I use my Vitamix regularly for shakes and wanted to get something small to pack for traveling. Thie tribest personal blender was highly recommended by Ani Phyo ( raw food author and chef) in one of her books.I tested the blending blade and grinding blade and find both to be decent.The grinding blade, I made a small batch of nut butter. Wasn't very powerful for doing this, you might burn out the motor, but perfectly adequate for chopping up nuts into smaller pieces.The blending blade, I used to mSee full review