I got HealthMaster!

My Mom had been telling me about some incredible machine she got me for Christmas last week. While lounging at home last Friday- just enjoying having no classwork, no classes and being done with the LSAT, I heard what sounded like a delivery truck pulling into my close to my driveway. I was so excited that I met my UPS man as he was walking up to my door. I brought the box in my house smiling the entire time. I ripped opened the box and emptied the contents and to my surprise it was the Montel HealthMaster! I actually screamed with delight! I had wanted a Vitamix, but because of the cost was thinking about purchasing the HealthMaster! I called my mom and thanked her for the gift. It's great that my Mom supports me!

When I examined the blender the first thing I noticed were the rounded shape of the blades. On the infomercial, I've watched 10X over, the blades were said to be sharp. My glee was slowly declining. Next, I noticed that the tamper was shaped like a + (cross) and not a solid o like the Vitamix. So I wondered how will I be able to push nuts (haha...I said nuts) down when making cashew or almond butter.

After examining the machine I decided to watch the DVD and search reviews online. The DVD was helpful but I thought it was funny after the woman finished blending a spinach and fruit smoothie as she poured it into the glass a couple of whole spinach leaves started to fall out before she stopped pouring.

On to searching the wonderful WWW. Unfortunately, I found more negative reviews than good ones. The common complaints were about the motor not working after a short time- say ...3 months or so and moreso about the blades and container. Some spots I searched were Alissa Cohen's rawfoodtalk and 3 blenders and goneraw.com and various other customer review websites.

Ok. So my excitement was nearly gone. But, I went to the kitchen to give the machine a try. The first thing I blended was a pear/spinach/lemon smoothie. It was GREAT! The next morning I blended a spinach, banana,apple lemon smoothie....results= still good. In the meantime my mom arrived in town Saturday- one day after I got the healthmaster. She had a craving for tomato soup and hummus while I had a craving for kelp noodles and pesto and zuke hummus. I made everything last night. The regular hummus took forever grinding in the blender and the tamper was very little help. Pesto was a breeze.

Final Decision:
After my experience with blending the traditional hummus combined with the reviews and the fact that my heart is set on the American-made trusted machine (even my great great grandmother wants one)- Vitamix- I chose to ship the HealthMaster back for a refund. My mom agreed when she saw the reviews and the machine.