Jas, I splurged after my divorce, and FINALLY bought a Vita Mix. I LOVE it. I don't use it every day, but when I use it, it is AWESOME! Last week, when my girlfriend visited, I even ground her coffee beans with it.

I bought mine when QVC had a sale. They had a sale since, and I bought one of my daughters one, and she loves hers, and uses it all the time. The other daughter had " a pretty good blender", and didn't want/need one... her words. Now, she wishes, she had let me buy her one, as she replaced her blender twice.

I brought my Vita Mix back from Florida of course!!!! I would never willfully give it up.

Save for it. Check QVC and other sites what sell discounted "special items" one day only... and you might get lucky and get one on sale. :)

Moni

Jasdip, have you tried a NutriBullet? I think that they are perfect pulverizing fruits and veggies for smoothies. They don't have the capacity or the versatility of the Vitamix, but I sure do love the smoothies and the ease of use.

I have the big Ninja and it doesn't seem to leave any lumps at all.

You might want to read the reviews on Amazon and Costco. There have been complaints about the new ones not being made as well as older models. I thought about getting one when I saw it demostrated at Costco, but I wouldn't use it enough to justify the cost.

Joann, I have the big one. It doesn't leave lumps, just flakes of kale, parsley etc that I have to chew. I find it irritating, and hubby hates that.

Costco has them often, but it's still a whack of change, albeit cheaper than other places, I'm sure.

Rhizo, I never thought of the NutriBullet. I should check them out.

We bought a Vitamix about 5 years ago and I love it. It's a refurbished model, which saved $$$ and came with the same warranty as new. I add flax seeds to all smoothies and it blends so well, they are completely pulverized and incorporated. Same when I add almonds or other seeds. A friend has a nutribullet and mostly loves it, but she does have occasional problems with greens and other things not blending smoothly. Don't know if that's just hers or a problem with all of them.

We have a 20 year old Vitamix and love it. We just purchased a refurbished newer model about 3 months ago for our daughter, and it's a lot nicer than our older model. We make a lot of smoothies.

I bought a refurbished one and it works really well...my smoothies are smooth.

All Refurbished Vitamix owners - is there a particular way/method/place to purchase this item? Thanks, all.

We bought our Daughter's refurbished model on the Vitamix website. It works so much better then our 20 year old model.

Via the website.

Jasdip have you tried pouring your drink thru a mesh strainer? That might help catch the flakes. I hate "chewing" my drinks too.

The only leaves I put in my smoothies is spinach. I just use an immersion blender and I don't have any problems with leftover bits that I have to chew. I put oat flakes in mine as well and they get mushed up as well.

I've had a NutriBullet for a couple of years and make 2-3 smoothies a week with it. Be sure to get the one that has at least a 900 watt motor though. It pulverizes pineapple, kale, spinach, and frozen peaches, plus a few ice cubes in seconds. That's my go-to ingredients most days, plus a bit of protein powder and Barlean's ground chia/flax/coconut seed. Plus the liquid of course. DH uses it for his Advocare to make sure it's mixed well.

If you decide to get one, don't forget to check the price at Bed Bath and Beyond with the 20% discount. I almost bought mine that way, but ended up buying at Costco. I'm glad I got it, but it is too tall for under my cabinet, so I am considering buying the shorter container. It is awfully expensive, though, so I'll probably just keep setting the container beside the motor.

We bought a VitaMix from Costco, several years ago. I love it, it's amazing. If you can swing it, and you know you'll use it, go for it.

We have, and love, a Blendtec. It has a 7-year warranty, and you can make ice cream in it as well as hot soup. Smoothies are really smooth -- no flakes or chunks.

paperweights, mine lives on the bottom shelf in one kitchen cabinet. My daughter had hers for the longest time with the blender jar upside down on the base. Now, she has it in a cabinet too.

My Kitchen Aid mixer is also in a lower cabinet. I truly value my counter space more for EVERYTHING rather than two appliances, even though, the toaster still lives on the counter.....

Moni