I love this machine. It is an incredible blender. I researched the living daylights out of which blender to buy, and what the best blender was for the price. I decided to go with a Vitamix, and decided that this reconditioned one for under $400, was the best value for the money.
The vitamix is great because it can blend just about anything to a smooth texture Since it does have a variable speed rotary knob, you can set it on 1 or 2 and chop things as well, like onions, or celery, or to add a bit of texture to something you just blended. (Just lower the speed and add some items at the end.) It makes snow cones, slushies, smoothies, soups, sauces, and frozen desserts (think sorbet) in seconds, and it makes a mean margarita. My old Oster always left chunks of ice. Not this one.
You get a 5 year warranty rather than the 7 years you'd get if you bought new, but for $75, you can buy an extra 3 year warranty from Vitamix and still come out ahead--if you feel the need for a warranty that is longer than 5 years. This model has the tall skinny container, just like the commercial versions. I figure all those restaurants cannot be wrong. It also has the presets, which some people dismiss as unnecessary, but I find to be rather useful. I can get a smoothie started and clean up while it runs through its paces. I also use the smoothie setting to clean the machine. The more expensive new generation machine with presets has a cleaning function, so I was inspired to give it a go. It works great. There are advantages to the new generation machines in that they are more likely to fit beneath your upper cabinets, and easier to scrape food out of from around the blades, but the disadvantages are that they require more food to process when making small quantities, and the tamper doesn't get as close to the blades, so it can be a little tricky to get frozen things blended. I think anyone would be very happy with any Vitamix, but this one seems to me like the best combination of features for the price. The OXO jar spatula and the iSi Basics Silicone slim spatula are both long enough and narrow enough to be perfect for the narrow container of this blender. I would give the edge to the OXO though.
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- Vitamix E310 Explorian Blender, Professional-Grade, 48 Oz. Container, Black$6.99 shippingAmazon's Choicein Countertop Blenders
Worth the upgrade
I just got my vitamix today. I got a certified refurbished model. I don't know why I suffered through all those terrible blenders before. My last blender was a Ninja pro and it was worthless in comparison to this. I like the preset modes, you can just set it and walk away. I'm hoping it lasts me a long time cause it was a but of an investment but man is that smoothie I just made delicious!Update 1/5/20 - I have now had the Vitamix for nearly 2 years and it is great. I had been through other crappy blenders before saving the money and getting this and I feel dumb for spending money on the crappy ones. I have used this for smoothies on average about once a day for the past 2 years, sometimes more because the fam likes smoothies now too. I've recommended it to soooo many people, especially considering I got a refurbished model and it was less than $300. Can't beat it!
