Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I originally replaced my Breville Hemisphere blender (which I loved) with BlendTec because I wanted to take my blending to the next level, so I gave my Breville to my daughter and bought a Blendtec. Unfortunately, I discovered the hard way, lesson number one, not all high speed blenders were created equal. Lesson number two, blogger reviews are often affiliates and profit from their reviews, so might not be entirely accurate. So after a year of BlendTec's 64 oz container that can't be filled more than half way . . .investing in their jumbo "wild side" 90 oz container that STILL holds less than Vitamix's 64 oz container, I sold my BlendTec and bought this Vitamix and couldn't be happier. Gone are the days of hoping I could get just a "little" more than 32 oz of hot soup into the container before puréeing . . .only to watch astonished as the lid flies off and soup coats my upper cabinets in a creamy mess. See that raised lid and those nifty clips on the Vitamix lid? There's a REASON Vitamix is most often used in restaurant kitchens. The ability to put everything into the blender . . .filled to capacity, turn it on and walk away is absolutely priceless. That feature right there, made this blender more than worth the extra cost. Both blenders do a great job blending . . .but I don't have to pre-chop everything like I did with my Blendtec. But even more importantly . . .while not exactly heavy at 13 pounds, Vitamix IS about five pounds heavier than BlendTec. That added weight gives my Vitamix much more stability. While walking across the counter wasn't usually a problem with the BlendTec . . .that was ONLY because I had to baby sit the thing to keep it from happening or having the lid fly off. The Vitamix is completely stable and doesn't move from where its placed no matter what I throw in it. You've no doubt read that this blender will fit under your upper cabinets . . .MEASURE if that's important to you. Older homes are more likely than not, going to have upper cabinets too low to accommodate the machine with container installed. It doesn't fit under mine, but I'm STILL happier than I was with the Blendtec that did fit. The additional 48 oz container fits perfectly and the others are stored in the cabinet above. Some reviewers ding the fact Vitamix advises against placing the container and lid in the dishwasher, but what's easier than a self cleaning blender? A difficult to clean appliance is a worthless dust catcher. To clean, all I have to do is fill half full of water, add a drop of dish soap and turn the dial to the clean mode. No waiting two hours for the dishwasher to cycle through and my dishwasher is freed up for other items. Making this product BPA free and shatterproof has its trade off . . .I'm more than happy to spend ten seconds adding water and soap to clean than I'd be were this dishwasher safe but contain BPA which is proven to be harmful. With regard to sound, I've noticed that both the 64 oz and 48 containers, with their square outer corners are remarkably more quiet than when the 32 oz wet or dry containers are used. The 32 oz containers fit inside the brackets while the 48 and 64 fit outside those brackets. Since the other Vitamix models come with containers that fit inside those brackets, that would make them noticeably louder. Not sure if that's what makes this model more quiet or not . . .but since the 48 oz container is readily available and fits all home models on the market, it's worth considering and I'd be interested to hear from others regarding container noise. The only negative thing I have to say . . .isn't about the blender but rather the included cook book. It's nicely bound and full of great ideas . . .but not, in my opinion, well executed. Every recipe I've tried so far, had to have a major seasoning adjustment. It seems the chefs must be used to preparing bland baby food. In short, I wish I'd not been turned off by the Vitamix price tag to begin with and just taken the plunge. The lesson cost me an extra $900 that I could have saved had I just purchased the Vitamix to begin with. I couldn't be happier with this purchase. *** UPDATE *** I've been making my own peanut butter since upgrading from the a Breville to the Blendtec. However, I just tried it in the Vitamix and WOW! No oil necessary . . .not a drop! The only way to get peanut butter in the 3 horse power BlendTec was to add oil . . .not so with this 2.2 hp Vitamix. Straight peanuts, nothing added. Simply amazing!