Best Place to buy Blendtec Blender?

[wife2jason]

Have you seen any sales, even on shipping? This is my bday and Christmas! So excited. If you want to offer pros of Vitamix instead feel free. My research thus far has me w/ the Blendtec for fitting under counter and, more importantly, smooth wipe-down-able controls.

Thanks!
Allison

[AnnieNimIty]

AH! A blender! Yeah, I went over the Vitamix/blendtec debate too... I still don't have either, butI would buy a Vitamix. The warranty is really what sold me. 7 years with your machine even if it one of the demo refurbed ones, and you can buy an extra 3 years.
I think also it is preference with the knobs vs the flat surface. If you have ever used a keypad that is flat most of the time you can see where things get worn out, worn through, or where you can't read it any more depending on how much you use it.

As for purchase, I know Costco sometimes has good deals on Vitamixers, but otherwise buying direct is always easiest to me.

[WuWei]

Costco.

I bought our vitamix there because there are no shipping charges and if there is a problem, you can always return it to Costco directly.

They sell Blendtec at Costco also. They have traveling sales demo people periodically.

I like vitamix due to the variable, manual controls. The digital technology of the Blendtec seemed a bit too much like trying to program a DVD player. 'Choose 2 for soup, 4 for nut butter, do this then that to make dough', too complicated for me!

I bought the smaller vitamix container ($90 extra) and it fits under my cupboards. The tall container is rarely used and is stored in the pantry.

Also, the vitamix container was BPA-free. Blendtec may be now also, I believe.

HTH, Pat

[wife2jason]

Thanks Ladies. We don't have a Costco near us and at least online, Sam's only has the Blendtec available for order but neither in store. Hmmm... The Sam's Blendtec reviews were awful, for those comparing the two machines. I found just the opposite here, which is what pushed me to Blendtec:
http://www.greensmoothiegirl.com/rob.../best-blender/

Never thought about the push pad controls as a downside. I am SO messy in the kitchen. Seemed like a wonderful plus!

Argh! I really do appreciate the thoughts. Wish it was a little more cut and dry.

[TwilightJoy]

I was just coming here to post about the greensmoothiegirl website and the poster right before me did! I bought mine using greensmoothiegirl's link because then I got her book for free.

I love love love my blendtec. Seriously in love.

[MyLittleWarrior]

I love my Blendtec too. Size was more of a consideration for me when I made my decision, the blendtec pitcher is shorter and wider. I have a tiny kitchen, and it still doesn't fit under my cupboards, but then I have so little counter space I wouldn't leave it on the counter anyway. I think I found mine on Ebay, it was a demo model and had maybe 90 cycles on it when I bought it, but I got it for about $100 less then new. I don't often use the preprogramed settings. I mostly just use the up arrow to pick my speed, and blend until done.

[supergirlsmom]

I just bought my Blendtec through Bed Bath and Beyond. I was able to use their 20 percent off coupon and get free shipping. With tax, the purchase was $348 (I live in an area with outrageously high sales tax). This is the absolute best price I found, and I looked everywhere. The 20 percent off coupon only applies if you buy the blender in the store...so you'll need to go directly to the store, and then they will special order it for you. It took about 6 days for the blender to ship to me. You can check out the Blendtecs that Bed Bath and Beyond has on the BBB website. Good luck!

[wife2jason]

Originally Posted by supergirlsmom

I just bought my Blendtec through Bed Bath and Beyond.

This is brilliant. I have an email coupon for free shipping and 20% off online even. Just looked and they have Blendtec and the Vitamix 1365 CIA Professional Series. So either way, 20% off. Trying to figure out the difference in this Vita-mix and the 5200 now.

[swood]

I just saw the blendtec presentation at costco. According to the sales pitch, Blendtec is more powerful than vitamix (3 horsepower vs 2). It also has a lifetime warranty on the blade and coupling. (3yr standard warranty on the rest of the machine.) Also the fits-under-the-counter feature as mentioned above. The pitcher is made from BPA free polycarbonate.

She did make rice flour and corn flour in it which means you wouldn't need a grain mill if you wanted to do that. although I did notice that the flour was warm when she dumped it out of the pitcher... i wonder how hot it gets in there?

the preprogrammed features seemed like they might be a little constraining, but I thought I could just use a program "off-label" if I wanted to blend longer or whatever.

It looks like a nice machine. Also less expensive than vitamix? She said it is what they use at smoothie king and startbucks and what not. The home version just doesn't have the big cover.

One of the claims is that b/c the blendtec breaks things down "to the cellular level" that we can absorb the nutrients better. Is that true? Seemed slightly far-fetched b/c I just believe that God created us with the ability to get the nutrients we need from food before high-powered blenders were invented.

I'd be interested in others' comparisons of the two. In case I decide to buy one down the road!

[wife2jason]

One place I read that while the Blendtec does have a bigger motor, the results are not superior, thus it just uses more electricity?? Regarding the blending/chewing...chewing is very important to get the nutrients out of foods. One of the reasons I'm getting this is that I have a disabled dd who JUST started eating by mouth after 7 yrs tube-fed. She still doesn't chew well and takes some by tube as well. Blending is still second best to chewing but helps, to my understanding. Mixing food w/ the saliva is ideal.

One of my drawbacks to these nice blenders was the looks. They are ugly! The CIA red one from Bed, Bath was a little nicer looking to me.

The more I read, the more I decided both must be good machines. Nice to have options I suppose.