canned blurb about my beloved VitaMix

First, I saw them at this site for the best price I'd seen new.
From what I recall from recent V-M mailings, their reconditioned
ones are only $50. less ... but maybe there's even another level.
Their phone # is 1-800-VITAMIX. Here a website where I found them:
http://www.betterlife.com/scripts/blife/shop/lst_brand_cat_prod.idc?stoken=0&man_id=43&cat_id=-1
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Sorry I don't have time to format each line of this, but it's what
I wrote in response to another similar question. Hope it helps.
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Hi, I also grind wheat (and other grains) but prefer making bread dough in my food processor .. just easier and faster, but I do sometimes, just for fun, make it in there .. it definitely works! I make fat-free ice cream (oh well, you can add fat if you MUST! ;) and that IS **amazing**!! Like the other poster, I'm not that fond of the juice, either. You add water to process whole fruit and it's too diluted and pulpy for my preference (but THE best, health-wise..how could it not be?). At the same time (back when my 18-year-old son was a baby and I was determined to feed him only whole foods), I bought a Champion juicer and much prefer that for juice (and other things it does .. boy, is that neat!). If you like that texture, however, it is *fabulously* powerful (can't even imagine the power of current models!) and will turn ANYthing into juice with another liquid added. I'm sure there are ways to adjust it so it's great and I know some others online who make it daily for breakfast. It could also be that I love using my "gadgets" and have a separate juicer. If I had to choose just one of the two, though, I'd go with the VitaMix because it's so versatile. It will, indeed, cook instant soups, sauces, gravies, etc. For soup, put in veggies and broth or white sauce ingredients, for example, let it go for a very few minutes and steam comes out the top and it's a hot, cooked puree of very fresh vegetables. Quite cool, really. The noise is such that I leave the room for prolonged processes like grinding wheat and cooking, but that's the price for such power, I guess (it's on par with a vacuum cleaner, I suppose). It's not so tough to go watch TV for a few minutes while a machine cooks and stirs white sauce to perfection for you, for example ;). I don't use mine often enough, either, but I go in phases with all my appliances and love most of them. When I use it, I rave to myself about it and swear I'll use it every day after that for EVERYthing. I would get it again, to be sure. I think, however, that the price is now 2+ times what I paid in 1980 .. then about $250-300, probably. If you look at that over this long period of time, that's nothing, though. It's been well worth it. Service-wise, I've never had a problem I didn't create myself (didn't put the guard on the top and ground the tamper stick into sawdust throughout my ice cream). I called and they were personable, prompt, helpful, etc. I couldn't have been more impressed. There is a video they sell that shows a zillion uses. I should watch it again. It's worth having for inspiration and clarity on how to use it. Bla bla bla .. is there any space left on this board now? Sorry to go on and on .. I'm obviously glad I have mine. Good luck,Janet