$60 Oster vs. $150 used Blendtec: Which to go for?

[jrshaul]

I have a long and storied history of annihilating blenders. Any appliance unrated to puree cooked carrots will be abused until it functions or expires. My current unit - designed for frozen margaritas and found, discarded, in front of a frat house - has held up remarkably, but the blade assembly is poorly designed and cleaning uncooked cheesecake from the drink spigot is rapidly wearing tiresome.

I'd like something that can produce a really smooth fruit puree or grind nut pralines without releasing the magic smoke inside. As can be guessed from the curbside appliance acquisition, I'm on a limited budget, and the options are as follows:

1: Oster BVCB07 blender

http://www.amazon.co..._pr_product_top

This is, for the most part, a conventional consumer blender from a popular consumer manufacturer. Its' only unique attributes are the motor - rated at a respectable 600W - and the rave reviews, including several from self-described appliance eviscerators.

That said, while functional, I question the proximity to the level of function of a professional unit. Blending smoothies is one thing; pulverizing pralines quite another.

2. eBay Blendtec ICB3 + new or used carafe

http://www.ebay.com/...=item1e759e73cc

Someone's clearing out an awful lot of Blendtec products on eBay, and $116 shipped for a Blendtec base is very reasonable. Pitchers are about $40 shipped; a new blade, if required, is not much.

I don't know much about Blendtec products beyond that they're considered the less expensive counterpart to Vita-Mix and this one is exceptionally affordable. Finding a Vitamix below $200 is very difficult. There are some reports of inferior results due to factory dull blades, however.

So - do I go for the cheap option, buy the questionable Blendtec, or save my pennies for a vita mix?

Edited December 25, 2012 by jrshaul (log)

[scubadoo97]

That doesn't look like a Blendtec base. More like a Blendtec motor/housing. Doesn't look stable.

I picked up a Blendtec total blender as a refurb from the company with 2 jars and an extended warrenty of 10 yrs for $250. Still like my Vitamix better. Keep your ear to the ground. These specials come around now and then

Edited December 26, 2012 by scubadoo97 (log)

[KennethT]

I don't know about that particular Ostere, but I have burned out my share of Osters in the past. Also, knowing a thing or two about motors, I will say that power consumption does not always correlate to motor torque. Many times, though, the manufacturer will use the figure in their marketing because it sounds good.

[Baselerd]

My advice is to save a bit for a Vitamix. I've had one for quite a few years and have put it through heavy use on a daily basis and it still works as it did when it was new.

Furthermore, the Vitamix just makes blending tasks so much easier, and does it extremely well (you can blend the crap out of most things and make very fine purees). You will finally be able to say goodbye to scraping down and shaking the blender to get all of the food to the blades. It's probably my #1 gadget in my kitchen.

[mgaretz]

That looks like a built-in style Blendtec base, like you'd find at a Jamba Juice. I wouldn't choose that one. But I would take a Blendtec over an Oster any day. I love mine!

[OliverB]

save some more now and get the real thing, what ever else you buy you will most likely burn out with heavy use, long before you'd kill a Vitamix. A couple years down the road, the Vitamix will probably start making money for you, since you don't need to replace it.

That's what I'd do, until then I'd make do with what I have or get cheap things at the thrift store.

[Emily_R]

Just chiming in to say that I have that very Oster, I love it (and I am a picky blender user, mostly with demands for perfectly smooth frozen drinks and soups) but there is no way it would do nut butters. Fruit puree, probably yes. But nut pralines definitely not.

[jrshaul]

I just bought a nearly - new Vitamix for $150 on eBay. Thank you all for the information.

[dcarch]

For those of you who is not planning to get a Vitamix, a low end blender can be very useful if you:

1. Sharpen the blades. The blades are normally extremely dull for your typical home blender.

2. Lower powered blender gets over heated from heavy use. Take away the jar and let the motor run free-wheel to cool the motor down once in a while.

3. Most blenders achieve low speed by using fewer magnetic field coils or a diode to cut down voltage. Those schemes can be stressful for the motor to do heavy duty low speed grinding. Get a PWM motor speed control to control the speed of the blender. A Paulsed Width Modulated speed controller can operate the motor at much high power at low speed.

dcarch

[jrshaul]

Apparently I didn't win the Vita-Mix. eBay's notifications appear to be buggy.

dcarch, can you elaborate further on sharpening the blades?