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- Powerful motor
- Excellent ice-crushing ability
- Heavy-duty durability
- Expensive
- Extremely loud
Experts say the Blendtec Total Blender does a great job making smoothies, pulverizing whole fruits and veggies and crushing ice -- the downside is noise. Reviewers say it's just about the noisiest blender you can buy. Owners say that if your choice is between the Blendtec and the Vita-Mix 5200 (*est. $450), you should note that the Blendtec is lighter and more compact. If space is not a concern, the Vita-Mix does a slightly better job with icy drinks. Like the Vita-Mix, the Blendtec can do more than make smoothies -- it can also make ice cream, grind wheat berries and coffee beans, as well as making soup.
The only publication that includes the Blendtec Total Blender in comparison testing is Consumer Reports; neither Cook's Illustrated nor Good Housekeeping has tested it. However, we found some short reviews of the Blendtec at Food & Wine Magazine and Wired.com (where editors did perform testing). We did find enough owner-written reviews on the Blendtec to make a good determination about its overall owner satisfaction. Amazon.com has the largest collection of reviews – more than 40 at the time of our visit.
BlendTec Extra Carafe / Jar for the BlendTec Total Blender (Blend-Tec) |
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Our Sources
1. ConsumerReports.orgDetails/Subscribe
Editors include the Blendtec Total Blender in regular testing and performance comparisons with other models, but Consumer Reports editors also give the Blendtec special consideration in this preview. Its ability to go beyond normal blender duties is assessed and compared with its main competitor, the Vita-Mix 5000 (now the Vita-Mix 5200).
Review: First Look: Blendtec Total Blender, Editors of Consumer Reports, Aug. 2007
2. Amazon.com
About 40 owners award the Blendtec Total Blender an average of 4.5 out of five stars. Owners say that this is a powerful, heavy-duty blender that can handle any vegetable or fruit, no matter how fibrous. Owners also report that the Blendtec is extremely noisy.
Review: Blendtec Home TB-621-BHM The Professional's Choice 1500-Watt Total Blender Reviews, Contributors to Amazon.com
3. Epinions.com
Two owners have posted five-star reviews of the Blendtec Total Blender. Both say that this blender is powerful and easy to clean, but both also complain that it's noisy.
Review: Blendtec HP-611-FLP / HP-621-FLP Blender Reviews, Contributors to Epinions.com
4. Wired.com
A short review tests the Blendtec Total Blender and judges "wired" (good) and "tired" (bad) features. Wired editors find it "absurdly powerful," but "expensive" and also "willfully ugly."
Review: Review: Blendtec Total Blender – Whippin' It Good, Danny Dumas, July 2007
5. Food & Wine MagazineDetails/Subscribe
This short blog post talks about the Blendtec blender, which is the editors' choice for use in their test kitchen, after having gone through a dozen Hamilton Beach blenders due to the rigors of testing recipes.
Review: Test Kitchen Essential Tool, Part 3, Grace Parisi, June 2008
