This blender is great for making anything that needs to be smooth and creamy. Sauces, smoothies, salad dressings, you name it. The power of this blender is amazing!
Vitamix is the best. My last one gave me over 30 years. It was still working but I could tell the motor was getting tired. Love my new one and figure it should last the rest of my life!
The "5200 Standard - Getting Started" Vitamix seemed to be a good fit for me as someone who only occasionally needs a blender but as such wants a single tool that can handle all of my blending needs and is reliable and durable. Having owned the blender for a couple of months now, I have used it for a variety of things that intentionally span the gamut of the most severe challenges I expect to use my Vitamix for including making cold drinks (i.e. blending ice), making nut butter, and making fruit purees (i.e. blending prunes) along with several other less challenging uses (making soup, batter prep, etc.). This blender meets my needs by providing basic functionality and achieving results that I am looking for. It is easy to clean and easy to use. As far as durability/reliability, only time will tell. This Vitamix serves as a replacement for another Vitamix blender, which was very similar and was purchased a decade ago. While that blender still operates, upon starting the motor (at low speed), the motor "jumps" to a high speed for a brief second before engaging at a low speed. This doesn't render the blender unusable, but especially in certain circumstances, the resistance of the contents is too great for the motor to jump to such a high speed and the circuit breaker trips. Although I cannot remember exactly when this behavior started, I have speculated that I may have done something to marginally overload the motor at some point. With the new blender, I am trying to be more conscious to follow recommendations regarding what order to add the types of contents and other practices as recommended in the user manual. The need to be cautious about these things is why I currently rate this as a 4 star product. If after a couple of years, the blender is running like new and demonstrates that it does not need to be handled with "baby gloves", then I expect I would consider it a 5 star product.
I love this machine! It's my second 5200 Vitamix. I made the mistake of leaving a titanium spoon in the jar and turning on my blender, which damage the jar and caused it to leak. So, I took advantage of a sale, and purchase another. It's a great machine, and beyond compare with any of the many other blenders I have owned.
I finally have a blender that does what I want it to do - work! Sure they are a little expensive, but the lack of aggravation, quality of the machine, and product support is more than worth it.
Pros: Texture Quality, Durability, Easy to use, Power