 Let me begin by saying that I've used various qual ... Strengths: POWERFUL motor. Overall quality. 7 year warranty from a company that should be around.
Weaknesses: Price. Numerous flaws for a product that should have none.
Summary: 2004-09-17 21:24:00 Let me begin by saying that I've used various quality levels of blenders, from the prestige of Breville and Waring, to the well-known Oster, and all the way down to Wal-Mart's Back to Basics. All of them either broke or had some major annoyance to warrant not keeping them around. With that said, the next logical move was to purchase the Lexus/Mercedes of the blender world - the Vita-Mix 5000. No matter what they advertise, it *is* a blender, just one with a motor that allows it to make more recipes.
Unfortunately, the blender is far from the perfection that the hype leads you to believe. As soon as you unpack it to set it up on your counter, you immediately notice the first major flaw - a cord that is only two feet long! (Breville is the best here with a LONG cord and their patented easy pull-out plug)
In use, several other significant flaws surface. The blades could be better, such as the patented ones from Breville, generating more mixing action and better consistency in less time. The blades are attached to the jug with a steel cap that I worry might be prone to rust. The blender's variable setting has a nice feature that accelerates the blades slowly to the chosen speed; however, the high setting has no such feature. As soon as you turn it on high, ingredients will literally go flying straight up. Normally this isn't a problem in most blenders, but for some reason Vita-Mix had the ingenious idea of making a lid that doesn't completely seal the top!! So sure enough I've made two small messes already. Staying on the topic of the variable/high settings, the highest level on the variable dial IS NOT the equivalent of the high setting on the left switch. (Look at detailed picture to understand)
One last complaint is that the casing for the base is made out of cheap plastic that can get scratched easily... every other part is rugged just not the one that will take the most abuse!
Out of recognition that no one wants to read a multiple page review, I've focused on the significant flaws I found with the 5000. Rest assured there are a few other minor quirks that could, and could not, have been addressed by Vita-Mix.
But what about the positive aspects? There indeed are quite a lot, the major ones revolving around the powerful motor. The high setting has an interesting effect on any ingredients in that it seems to aerate them and add a very nice texture. (Probably why all the smoothie shops use this blender) The slow acceleration of the variable setting is great! In addition, the variable feature offers the possibility to run the blender in a quieter mode. The ruggedness and quality of almost all the parts is a nice touch. The instructional video and cookbook are welcome beginner tools. Top it off with the 7 year warranty and you know why the blender is the best there is.
As a disclaimer, I will say that I expect a $400 blender to be flawless, especially when Vita-Mix has had 8 decades to perfect it! Since it has so many flaws for a blender that should have none, I cannot justify giving it five-stars since it does not meet the expectations of a product for this price-level. Is it the best I've used? Yes. Would I recommend it? Maybe. Should you give it a try? Why not, you've got a 30-day full-refund policy where you'll only lose money on the return shipping.
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