The Vitamix is definitely worth it! I've had several other brands through the years and none have even been comparable. A Vitamix doesn't just blend, it pulverizes. It's a blender, juicer, food processor, and grinder in one. We use ours several times a day (we're raw foodists): smoothies, juices, soups, sauces, nut butters and milks, guacamole, frozen desserts...etc. and have never had a single complaint. This thing can literally handle anything you can throw in it. They also come with a free 7 year warranty in case you somehow manage to break it. (But it's built like a tank, so I doubt you could.) You can also do a 30 day risk-free trial, if you want to test one out. They are a bit expensive, but you can at least get free shipping, normally $25(!!!) through affiliate codes like the one here: http://rawblends.com/vitamix-blender Here is a link that might be useful: Free Shipping Coupon Code

Sorry to revive an old thread, I've not been around much, but wanted to comment. Lately, I've been counting calories (Livestrong.com has a very intuitive calorie counter/ food tracker) and juicing to reduce weight and increase nutrients. I make carrot, apple, and spinach juice daily. It looks awful, but it tastes great. Spinach and carrots are the only vegetables I juice, but they have a lot of nutrients. I juice a lot of fruit too, watermelon, grapes, pineapple, it's all great! I have a Juiceman Jr. centrifugal juicer and it is what is right for me... it's fast and pretty easy to clean and does a good job. I have a friend with a Vitamix, and he say that it has changed his life. I tried to juice in my Blender (I have the "under 200 dollar Breville" someone above mentioned, but I didn't like the pulp/fiber in the juice. I'll get my fiber elsewhere, I want the juice smooth. That Breville has been nothing short of amazing by the way for anyone considering it. Terrapots, did you make a decision yet? I'd recommend an entry level juicer first to see if it's something you're going to enjoy and stick with since you aren't ready to invest in a Vitamix. Blenders are so much easier to clean than juicers though, there just aren't as many parts!

Tricia I hope you enjoy your new tool and hope it helps with your ability to enjoy food. I usually hang out in kitchens and appliances. I love my Vitamix and use it to make smoothies, soups, pasta sauce, hummus and more. I do recommend ear plugs. My husband bought me shooting plugs that are connected with a solid band. They really help. My smoothies are a lot of fun(but not as crazy as my friend who makes and drinks his 21 ingredient 64 oz smoothie everyday) Mine vary but I start out with 8-12 oz water Squirt of cherry juice concentrate. Add a squirt of lemon or lime juice. 1/2 apple Carrot, celery, parsley, and a quarter of a beet(improves color) Then I add some greens - spinach, lettuce, kale or chard - I freeze leftover greens, tomatoes etc and either use fresh or frozen) A few tomatoes (grape size), cuke or summer squash. Now for some sweet I froze lots of fruits and just open the freezer and add a variety. Blueberries are great for color - so almost always add them 2 strawberries, chunk of pineapple, grapes, peach, cranberries raspberries or whatever you want Scoop of protein powder. I run it on smoothie and check the consistency. I add ice if needed and run it again. This lasts a couple days unless DH joins me. Soups are one of my favorites. I use the Vitamix recipes for several of them. Have fun!

I got mine in an auction box for $8, but had to buy a lid and a new gear, which my husband replaced. I find that it does some things well and others not so well. My grandson and I made hummus in it and it was a devil to get out. Mine doesn't seem to have a "self clean" feature and so some stuff in the bottom is hard to remove. It's LOUD, as plllog mentioned. I pureed raspberries this weekend and it actually chopped the seeds up small enough that they couldn't be entirely sieved out, which I did not like. It'll puree faster than you realize, so things can easily be over-processed. I had to watch a YouTube video to find out the "correct" way to turn it on, because there is a specific procedure to follow. Yeah, so you need instructions to run the blender. Ahem. Oh, and it'll crush ice like a champ, but you'll be deaf for three days after trying that, trust me. But, you can actually buy parts for it and if you are handy you can repair it, as opposed to just chucking the old $20 blender in the trash because it's not worth fixing. I hate to throw things away, I like the more ecologically sound and sustainable option of fixing it and keeping it out of the landfill. I used it to make the custard for ice cream over the weekend and even the cream cheese blended in completely. I've never used it to make soup and am not really interested in doing that, but the grandkids love it for smoothies because it's really, really smooth, no chunks of anything to clog up the straw. I would imagine that greens would pulverize similarly but I dislike smoothies of any type and the kids would never go for green ones, LOL. I don't really like shakes either, so there's that. And it appears to be made of cast iron, as I've already dropped it on the ceramic tile floor and didn't break it. Anyway, with my very limited usage it does some things well and some things are better done in the food processor, but the worst part about it is the noise. Annie