Blendtec Total Blender, WildSide Jar - Black

Powerful and High Quality
I've had this blender for almost a year, and have been very satisfied with everything about it.

First, the following is information that I put together as I was making my own purchase decision.

Amazon has this same product available, in different colors and with different combinations of blending containers, in a bunch of separate listings (and in both the "Home and Kitchen" sections as well as the "Appliances" section) and from different sellers (both Amazon itself, and third party vendors). This makes it difficult to sort out what is available on Amazon, and it also makes it very inconvenient to read through the reviewer comments since they are not all collected in one entry.

To help sort through all of this the following is what I found in doing my own research on this product:

- I believe that essentially there are basically two Blendtec models currently listed on Amazon differing only in the number of cycles that are preprogrammed:...

VitaMix vs. Blendtec Blenders
I recently bought a VitaMix 5200 Blender during a "roadshow" demonstration at Costco. I read a lot of reviews, watched a lot of side-by-side demo's of the VitaMix vs. the Blendtec Total Blender and it is true, comparing these two blenders can be very confusing. They both appear to be great expensive blenders and will both blend very well. A couple of things tipped the scale for me in favor of the Blendtec.
1) When I brought the VitaMix home and placed it on the kitchen counter, it was massive, much to large and tall to fit under a kitchen cabinet, and looked out of place unless you have a very large kitchen that can handle the sheer size of this blender. I was also not thrilled about the need to use the tamper to jam the food down into the blades. The Blendtec is shorter, fits under a cabinet, and the overall footprint of the machine is much smaller, yet powerful enough to blend any kinds of food, ( Blendtec 3 HP, VitaMix 2.1 HP motors). Also, no need to use a tamper, especially...

Great blender
I purchases this blender 5 months ago, and my wife and I love it. It is the right size as it fits easily under the cabinet on the counter and has a smaller footprint than the Vitamix. I only have the wildside mixing jar, but it works great for our smoothies. It actually blends a little too well as we sometimes end up with a thick "head" on top, depending on the material being blended. It also melts the ice I put in my "recovery" drinks if I let it go too long. The automatic controls are very nice and there is a button to hold down to run it if you need to do any extra blending or just throw something in for a quick spin. It is nice with two kids 4 and below to throw the stuff in, just hit a button, and walk away.

Also of importance, it is very easy to clean. Certainly easier than our old Oster "standard grade" blender. The Blendtec makes smoothie making fun/easy and the combined ease of use and ease of cleaning has certainly increased how often we would otherwise...

Click to Editorial Reviews