these blog comments, please help me get on the road to a “green” lifestyle. I want to be able to incorporate this in my lifestyle, so if you have any suggestions on websites, books, etc. on how to do this, I greatly appreciate it.
Marcia
Marcia, you’re in a good place to learen about that–I have a lot of support on this site and in my book for you.
Robyn
Robyn,
Great site and I love your ideas and opinions. The story about how you cured Asthma is really inspiring – I have had similar experiences.
Two questions for ya:
1. The Blendtec site lists a 3 year warranty but you seemed to mention a 7 year warranty. I am confused – is this an extended warranty or something that they upgrade one to…
2. What is the difference between a Blendtec TotalBlender and a Ktec Champ HP3A. They both seem to be Blendtec no Ktec. Confusing
thanks!
I just stumbled here on your blog. I was hoping to get a VM (have been hoping for a long time). Today I found the BT at Costco and they are less expensive. My question is, Do you know if anyone has had their unit last past the warrenty? My husband is turned off from purchasing either because of the cost. We’ve never had a blender last past 5 years and he isn’t interested in spending so much more over the walmart brands if he doesn’t think it will last at least equally as long as the cheaper alternatives. We have 5 children and usually try to make smoothies every couple of days. We make our own bread too and the idea that this unit will mill our wheat is very appealing too.
Thank You!
I used to go through “Walmart” brands with poor results and eventual motor burnout . . . not worth it. I know people who’ve had theirs quite a few years, not sure if past the warranty.
If you make your own bread regularly, while the BT will do it as a backup, I do prefer the fine grind I get from a wheat grinder.
If you get your BT here on GreenSmoothieGirl.com, you get 12 Steps to Whole Foods free.
Good luck with your decisions,
Robyn
I have owned a Vita Mix 3600, 4600, 5000, 5200 and a Vita Prep 3 1005. The Vita Mix 5200 is the one they currently sale at Costco. It is only has a 2 horsepower motor. The Vita Prep 3 1005 is a commercial blender, has a 3 horsepower motor at 12.5 amps. It is .5 amp less powerful then the Blendtech hp3a machine and it is not programable. It is a great machine. It is a toss up between the Vita Prep 3 and the Blendtec hp3a machine in my mind. The blendtec hp3a is about $100 cheaper.
I have also owned a Waring MX1300xt blender. It boasts a 3.5 horsepower motor at 13 amps. The container that comes with the blender is lousy. I ended up buying a 64 ounce Vitamix container to go on it. The blades on the original blender have so much of an angle to them the food spends most of it’s time being tossed up in the air instead of in the blades. The Vitamix container solved this problem. I later found out that the power supply is not built well enough to provide all the power that the blender motor needs so it doesn’t run at 3.5 horsepower.
Let me tell you about the machine I currently have which I really love. I currently have a Vita mix 36006 machine. It has a 3 horsepower motor and uses 15 amps. I have found that amps are more important than horsepower. This machine absolutely liquifies anything I put in it. It never stalls or bogs down regardless of what I put directly on the blades. It is considerably quieter than all other blenders I have used especially with the sound reducing cover in place. Blendtec has two blenders that are more powerful that use 18 and 20 amps but to use them properly you have to have a 20 amp circuit which I don’t have in my kitchen. The bottom line for me is how smooth the drink is. The Vita mix 36006 blender makes the smoothest drinks I have ever made in a blender. You never find any suprise chunks that did not get blended!
I purchased my BlendTec yesterday from Cosco and I got a 4 year extended warranty with my purchase, to bring the total warrant to 7 yrs. Did have a vita mix for 10yrs before it finally crashed on me but have been very impressed with the Blendtec info and demo’s
I have to say that I have read all of the replies on here so far and it seems as though Blendtec is getting a great review but very little is being said about Vitamix and how great they are.
I can honestly say after owning a Vitamix for 5 years, I have not had a problem yet with my machine. I havent replaced a single piece on it. It is the single most used piece of equipment in my kitchen.
I do find that where people go wrong, and not just with a Vitamix but any kitchen appliance, is that they use them wrong because they think it is some sort of miracle machine. They think they can just go home and throw whatever they want in there and expect the food to come out perfect like the demonstrators recipe they tried when they bought the machine. Anyone who does this is going to be sadly dissappointed because those demonstrators use recipes. . . they follow instructions. . . just like they tell you to when you buy one. Its not the machine that sucks, its you.
Yes the blades can come loose once in a blue moon, however I fid that it only happened after making like 400 soups! All you have to do is call customer service and they will give you the tool to tighten it.
Remember I am not here to give Blendtec a bad name because lets face it, they are a great machine. However, I find that when it comes to doing the food processing and all of the things that ARENT smoothies, Vitamix takes the prize because there is way more control over how chunky or fine the consistancy is when it comes to salsas or antipastos or even spagetti sauce. I kid you not I havent bought a jar of spagetti sauce in 4 years because of this machine.
I also have to say that I have not heard a single bad thing about a Vitamix before now and dont forget that Vitamix ownes 80% of the commercial industry. . .world-wide. Why would they use a Vitamix over Blendtec or any other blender out there? The answer is simple, “They are the best”.
I think everyone has to remember that there is good and bad about anything you buy. I am just glad that both machines are made in America and not China.
Robyn I love your web site……I actually just found you yesterday and I have been making green smoothies for everyone that has come through the door in the last 24 hours. Most of them have been reluctant to take the first sip and due to their reluctance they prematurely decided they didn’t like it. Then with some prodding they all took a second sip and then, WOW…..I now have several green smoothie addicts after one big glass. One person even requested a second and then third glass. I am looking foreward to trying different variations. I made mine out of kale…..which was slightly (only slightly bitter) but thought I would be better off trying the family on spinach. Yum, Yum, Yum!!!!! I can see making this every morning.
I have a vita mix which I will have to continue with for the time being but my son is getting married and I am thinking of getting him the blend-tec. I am not sure if you ship to Canada or whether that would be a really expensive Shipping and Handling cost.
Can I ask you one gross question……this is so gross and I can’t get it off my mind. Yesterday I was soaking and cleaning quinoa. I bought 50 lbs. organic quinoa and dry packed it in #10 cans. I am half way through one of the cans. Yesterday (after already having eaten the other half of the can) I found several mice droppings in the quinoa. It has been in a can in my deep freeze……so the droppings came in the quinoa. Do you just throw out your 141$ of Quinoa. I love Quinoa and I have to say this has been a little bit of a turn off! Have you had any similar experiences with grains……organic or not????
Oh wow, I can’t tell you to keep any product with rodent droppings in it, since Hantavirus is caused by that. How frustrating. I haven’t had that problem, though I’ve had some strange things in some 20-year old wheat I’ve been using (what looks like dried blue clay). Weird. Way to go preaching the Gospel of Green, Bev!!
Hi everyone,
Thank you for your useful comments. Just want to share my experience Vitamix 5200 vs Blendtec. Two weeks ago I went to Costco and they were demonstrating Vitamix so I purchased it. Didn ´t take it out of the box because I had been too busy. This weekend I went to Cosco again and they were demonstrating Blendtec. I was so impressed about the style of the Blendtec and the shorter design that would fit better in the kitchen and the 3hp I thought I had made the wrong purchase a couple of weeks earlier. So, I bought the Blendtec too and I have spent all Sunday comparing them at home. I will return the one that I like the least.
They both make great smoothies. The Vitamix tamper helps with the big stuff and you don ´t have to open the lid. The spatula fits the Blendtec better.
The size of the Vitamix jar is twice as big and that is important for me because I make smoothies for 5 people in my family.
When making hot soup the Vitamix gave me consistency more to my liking but that is a matter of mastering the Blendtec better I guess. But I don ´t worry as much about the cap blowing off in the Vitamix because the jar is way bigger.
I made hummus and the Blendtec did fine but I had to open the jar 8 times and use the spatula to get the stuff to go to the center so that it would continue blending. With the Vitamix I didn ´t even have to use the tamper once! That completely sold me on it.
I small thing that bothered me about the Blendtec was that it has a display that tells you at all times how many times you have used it. I wondered why it would give you that info and I read in some blog that when you reach 10.000 times the warranty will be cancelled and that that is done to prevent commercial use with it.
Anyway, after thinking that the Blendtec was like the Rolls Royce of blenders I think now that the clunky design of the Vitamix actually has a purpose.
Anyway, I will be in touch.
-Monica
Hi Robyn, Thanks for the information. I’m trying to decide between BT and VM… I’m attracted to the extra power of the BT but the recipe book is not as good from what I’ve heard. Also, can you tell me if you can make hot soup in the BT? I have heard from a friend that you can in the VM.
Thanks!
Did anybody from Singapore manage to buy the Blendtec Blender? It costs nearly $1K to get it from here! I tried asking the ebay vendor but he told me the 110V would ruin the motor, even with a converter. Apparently he had asked Blendtec USA about this and that’s what they said. But aren’t the ones sold here also imported from the US? This is confusing.
I know for sure it won’t be covered under warranty if we buy it from outside Singapore though… Gosh…
I just brought a Blendtec at Costco for $379.99+tax. My aunt has the Vitamix. After spending 10 mins. researching which one is better, it seems to be the same. It all depends what you want your powerful blender to handle and do. Here’s a quick breakdown I can see.
Blendtec:
Pro: 1 container for both wet and dry blending
Con: No tamper
Vitamix:
Pro: Tamper!
Con: separate containers for wet and dry blending
I think Blendtec is slightly cheaper. I make ice blended drinks A LOT and frustrated by my cheapie blender that can’t blend ice well. I saw the rep. at Costco demonstrate different blending and I like the option of making my own low fat/low cal. ice cream!
And to answer “Guy” from 2 posts earlier, yes.. you can blend hot soups with BT.
I hope I won’t regret this purchase and like my aunt’s Vitamix better!
Actually, just used my aunt’s Vitamix… making the same blended drinks. Sure the tamper is cute but the ice still get stuck at times… and the adjusting speed didn’t help much… I would still say.. between the 2 blender.. they are about the same. I’ll be happy with either. In terms of cleaning.. Blendtec is a little easier. And they are right. The Vitamix is taller/bigger/slight uglier.
hey Robyn,
I like your blog. You clearly know what you’re doing.
I figure you are probably networked, and a good person to ask:
I own the domain name BlenderGuy.com. Do you know anyone who is interested in selling blenders who might be interested in buying the name BlenderGuy.com?
Brandon
Hi Robyn:
Thank you for sharing your insights. My family’s idea of vegetables have been french fries and ketchup. So I am really excited about the opportunity to get so much nutritious into us all with the smoothies. I have gone back forth at least five times today as to whether to purchase the VitaMix 5200 or the Blendtec. Just when I thought I would buy the Blendtec, I read a number of comments that its blade design does not bring down and circulate the food as does the VitaMix. Anyone have feedback on this?
When we saw the VM the rep put in fruits with the skins demonstrating the benefits of nutrients in the skin of the fruits and vegetables. We noticed that the BT suggests that the fruit and veggies be cut up peeled t Does that mean that it doesn’t have as much blade power to pulverize the skins?
hi robyn, just found your site and blog while searching for information on blendtec and vitamix as I am in the market for them. I first want to say this is a great site full of great information (pros and cons) and while I was actually leaning towards the vitamix, I just found the blendetc website with videos of making things in it and I’m really impressed. I do most of my dry stuff in my cuisinart (just got it!) and only need the blender for the wet stuff like ice cream, soup and smoothies, so the blendtec makes sense for me. I also like the fact that it automatically turns off when it is done blending! OMG…I don’t have to stand over it like a mother hen! Thanks again for the great info (and for everyone with all the great comments)! Lisa
Looking to invest in a 3 hp blender and have it narrowed down to
BendTec HP3A or VitaPrep3.
Appreciate the feedback in this forum.
I haven’t read an answer to the question about BlendTec being extremely loud.
Does anyone that has worked w/ both BT & VitaPrep3 have input about
which is louder?
Thanks, this will really help w/ my decision.
All I can say is get the Vita-Prep 3 (3HP) Why?
Okay this is from the Vita-mix website:
Q: What processes require 3 HP?
A: No particular process requires 3 HP. Vita-Mix has determined that there is a benefit to a 3 HP motor in commercial applications that produce hundreds of blends of thick purees and thick drinks in a single day. Vita-Mix 3HP Commercial machines are designed to be used under a significantly higher daily cycle count and heavier loads than our household machines which do not require 3 HP.
Q: Does a 3 HP motor guarantee better performance?
A: 3 HP offers better performance in commercial applications requiring continuous heavy load capability. This type of performance is not needed or beneficial for household machine performance.
Well I was going to get the 5200, but I have now changed my mine.
If we take their 100 cycles a day that would be 100 x 5 days (maybe you are closed two days)= 500 cycles a week x 52 weeks = 26,000 cycles a year x 3 years = 78,000 cycles that Vita-mix would project the Prep 3 to work without a problem. Hmmm? Let see Prep 3 with 78,000 cycles or the 5200 with its 7665 cycles. Hmmm? Well I think we have the clear winner. Okay, Okay lets say the Prep 3 only made it 1/3 of its projected cycles. That would still be 26,000!! Wow! They even say, “hundreds of cycles a day” and where I come from, that is at least two hundred. I don’t think, I need to beat a dead horse. Bonus, you get extra HORSEPOWER! Well there it is. I just took some black and white, a little basic math and guess what? That equals PREP 3 for Me, Hee, Hee!
I hope my sort a fuzzy logic helps others.
P.S. shhhhh! Don’t tell everyone. Laughing
any update on the noise issue? Can I blend a whole apple, core and all in the Blendtec, what about grinding coffee beans in the total blender? Thanks, Mel