My mom got a Blendtec last year. The motor was completely dead in about six months from nothing but modest use making smoothies, but at least she got a refund.
These videos are cool but the blenders are criminally overpriced.
I've got a Ninja 1100 watt model (0) and it treats me just fine; it is capable of turning ice into snow which means it is probably as powerful as I will ever have need for. I still can't find that many uses for my Ninja blender, though; the complete list so far is:
- Smoothies
- Turning ice into snow and throwing snowballs at children in July
- blending pickles so I can mix them in with my lentils
- pulping foods when a family member was going through some Bell's Palsy (all better now)
If you have to spend on a kitchen gadget, save your money for a Ninja 3-in-1 Cooking System (0 - 0). Just today I used mine to make hash browns with no oil, a loaf of bread, grilled cheese sandwiches, and lentils with blended pickles. The Ninja does more work for me than the oven, stove, toaster oven, and microwave combined.
I got a refurbished blendtec a little over a year ago and still love it. The rubber seal in the original jar came apart several months ago, but it was under warranty and they sent me a new one without any hassle. It's by far the best blender I've ever used.