Surely the biggest selling point for the Blendtec Classic 575 blender is the 3 HP (peak) motor (1560 watt). It is quite loud but it delivers power to its contents like no blender I have ever owned. The blender rests on friction pads that looked a little small to me but it never budges during operation so I’m OK with that. The four-sided blending vessel is large enough to be able to reach in with a spatula to coax-out even the thickest ingredients. Operation is simple and intuitive - there are 11 buttons: pulse, five predetermined speeds, smoothie mode, 60 seconds, 90 seconds, stop, and cleaning mode (this is definitely not a dishwasher-friendly blender). The vessel fits the base very well and the lid fits snugly on top. There is an insert in the lid that can be removed to add ingredients while the blender is operating - I like that the insert has air ports on four sides (see photo) to insure that, for example, blending a hot soup doesn’t build-up pressure and blow the whole lid off the container. This is genuinely a restaurant-quality blender - it is even NSF certified (see photo). Surely people who could benefit from a blender like this won’t be interested in the recipe book and that’s good because the recipe book that came with it is an embarrassment. There’s no doubt that Blendtec is competing with Vitamix products - both have great selling points and I’m sure that any differences you might notice will be about style and not substance. This is a rock-solid blender!

I love my Blendtec! I've been using everyday since I purchased it.

To start off my needs for a blender are pretty basic as I only tend to use them for smoothie making for my morning breakfast. Please keep this in mind when reading further. Once you get this unit you are greeted with exactly what I didn't expect. This is a small gripe but the unboxing experience is poor with just the unit inside and not securely fashioned down which I've come to expect when opening up higher end.... well anything. After you remove the unit's base and blender you are greeted with a nice book which had recommendations for smoothies which I will say were good. Another con for me though had to be that it came with no attachments. When your spending this much for a unit and the units at half the cost which can perform very nicely themselves it was a huge loss to see that not even one extra blending attachment could be found. Past that we get to performance and this is where the unit truly shines. The controls are very basic to the point that I would say anyone could figure out. When I throw in my usual strawberries, bananas and a handful of ice, it handles them with ease. Quickly smoothing them up for my consumption. This is a well built machine no doubt about that. Wrapping up though for me I can't get past three small things. First, not well wrapped which for the cost I expect at the very least more cardboard to support the unit. Second, extra accessories that might fit other peoples life styles which for me would have been a smaller container with a drinkable lid for example. Finally, the one thing I thought I would get from my experience of buying more expensive appliances I thought sound would come into play. Make it quieter which honestly if they had done this I would have easily felt the cost was worth it. If all you need is a blender that will survive the years I have a feeling this is the one for you but if you feel efficiently alone isn't enough to justify price than I'd recommend keep looking around. I appreciate you reading my review and I hope it helps you choose the right one for your situation.

The setup for the Blendtec Blender was a breeze. Upon opening the box, I was surprised to have only 3 components: the base housing (where the motor is), the jar, and the lid. The blade is permanently attached to the jar, preventing any leakage and facilitating the cleaning process. Everything was plug and play. The key feature of this blender is that it is multifunctional. It has several instant-press modes such as a smoothie button. The jar itself is pre-measured by cups, or milliliters. An included recipe book shows you how to make more recipes and use the blender to its fullest potential. Prior to this review, I made 2 fruit smoothies, one with frozen fruit and the other with fresh fruit. On both occasions, I pressed the smoothie button and everything was blended into a thick and savory smoothie. With the fresh fruit, I included 1 banana, 8 strawberries, 1 cup of vanilla soy milk, and 2 cups of ice. This blender has no problems blending it all in about 1 minute and a half. Next, I made a salsa to eat with some corn chips and the blender did it’s job as expected. Finally, I tried some dry vegetables to test it out as a juicer. Everything does get blended well enough to drink it but I had to use a strainer to separate the small solid pieces from the liquefied pulp, though there weren’t that many. The performance of this blender is above par. Having so many speed choices, instant button settings, and a motor as strong as the one housed in the base will make you feel like you have a blender akin to those in yogurt vendor stores. The blender surpasses my expectations. It has replaced a previous smaller blender (of an acrobatic brand) that I used to us for making my morning smoothies. The fact that the jar has a wide opening with flat walls (as opposed to a small opening with round walls that have lined ridges on the inside) make the cleaning so much easier. I have large hands and inserting my hand in a smaller container isn’t easy. Also, other brands whose jars have lined ridges on the inside hurt when washing them by hand. The price for the vacuum in terms of value is worth it if you are going to use it daily. I highly recommend this product for health conscious people who plan on using a blender daily as part of their routine. I would also recommend this for people with large hands, as cleaning feels great. I would even go as far as recommending this blender for someone who wants to start a small smoothie business. It’s that powerful and it’s that good.

This Blender is by far the highest powered blender I have ever used. When I was in college i used to work in the food industry, and recall using blenders of this caliber, but never in my home. I consider myself a big smoothie guy which is one reason this blender has appealed to me so far. My previous big box store blender would consistantly get jammed. That has never happened for this unit. It powers through anything you put into it (within reason). Ice, Salsa, Soups, all are blended with ease. Although the pricepoint is a tad high, i would recommend this blender to anyone who is looking to have a gourmet kitchen performing unit in the comfort of you home.