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
I have a Vitamix and it is awesome. I don't know about the money, but if you lined them up in a row, the others would be embarrassed:) RC, you of all people would appreciate this, because once you got this blender you would not see it as a blender anymore - you would see it as a challenge - the same way you might throw an extra big log in the wood chipper, you would be eying extra large uncut carrots and cucumbers, and it would handle them like a boss. It's also the only blender I ever had that if you add ingredients for soup and turn it on high, there is enough friction to not only make soup but serve it HOT, right out of the container.
100% BUY
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.
Uh oh, they have a new model. Don't tell Amy, maybe I can get a year or two more out of this one.
So, rc, have you tried liquifying any meat yet?
>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 am a real fan of the handheld Bamix blender.
http://www.bamix.com/en/
I don't think I've used my previous blender even once since I got the Bamix.
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.