I actually owned a smoothie store and have used both Blendtec and Vitamix. While I like both brands I prefer the overall performance of the Blendtec over Vitamix. I was sending in the Vitamix more often then the Blendtec for repairs. When choosing a model for my home I did consider both. My main reason for purchasing the Blendtec wise the height, reliability, overall footprint , weight and it is easier to clean. The footprint is very small so it won't take lots of space on the counter. The height is great for pushing it under your cabinets and it isn't heavy so you can store it away very easily.With blenders there is always the chance that liquid spills out and gets on the base. The Blendtec is very easy to clean because everything is sealed. There are no small gaps for the liquid to go into. I find its operation to be fairly quiet compared to cheaper brands. It's a blender so it does make noise though

I've had this blender for almost a year, and have been very satisfied with everything about it.

First, the following is information that I put together as I was making my own purchase decision.

Amazon has this same product available, in different colors and with different combinations of blending containers, in a bunch of separate listings (and in both the "Home and Kitchen" sections as well as the "Appliances" section) and from different sellers (both Amazon itself, and third party vendors). This makes it difficult to sort out what is available on Amazon, and it also makes it very inconvenient to read through the reviewer comments since they are not all collected in one entry.

To help sort through all of this the following is what I found in doing my own research on this product:

- I believe that essentially there are basically two Blendtec models currently listed on Amazon differing only in the number of cycles that are preprogrammed:
--- One model is the "Total Blender" as designated by Blendtec. It comes packaged with either the "FourSide" blending jar, or the "WildSide" blending jar (see below for explanation of differences), or both.
--- Various colors are available (black, white, or red)
--- The blender has a 1560 watt / 3 peak HP motor
--- It comes with a 7 year warranty (the various Amazon entries have different warranty statements. My blender states 7 year warranty clearly on the box, and on the product registration card included with the blender).
--- The second model is the "Home" or HP3A model, which is not shown on the Blendtec website but is available on Amazon from various sellers. This model has the same base and motor and includes 25 preprogrammed cycles (see below for more detailed explanation).
--- I checked the Blendtec website as well, and they also offer a new "Designer Series" which has the same motor specs but a more sleek design and different controls, as well as a more expensive "Tom Dickson Extreme Blender" which is about twice the price and must be a monster as it has a 2400 watt motor and requires a special 20 amp circuit to be provided. I don't see either of those models being offered today on Amazon although that can always change of course.

- the two blending containers are:
--- "FourSide", which is square with a "nearly 3 inch" blade. It is marked on one side to 4 cups / 32 oz, and on the adjoining side to 1000 ml. The container is narrower at the bottom and widens significantly at the top.
--- "WildSide", which is 5-sided with a 4" blade. It is marked on one side to 36 oz, and on the adjoining side to 1000 ml, but these markings go only to about the halfway point on the container side and it will clearly hold significantly more volume than the FourSide container. The sides of the container continue straight from bottom to top and it is much wider in the lower 3/4 or so than the FourSide. The "5-side" designation comes from the corner just under the handle being flat rather than a pointed corner, so the 5 sides are not equal width. The reason for this design according to the Blendtec materials is that it will shift the center of blending to improve the blending for some types of recipes.
--- Both containers have the same opening size at the top and take the same lid, which is a heavy rubber lid with a square center opening that can be used to add material while blending, or can be closed using the plastic stopper provided
--- The two containers are the same height and will fit together nicely to save space, one inside the other
--- Both blending containers are very heavy plastic and very well made.
--- Bottom line is that both containers are reasonably big, with the "WildSide" container significantly larger than the "FourSide"

This blender is manufactured in the U.S. The included DVD provides a short sales type of presentation on the company including descriptions of the quality of the motor used in the blenders.

This is a nice looking blender on the countertop. It has a modern appearance and the touch pad controls and digital display are well done. (I admit that the white color of our unit would not be my first choice now that I have it in the house. I would prefer either black - which is available, or chrome - which is not). It is not unusually tall (like the Vitamix blender which is its main competitor) and fits nicely on the countertop in the kitchen. The display shows time remaining if a pre-programmed cycle is being used. It will also display the number of times you have operated the blender (similar to industrial equipment that records hours of usage) and is used to display unit status as well as overload or over-temperature conditions if they occur. The power cord is of modest length at 36" and is very heavy and has a nice velcro strap to keep it neat. The main on-off switch is on the back of the blender.

When you use the blender to prepare a fruit smoothie, you simply push the pre-programmed button and it works perfectly. The blender does jump a bit at times and I have noticed other reviewers mentioning that they would like the blender to be heavier in order to prevent such movement. In all of our uses of the blender to date it has worked faultlessly. The containers are particularly easy to clean after use.

- I have noticed that some Amazon entries for these blenders state "6 pre-programmed cycles", and some state "25 pre-programmed cycles". The unit on this page has 6 pre-programmed cycles. This difference initially caused me some confusion as I was researching the blender and trying to make my own purchase decision, and it is not clearly explained in the product information on Amazon. What I learned is this:
--- For the Total Blender model, there are 6 pre-programmed automatic cycles, for smoothies and other recipes. If you go to the Blendtec website you can view the owners manual for the blender and it has a nice illustration of each programmed cycle, showing how it speeds up and slows down over time for each program. (The smoothie program for example runs for 25 seconds and operates the blender at 8 different speeds for different periods during the full programmed cycle).
--- For the HP3A or Home unit, there is a menu of 25 programmed cycles that you can choose from, and there are four buttons (labeled 1-4) which can be programmed to use any of the 25 cycles so that whichever you use most frequently can be easily selected. Beyond these preprogrammed cycles, you can manually control the speed using the "up" and "down" buttons on the blender, and there are 10 available speed settings. Once the speed is set, it will stay at that speed for 50 seconds unless manually stopped. You can also manually "pulse" the blender and it will operate for as long as you hold down the pulse button.
--- Other than the programming difference and number of cycles programmed, there is no difference between the blenders - the base, motor size and power rating, and so forth are all identical.

There are a few entries on Amazon that for whatever reason have collected the greatest number of customer reviews, and there is a lot of good discussion available including various people who have owned both the Blendtec and the Vitamix blenders, so I recommend taking a look at the following entries on Amazon where these reviews can be located:

- Blendtec Home The Professional's Choice Total Blender is the same blender, white, with FourSide container, and as I write this it has 271 reviews posted.
- Blendtec WildSide HP3A Blender is the same blender, black, with WildSide container, 51 reviews currently posted
- Blendtec TB-631-20 Total Blender FourSide, Red is the same blender, red, with FourSide container, 51 reviews currently posted

My own conclusion after reading through many of the other reviews is that both the Blendtec and Vitamix blenders are very good and much more powerful and capable than the typical blender most people use. The Blendtec has the following advantages in my opinion:
--- Blendtec is shorter and will fit on the kitchen countertop without difficulty, whereas the Vitamix is quite tall and in some cases may not fit under your kitchen cabinets (note that since I initially wrote this review, Vitamix has addressed this issue by bringing out a new model with a shorter profile).
--- Blendtec has pre-programmed cycles and touchpad controls, as well as the ability to control speed manually. The basic Vitamix model (5200) is manually controlled only, while more expensive Vitamix models (6300, Professional) have some pre-programmed cycles as well.
--- Blendtec appearance is somewhat more modern and less industrial than the Vitamix

Finally, a couple of observations from my study of the reviewer comments on Amazon:

- some people are complaining that the lid leaks through the vent when blending, however more current reviewer comments are suggesting that the current product has a different lid which has solved this problem. My experience has been that this is not a problem and we have not had issues with the lid leaking.
- there are conflicting claims as to whether or not Starbucks and others use either Blendtec or Vitamix blenders. It seems clear that Starbucks has used both blender suppliers at one time or another. My conclusion from the reviewer comments is that Blendtec is currently used at Starbucks but I will check this myself and amend this review when I have done that

I had previously been seriously considering the Vitamix blender and have looked at them at local Williams-Sonoma stores. I was not even aware of the Blendtec when I was initially looking at the Vitamix but I was holding back in purchasing one due to the cost, the very industrial looking appearance, and the height issue. The Vitamix is also somewhat more expensive than the Blendtec. Once I became aware of the Blendtec, and I read through many of the other customer reviews, I was ready to purchase one. So far I am very satisfied with the purchase but there are many more recipes I look forward to trying with this blender and I hope that I am not disappointed.

By the way, Amazon can be quite amazing - they had my blender showing as "shipped" only 3 hours or so after I placed my order, and FedEx delivered it less than 48 hours later.

I've given this blender a 5-star rating partially based upon everything I've read about the unit, as well as our experience in using it for a short time. I would not have ordered it and spent so much money if I did not expect it to be an excellent machine - but we will see how it performs over time and I will update this as I have worthwhile information to add.

As a final comment, if you are considering this blender then I suggest that you keep an eye on Amazon's "Gold Box" daily specials. These Blendtec blenders often are offered for a very good discount from the normal Amazon price. That is how I purchased mine, and just the other day (7/31 or 8/1, can't remember exactly), I think they had two different Blendtec blenders on sale at different times (different colors, packaged with different containers).

I bought the Blendtec after losing my Vitamix in a move (later found.)

I really liked my Vitamix, and I still do. But when I lost it for a while, and did not want to spend the higher price it would have taken to replace, I decided to try the Blendtec. I primarily use my blenders for smoothies.

Pros:
1) Lighter and easier to move around, store in cabinets etc...
2) Creates a slightly "frothier" smoothie than the Vitamix did (blades are not sharp, they beat things into submission rather than slicing).
3) The smoothie program works perfectly for me. Although I do occasionally run it for a few seconds on manual after running the cycle.
4) Tamper free. Once in a while, I find that a hard cap will form high in the mixer that does not get blended during the smoothie cycle. I can usually tap the blender on the side a couple of times and get it back into the blade mix. I use frozen berries, I think this is just ice forming around them as I add liquids.
5) It does not look like a commercial appliance.
6) At least on the smoothie cycle, it is quieter than the Vitamix was when I used it to make smoothies. Still loud, but sounds more like a regular blender and less like a jet engine taking off.

Cons:
1) Being lighter than the Vitamix, it moves around more. This has not been a problem so far. I tend to hang onto it anyway, just like I did with the Vitamix.
2) It has a rubber (or something like rubber) seal inside the blender, below the blades, that you have to keep an eye on. It can disintegrate into your mix. I haven't experienced this, but bought it knowing about this in advance. If it becomes a problem I will replace the mixer top.

Overall I find it easier to use than the Vitamix. My wife and I have chosen to give the Vitamix to a family member so someone else can take advantage of it. It is an incredible blender, the Blendtec just works better for us.