What an overpriced disappointment

I sure wish I had checked epinions last August when I ordered this blender. I initially ordered it because Alton Brown, from the show Good Eats on FoodTV recommended it over his original favorite, a Waring beehive bar blender. I gave my Waring to a friend because it needed a new seal and I knew he could fix it, and got this Viking. Alton...I'm not pleased that you led us astray. How much did Viking pay you to promote their mediocre blender?!

I was appalled to see how much of this blender was made out of plastic considering the price. The driveshaft and bottom of the blade assembly was all plastic. For such a high torque and speed appliance, plastic is not the thing to use here. The overly tall base is also all plastic. I thought it was supposed to have a die cast base. That must be something under the cheap plastic outer bottom. The height of this blender makes it very tippy. Lastly, I am not a fan of turnable knob controls. Toggle switches are much better. The knob on my blender was loose, and it wouldn't surprise me if it breaks in a year. I expect this kind of construction on a $30 Wal-Mart blender, not a $150 professional blender. But I guess a company can slap the word "professional" on anything these days.

For readers looking for a blender in the $100-$200 range, the Waring Professional Bar Blender is head and shoulders above this Viking model. It has a much more pronounced cloverleaf shaped carafe for the best blending. The Viking had some small fins inside the carafe, but still, not nearly as effective as the Waring.

If you really want a good blender, I suggest the Waring MX1000. It is a restaurant grade blender, and has vastly greater power than any blender in the $100-200 price range. I got it for $320 and will never look back. It blended 60 oz of margarita mix in 7 seconds.

You've got three choices. You can buy cheap junk from a box store, and replace your blender every couple of years. You can spend some moderate money on a Waring Bar Blender with its superior construction to this Viking model. Or, you can spend some good money on a much better blender and get the Waring MX1000 or other high end brands of blenders outside of Waring and Viking, although Vitamix blenders might also be worth checking on.

Browse in a store first to make sure that the blender you buy that costs over $100 has a metal base and as much metal as possible. Plastic is no good for this kind of appliance, and shame on Viking for slapping a vastly overvalued price on their low brow blender. And, the fact that they have the gall to charge consumers even $20 + shipping for a replacement part to replace the plastic carafe base is appalling. They should send it out free to each customer who registered this blender.