Customer Reviews

Vitamix 1365 CIA Professional Series, Ruby

5 star:		(68)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

However, please be aware that unit cannot handle heavy loads that thicken quickly. Be sure there is plenty of liquid if used on high speed. Unit twice in two weeks shut down on me, once for 8 hours because the ingredients thickened quickly (potato-leek soup). I had to finish recipe in my food processor. Because of this sensitivity, if I had to do it over again, I would put my investment elsewhere.

After about a week of use, I feel that I am qualified to write intelligently about this blender. I am very sure, and experienced that this very expensive blender will do what most others won't. However, there are some issues I have with the CIA. My first issue is that it has a variable speed control, but yet the manual says not really to use it for too long, or you could overheat the 2 HP motor. You are supposed to start in low, and as rapidly as you can take it all the way to the top speed on the variable control, and then switch it out of variable and into HIGH position.

I believe the variable control is there just to keep us from stripping the teeth off of the drive shaft that goes into the gear for the chopping blades. If you just turn it on in high, you will get a grinding noise. This is one of my main complaints.

The other complaint is how you can't run it too high, or you can't run it at too low, or you risk shutting the device off for up to 8 hours while the protection "resets", or you can burn the motor up.

Perhaps a lower speed, higher torque motor would be better. Or a motor with dual windings, one set for high speed, and one for low speed, high torque grinding.

High speed motors(37000 RPM, 240MPH) need many more of windings, that necessitates thinner wires that won't carry as much current without overheating. Which will cause the device to shut down, and smell hot(sound familiar).

High torque, lower speed motors have less windings, with thicker wires(which carry more current) without over heating.

I would like a tighter mesh on the gears that connect the carafe to the base, and a high torque, low speed setting that can run indefinitely.

All that said, the device can certainly grind up things that others can't, or at least not easily. Nuts, frozen bananas, etc. I have personal experience with this.

I also really like the 7 year warranty, and Vitamix gets good reviews on service. They are also listed by the Better Business Bureau as having a rating of A+, and have been members since 1967. [...]

I will update after some major time, and use and give feedback about reliability.

It gets only 3 stars for the reasons I have explained, which I think are kind of a crappy design in that I don't like the nob/button combo, and that I have read reports of these shutting down on people for WAY longer
than the manual says.

Hint: It has been said that the reason the unit overheats on low, is because the fan doesn't spin fast enough on low. Well, put the fan on a separate motor, and either leave it on high all the time the motor is running, or use a thermocouple with a circuit to control speed of the fan based on temperature.

Of course, I don't really believe the slow fan is the reason the blender over heats. I think it is because at low speeds, you tend to try and use more torque, which tents to stall the blades, making more current flow through the very high gauge windings of the high speed motor.

Mark :)

Necessity or Luxury: Depends on if you have experienced it (& if you plan on using it regularly)

As a guy who takes his smoothies and soups very seriously, it is a necessity for me. While some might argue about the price (Covers the purchase of an average blender every year into perpetuity if purchase price is invested in an annuity), I find comparisons to other blenders moot as the results from the Vitamix is not reproducible by an average blender (no strawberry/blackberry seeds in your smoothie, no bell pepper seeds in your soup). And, cleaning takes seconds!

The Motor of the Vitamix 5200 is the same as the CIA Commercial blender and costs a little less. The CIA edition comes with an exhaustive recipe book and a CD. Did I mention the blend sound reminds me of a revving Ferrari? (All the more reason to go RED!)

The Vita Mix 1709 is what a blender should be, period.
It's not cheap, but holds with the maxim: "You Get What You Pay For". I watched hot soup being made
right there in the Vita Mix on youtube. It's true ! It will do that, and quickly.
The unit is very well made and I anticipate years of continuous use ( I'm using it every day and swear by it ).
As a juicer, it's great as well. There is no filtering-out the pulp as with a single-purpose, dedicated juicer.
But that's good from a health standpoint - you literally get the whole fruit or vegetable and thus retain vitamins
and minerals that you would be discarding if you used a true juicer. If you don't like "pulp", it's simple to
strain the juice ...
With one good knife, the Vita Mix and a Cuisinart processor I can accomplish more in my kitchen than I ever
dreamed possible.

This is my second vitamix... one for the office and one for home. Just simply awsome. I use it to make my Boku superfood smoothies in the morning! A little trick... if you are using protein powders or other powders, put those ingredients in first before other solids and liquids... this avoids any messy powder "gunkying" on the side of the mixer.

Yes, it's expensive, but you're just not going to get this kind of performance out of your average consumer blender. There is a difference!

I used my old blender every day to make my morning smoothie and it crapped out on me after a couple weeks. Even when it was working, I had to blend for a while to get the fruit broken down sufficiently, shaking the whole thing every now and then when air would build up around the blades. With the Vita-Mix, I turn the dial to 4 for 30 seconds, then max it out for another 30 seconds, and I'm done!

Clean-up was also a headache with my old blender. Taking apart the blade assembly was a hassle (not to mention hazardous). Since the Vita-Mix requires no disassembly to clean, I run some soapy water over it when I'm done and clean-up is over!

I've read some reviews claiming the blender is loud. At low power (an option you won't have on the majority of less expensive blenders), the Vita-Mix is actually extremely quiet. At max power, it's definitely loud. News-flash: all blenders are loud. Believe it or not though, it's still quieter at max power than any blender I've ever owned. And the motor sounds much smoother and less high pitched than the tiny motors in other blenders, so it's easier to bear.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This blender DOES come with a tamper, despite that not being listed anywhere on the product page. I made the mistake of assuming one wasn't included and ordered a separate one.

So, if you've got the money and you want a blender that you can rely on, what are you waiting for? Buy this now!

We bought one of these 4 months ago and it has been one of the best small kitchen appliances we have ever had. We always start the blender on the lowest setting then turn it up to the highest setting, as the company recommends, so it doesn't overheat. (I've been told the fan on the motor doesn't cool as well on lower speeds) Ours has never overheated or failed to do what it was designed to do despite being used at least twice a day. We were surprised at how well it performs on even rock solid frozen fruits and vegetables. We freeze pineapple slices, mangos slices, bananas, spinach, strawberries, medjule dates, grapes, oranges etc. in Ziploc freezer bags. When it's time for a smoothie you can throw them in the blender directly from the freezer. Add a little water so it's not impossible to get your smoothie out of the pitcher when you're done, and turn it on. The blender has enough power to effortlessly turn everything into a kind of sorbet.

The biggest benefit to us has been the weight loss and my wife's drop in cholesterol level. Her physician was insisting that she start a cholesterol lowering drug but she convinced him to let her try to lower it through a change in diet. When she went back to get her blood work done he was flabbergasted. We have tried to cut out as much white sugar and high fructose corn syrup as possible and this machine helps make that possible. The other thing it does is allow the use of frozen ingredients so you don't have to constantly be going to the grocery store to buy produce. We tried using a standard blender but it simply didn't have enough power or the reliability to handle large amounts of frozen food. I highly recommend the Vitamix, especially if you like smoothies.

First of all, I ordered the VitaMix Pro through Amazon and was surprised at how quickly it was delivered, though I did regular shipping. I've had the VitaMix for almost a month now and have used it at least once every day, and sometimes more. I love it; it's a great product, and using it has become a part of my everyday routine. Since receiving our VitaMix, my husband and I have been drinking a quart of green smoothie daily (based on the book "Green for Life") and it's amazing how fast all the fruit and veggies are turned into very smooth liquid. The taste is surprisingly good! There are so many uses. I have also blended for recipes, made malts, fruit smoothes, etc., and have had great luck with all. I highly recommend this product!

This thing does everything they promised and more. Totally exceeded my expectations. I've been curious about Vita-Mix for years, but was always put off by the sense of "as seen on TV" I always got from their advertisements, and the fact that I never see them in retail stores (OK - and the price). Lately, though, I've started seeing them on major cooking shows and in use by the celebrity chefs so I thought I'd give it a try since I knew Amazon would take it back. All I can say is, "WOW!!". The first night I had it I literally threw a few cans of tomatoes, black beans, some garlic, a roasted red pepper, etc. into the bowl, spun it up for 6 minutes, and had one of the most delicious (and piping hot) bowls of soup I've ever enjoyed. Incredible. Also, it gives new meaning to the word "smoothie". Even with walnuts, flax seed and fruits with "pips" like raspberries the consistency of the final product is like a milkshake rather than finely crushed ice. Oh, and I ground my own whole wheat flour from wheat berries in under a minute. Buy one now!!

I still have my old Vitamix from about thirty years ago. It has a metal canister with a black plastic spout at the bottom to dispense the contents so that you can taste while you are blending. It still works as well as it did thirty years ago. I gave it to my sister and bought the new one so that I can see what and how much is inside. Fantastic product! Lots of power. Easy clean-up. I actually use it everyday. I would give it six stars.