This is an overview of the features of Vitamix Total Nutrition Centre 5200, A2300 Ascent, 750 Professional and 500 Professional blenders. I used this overview to choose my new blender – a gift promised to myself if our property sold. Lucky for me, this did indeed happen and here we are, choosing a model of the world’s best blender!
I’d been using the Optimum 9400 up to now, which I love (see my Nutriforce Extractor review for reasons), but it doesn’t perform on smoothies as I’d like it to.
There’s always pieces left, especially when using flax seeds or chia seeds, berries (it never liquified the berry seeds). Motor is strong though, and hasn’t missed a beat in 3 years, so a good budget option since you can pick them up for around $490 from Froothie.
I’m now in a position to choose my much-wanted Vitamix blender! I have been watching reviews on YouTube for days now, as well as reading many reviews. I’ve also downloaded the Choice blender test reports for the 4 blenders. There were a few things I particularly valued, so I wanted an easy way to compare them.
| Total Nutrition Centre 5200 | A2300i | 750 Professional | 500 Professional | |
| Power in Watt | 1200W | 1500W | 1400W | 1200W |
| Power in HP | 2HP | 2.2HP | 2.2HP | 2HP |
| Weight | 5.4kg | 5.6kg | 5.65kg | 5.5kg |
| Price | $669 | $895 | $1095 | $1093 |
| After comparison of Power and price, the 500 Professional is out for me. It’s too expensive compared to similar power in the Total Nutrition Centre, and more power for less money in the A2300i. | ||||
| Total Nutrition Centre 5200 | A2300i | 750 Professional | ||
| Small jug available | Yes, 0.9L – $175, Wet & Dry separate jugs. 1.4L Wet jug $179. Also a personal cup adaptor, but people appear to have issues with the design. | Yes, but not available in Australia yet. Very cool little cups and ‘on-the-go’ cups, but Amazon reviews indicate some issues with getting these to work. Could get expensive! | Yes, 0.9L – $175, Wet & Dry separate jugs. 1.4L Wet jug $179. Also a personal cup adaptor, but people appear to have issues with the design. | |
| Dishwasher safe | No | Yes | No | |
| Low Profile | No | Yes | Yes | |
| Warranty | 7 years, or 10 years with Delux or Ultimate Package at Rawblend | 10 years standard | 7 years, or 10 years with Delux or Ultimate Package at Rawblend | |
| Packs | Deluxe $1019 Ultimate $1269 | None | Deluxe $1445 Ultimate $1645 | |
| Lid | Black | Clear | Black | |
| Choice Overall Score | 84% | 85% | 86% | |
| Green Smoothie Score | 85% | 90% | 90% | |
| Kale Score | 79% | 86% | 80% | |
| Nut Butter Score | 90% | 90% | 100% | |
| Dough Score | 60% | 50% | 60% | |
| Performance Score | 91% | 91% | 94% | |
What I’ve concluded so far:
- Ascent Series/A2300 jugs are dishwasher safe, hallelujah!
- Ascent Series will have a range of small cups coming out soon which will be amazing for grinding up small amounts of grains and seeds. I always used a bullet blender for this but wouldn’t have to. People do seem to have issues getting the small containers to connect (they are available in the US).
- 750 Pro is marketed more to aspiring chefs; Ascent series for home use
- Ascent has wireless connectivity; this may appeal to people who like technology. It honestly scares me a bit; I prefer manual wind-down windows in cars and it’s a bit the same in blenders. I worry about too many electronic functions as they always seem to break first.
- Ascent & 750 use low profile jugs, which may not be as good for small amount of liquids. TNC 5200 has the standard high profile jug, which is marketed for large to medium amounts.
- ‘Apple test’ blew me away – 750 vs 5200. 750 outperformed the 5200 by miles in my opinion (I’ve included the video below). Reviewers mentioned this is only due to the wider jug, but hey, it does come with the wider jug and the 5200 does not.
- TNC 5200 and 750 come in packages at Rawblend. I love packages! You get a great deal on the Vitamix blender plus accessories like the smaller 0.9L wet and dry jugs and various recipe books. The smaller jugs are an absolute must for me. Now that I have the smaller jug for my Optimum 9400 I couldn’t deal with only having the big 2L jug. The smaller one is pretty much all I use.
In the end, what made my decision was the Vitamix demonstration video (below) by Tommy from Rawblend. He uses the Vitamix 300 in this video, but that’s pretty much the same as the 750, just more basic. I absolutely loved this video with amazing tips.
Some things that really stuck with me:
- Leave the inside of the Pineapple in. I’ve been throwing out the inside for as long as I can remember, thinking this woody part is inedible. No! It’s packed full of fantastic enzymes and your Vitamix will just chew it up
- Leave the greens on the strawberries. Mind blowing! Why have I been cutting the top off?!
- Throw things like potato peels, pineapple skin and egg shells in your blender with a heap of water, blend it up to liquify, and you have amazing fertiliser for your garden. Now my big jug is not useless anymore; it sits on the counter and I throw the scraps the chooks won’t eat straight into it and blend it up at the end of the end to feed the garden. Best blender tip ever.
I bought a Vitamix!
Eventually I got there and chose the 750. Why? Power mainly, but also the demonstration video above, the great packages Rawblend offers (I got the deluxe package with smaller wet & dry jugs), the best performance score on Choice….. I will be comparing the 750 with my Optimum 9400 so stay tuned!
