The Core

Here ya go, Dras

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2013/10/vitamix_a_history_of_the_company_and_analysis_of_the_blender_s_appeal.single.html

Dras & Amy travel with theirs.  They evangelized while on the trip to Mackins last May.  We bought one. 

>100%

Can confirm. 10/10.  I like the morning smoothie just fine.  I posted the article for Dras because it is a well-written confirmation of vitamix evangelistic zealots.  I mix my diet with low-carb, though.  Works OK for weight maintenance, but that's like mixing liberals with tea-partiers.

>new model

Yeah, they say it sounds less like a chainsaw.  Down to lawnmower, maybe?  That'd be good.  I'm sure the people in the rooms next to you at the hotel were all WTF!! when you fired that boy up, hhh. <== Note the 'hhh' Chunk, this is the real me and not the pseudo-me.

>liquifying any meat yet?

No, but I did discover just throwing meat in the rice cooker and hitting the button. Damn, it works great!  Even easier than sous vide.  We worked our way into rice-cooker alternate cooking on our own and thought we had invented a new thing.  See how it's done, Chunk? ==> ...but then one of my daughters looked online and found a whole buncha people were doing it, recipes and everything.  I don't use recipes, preferring the 'mad scientist' method.

I went back and forth on the Vitamix (or Blendtec) for years. I had a cheap blender ($40). It was fine actually. Bought a "premium" blender. Destroyed it in about 5 months. Now I have a Vitamix. I don't travel with it, but we *almost* brought it last year to Pubcon + Grand Canyon.

All in all, I haven't for an instance regretted the purchase. I think there are other options that are as good, but every option I know of that is similarly good is similarly expensive.