The FastDay Forum

I want to buy a blender, I really want a vitamix but there is no way I can afford one, so I am looking for a (much) cheaper alternative. I want to make nut butter and crush ice in the blender, so it needs to be quite strong, and not too big would be good as my kitchen is tiny.

Does anyone have one they would recommend?

What country are you in? It's no good me recommending a particular brand if for instance you're in the UK.

I have Vitamix and L O V E it. I bought mine thru QVC on monthly payments. So worth the investment also 5 year guarantee. This is a high quality multitasking kitchen appliance. After biting the bullet I can honestly say it is the best product I have ever purchased and I am a pessimist by nature. Look up QVC on net for your country they are just about everywhere.

Tara25 - I'm in France, but travel quite a lot so I could probably get most major makes...

Clairemarie - I'm jealous, I will get a vitamix 1 day but at the moment I'm just starting a business so it's not a good time to make big purchases, even if I spread the cost it wouldn't work until I get a more regular income.

Nicki congradulations on your new business venture! Before I purchased my Vitamix I did a little research on the web. Vitamix, blendtec and ninja were all compared and rated in that same order. I must be very honest and say that I decided on vitamix because it is an American made product with a long top rated history. Widely used in the restaurant industry as well. Sorry, I don't want you to feel bad but I am sipping on an ice cold watermelon slushy(loose granita)at the moment(vitamix of course)Did you know it not only blends but make soup and ice cream? Make my own mayonnaise and butter etc.

The old fashioned glass Waring Blender really does the job. It's very easy to clean.

Just been looking on the vitamix website, it looks amazing!!! Have to say though that the price in France is 639 euros, or over 800 dollars, it's so much cheaper in the US! Think I'll just have to wait until I can go to the US to buy a vitamix!

I'd die for a vitamix. I saw some demos at a blogging conference I went to last month, and they made the most amazing soup out of raw veggies, and when it was done it was hot and creamy, AND JUST MADE FROM VEG! And they made a coffee frappe with courgette in, and no word of a lie, you could neither see nor taste the courgette. Amazing.

So, my point is, if you can get a vitamix on monthly installments, then I'd do that, because nothing is ever going to really compare.

*sneers at my crappy blender*

*wishes for a vitamix*

I saw the Vitamix demo at the Ideal Home Show - one for my wish list!

I do however have a brilliant Bamix and would recommend it highly.

I'm a bit late to the party here, but...

I'd agree that you can't beat a VitaMix - mine is 18 years old, but lives in my flat with my ex-flatmate, whilst I live with the OH somewhere else :0

But maybe you *can* beat a VitaMix - these are wanabe-VitaMix beasties, and they seem to be getting pretty good reviews, at close to half the price:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Omniblend-Litre ... m_sbs_kh_3

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Commercial-Enpe ... p+maker%22 . The ENpee has 46/51 five star reviews (the rest are four star) - near unheard of in electronic gadgetry (?could be diddled, but think Amazon would jump on that). The ENpee also looks remarkably like a VitaMix.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vitality4life-P ... p+maker%22

I've just acquired a Cuisinart SSB1U soup maker from a local charity store (for £15 - I thought it was simply a blender - it retails at about £129) and, although it's a while since I've used my old VitaMix, I'd say that this gives a pretty good performance in comparison. Vegetable smoothies are quite definitely not as smooth (there's that incy bit of graininess to them), but they're still creamy and pretty darn close. And you don't need to have the beastie whizzing around to heat / make your soup - you just bung the integrated hot-plate on

Hadn't seen this, thanks Fatdog, I still haven't bought anything so I'll happily look through the blenders you've found and see if one of those won't do the job!

[Tracieknits]

My husband has a smoothie nearly every night with his nutribullet. I believe it works just as well as my sister in law's $500 vitamix.

http://www.nutribullet.com/site/index?g ... 4AodO1oANg

I'd assume amazon sells it in the UK - use the forum link!

[Tracieknits]

Here's the link - hopefully I did it properly so the forum gets credit.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_nos ... utribullet

It's GBP60

[wildmissus]

Thanks for bumping this up...I'm also interested in a blender. Anyone any thoughts on a magimix, model no.11610 on Amazon - gets great reviews and costs £160 compared to around £500 for a vitamix.

I bought a Lakeland blender for my green smoothies and rate it highly. Not the quietest machine but very effective and much more affordable than the Vitamix. Glass jug a bit heavy but durable. Love it!

Here's the link, in case anyone wants a look. They do free UK delivery but don't know about France.

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/16727/Lakeland-Power-Blender