Blendtec Total Classic Original Blender - WildSide+ Jar (90 oz) - Professional-Grade Power - 6 Pre-programmed Cycles - 10-speeds - Black

First, I offer a word of caution to buyers out there. This product is the Blendtec Total Blender, the current model on Blendtec's website as of 2012. This is the one you want because of additional programs and other features. Sadly, Amazon is also offering the older HP3A unit for a few dollars less, I made that mistake and ended up returning it. It looks almost identical, and you have to look at the button panel in enlarged view to see the difference.Anyway, I love the Blentec total blender, it is a very reliable tool that has earned its place on my counter daily. I had a Vitamix previously, but I found it to be clumsy to use by comparison. Basically the Vitamix is a manual blender, very rugged, but its lack of automation makes it hard to get consistent repeatable results especially when you are doing multiple batches. The best part of the Blendtec is its programmed buttons provide a repeatable consistent performance, that guarantees the same product each blend. Also, the Wildside jar is my favorite. Not simply because of its large capacity, but with its 4 in. Blade it makes really short work of anything you ask it to blend. It also heats food faster because the tips of the longer blade travel faster through the material than a shorter blade would thereby generating more friction.The key difference in the 2 blenders is the plunger in the Vitamix, and the lack of same in the Blendtec. The major technical difference is that the spinning blades and square jar design in the Blendtec create a downward liquid vortex, sucking your material into the blades and eliminating the need for a plunger, whereas the blades on the Vitamix (and basically every other blender made) tend to blow your blended material upwards away from the blades and it needs a plunger to push the material down into the blades. In a clear vote of confidence for this superior design, a few years ago Vitamix blatantly copied Blendtec's patented square jar design in an effort to get the vortex performance, but they ultimately lost a $24 million lawsuit and were forced to drop the product and square jar concept from their line.[..]So basically, if you see any commercial blender with a square jar, it is a Blendtec or one of their subsidiary companies.An important component of successful, repeatable results with the Blendtec is proper loading order of your ingredients. Liquid and soft ingredients first, then hard or frozen items on top. This allows the blender to quickly liquefy the soft ingredients, thereby immediately forming that strong vortex to suck the other harder material down into the blades. This makes for completely efficient blending, noticeably faster than identical ingredients in the Vitamix. If you do not load the ingredients in this order, grinding the hard items first will not form an efficient vortex, and you may have to stop the machine and tamp down the material. In this scenario, the Vitamix with its plunger will work without stopping. Understanding this may leave you with the impression that the Vitamix is more versatile, allowing the user to throw whatever ingredient they want into the bowl without regard for order or hardness of the item. This is true enough, but in that case it takes manual intervention in either unit to get a blend when you load items outside the recommended liquid/soft to hard order.The great advantage of the Blendtec is that it will allow anyone to get completely consistent results. The programs under the buttons vary time and motor speed precisely, and shut off when the cycle is finished. Vitamix relies on an entirely manual set of analog controls, and therefore require the full attention of the operator, making it nearly impossible to get consistent results realistically. This is especially true when doing long blends, like making hot soups, where the friction of the blades passing through the material generates heat. Having a consistent timed process ensures you do not over process and overheat the soup, killing the raw food value of the ingredients. Using a thermometer, I can get within a degree or two every time with the programmed process buttons of the Blendtec. To do this with the Vitamix is complete babysitting, making it unrealistically difficult.Understand that a Blendtec program button is not a simple timer. It also changes motor speed at predefined points. Trying to do this combination of time and motor speed change with the manual analog controls of the Vitamix is nearly impossible. Certainly not something you want to do when you are making multiple batches of a recipe to serve a large number of people. This is one of the obvious reasons the commercial Blendtec models are the overwhelming choice in restaurants, where you can load it, hit a button and walk away to do some other task, confident that the unit will do it's job with unwavering consistency.Now I cannot speak to all the things each unit is capable of, as I only do smoothies, juices, soups and ice creams. I cannot speak to nut butters or grains, seeds or basically anyone using the alternate jar recipes. I assume that the majority of the people and their uses for the blender will be similar to mine and therefore hope this review was valuable.

Never have to scrape sides, mixes everything to a smooth blend. Never have to worry about slicing my fingers when washing. I wore out my first one after years of service. Still works just getting noisy because I use to hold the top (don’t, not necessary) the slight pressure caused the bottom gear to wear. Still works but decided to get a new one and it’s quiet in comparison! Haha!

I only bought this blender because my 15 year old Blendtec failed. Unfortunately, the 15 year old blender jar sprang a leak, and the liquid made its way inside the blender base and didn't play well with the electrical components. Had this not happened, I am confident my 15 year old Blendtec would still be working great. Before purchasing the replacement Blendtec, I tried a high-end but less expensive blender. It wasn't the same though. Blending with the other blender took significantly longer, and it had super sharp blades that cut me once when cleaning it. I finally decided to make the investment and buy another Blendtec. I absolutely love it and highly recommend Blendtec. You can't go wrong with this product. Just be sure to keep an eye on your blender jars and replace them if they ever start leaking. Again, it took 15 years before our blender jar sprang a leak.

My old Kitchenaid died, and the updated model is a huge, heavy monster that is too bif to fit in my appliance garage. This Blendtec had awesome reviews on every platform I checked. It is also the most powerful blender for its low-profile size, so I was able to justify the expense. Cleaning is also a breeze! Love it! Makes awesome protein shakes - like a Wendy's frosty, and I can't wait to try the soup making setting - the friction creates the heat.

Pattern is an amazing company. There was some problems with the state that my order arrived in and they were very helpful and attentive in a professional manner to ensure that everything was taken care of. Will look forward to doing business with the company again.---Product review---It works. I'm a foodie, I love to cook and for decades have 'made do' with subpar blenders buying new ones every few years as they break. I finally saved up and I do not regret my purchase. So far I've done mixed drinks, soups, and even ice cream in this blender. Recipes can be found online for all sorts of things and it's preset modes are great.4 ounces lime juice, 1.5 ounce simple syrup, 2 ounces vodka, 1-2 cups ice cubes : hit the martini glass and it makes a perfect vodka gimlet blended. The ice is almost as smooth as cream.1 large potato (cooked) cut into 4ths, 6 inches of leek (remove outter layer, white and light green only), 1 cup vegie broth, 1/4 cup whole milk or heavy cream, dash of thyme, sage, parsley. Hit the soup option and enjoy.I love cooking, and making things from scratch, this is a wonderful addition to my kitchen. Well worth the counter space.

I like it! Does what we want it to without complaint. It been very durable - we’ve had it for years. Easy to clean. Salsa - smoothies - sauces. Doesn’t do well with smaller portion stuff like a 1 avocado size guacamole. Needs plenty of liquid if it’s a small batch of yummy.