OmegaVertical Low Speed Juicer, 150-Watt, Silver

The wife and discussed juicing for about two months and finally decided to do it. After doing a fair amount of reading and watching various videos on the Internet I decided on the VERT 330 HD and ordered it through Amazon. No tax and free shipping was a plus. With free shipping I fully expected to wait a week or more for delivery and was pleasantly surprised when it arrived in two days via UPS.I think the juicer itself is all it is supposed to be, heavy duty and multipurpose. Right off the bat we had to give it a test drive. There were about 20 baby carrots and an apple handy in no time at all they were converted into about 8 ounces of juice. The juicer comes with two screens, a fine and a course depending on how much pulp you may like or dislike in your juice. This first try we tried the fine screen. The juice tasted great and I looked forward to shopping for "judicable's."The next day, after a trip to the local grocery, I gave the juicer another try. This time I used a couple of full size carrots, and apple, and 5-6 collard leaves to see how green juice would be. I had read where long green leaves like collards could stop up the juicer and it would be better to break/tear them up into pieces. The apple was wedged into about 6 pieces and the larger end of the carrots halved.The collard leaves didn't feed quite as well and required a bit of coaxing by using the carrot pieces as a plunger. The combination of the tough/fibrous collard leaves and the hard (and somewhat large) carrot halves required me to reverse the juicer a few times to get it all to feed. This really wasn't an issue and now I know that I need to feed smaller bits of heavy/dense items. The good news is that despite my overloading the juicer, the reverse is a great feature and allowed me to back up and go again with little issue.I would also mention that this time I decided to use the filter screen with larger holes for more pulp. To be frank with you, I did not like the amount of pulp that resulted in the juice. It was just too thick. I ended up pulling out strainer and running the juice through it to remove quite a bit of pulp.The juice itself was fine. Now again, this is a matter of taste and I'm not real sure I like the taste of "raw" collards that much. The carrot to me Is kind of a neutral flavor where the apple adds a bit of sweetness. This helped cut the collard flavor. You just have to get over the dark green color of the juice. I keep telling myself that this is healthy and it's a "good thing." Anyway, no reflection on the juicer, just my first impressions of juicing. I am sure that with some experience I will find some combinations of fruits and vegetables I like more than others.The unit assembles and disassembles pretty easy. Clean up is a bit of a chore. I don't have any other juicers to compare clean up to but it does take a few minutes. Most of the pulp goes into its own catch container and you simply dump it in the trash. However the inner workings, there are 6-7 pieces, can still hold a fair amount of pulp that has to be cleaned out. Once you have collected your juice and both the pulp and juice containers are in place it may help to cycle a cup or two of water through the juicer to help flush out excess pulp. Otherwise you may find the strainer in your sink full of pulp rinsed off the various pieces. You will probably end up with pulp scattered around regardless. A sink with a spray nozzle helps. The most difficult item to clean was the screen. The juicer comes with a "toothbrush" to facilitate cleaning. I had to go over the screen with it 3-4 times, shake the water out, look closely, and go over it some more to ensure pulp was not clogging the fine mesh. This may be "easy clean" compared to some juicers, I can't say. I'm not really complaining here, cleaning up in the kitchen is part of the job no matter what you do. This is just more of a reality check to let you know that cleaning this juicer after use will take a few minutes.As most everyone knows, colored juice, weather its green, or orange or whatever will stain. After two uses I'm seeing some of the plastic components of the juicer starting to discolor. Again, probably par for the course but it's more of a reminder to be cautious of clothes, counter tops, dish towels, or whatever juice may come in contact with. It's probably my inexperience, but I tended to be a bit messy on this second juice outing that included straining the juice to reduce the pulp content. I'm thinking my technique for juicing and cleaning up will get better with a few more uses and I will not doubt use the fine mesh screen.I look forward to trying more recipes and trying more fruits like orange and grapefruit as well as flavors like ginseng, beets, and even a bit of garlic or hot pepper in some juices. I really look forward to health benefits.Though it might come off I'm been negative about this juicer I don't mean it to be. From my limited experience I think it is a great product. A ten year warranty pretty much speaks for itself. I really wanted to convey my experiences as a first time juicer while evaluating the VERT 330 HD while providing a reality check as it were for others that are thinking about juicing.

I had them too, I wondered never juicing before if I should spend as much as Omega requires romstepminto the Vrt. Would it serve my juicing needs? I did all the hours of research most modern consumers do, and narrowed it down to the VRT 350, the 8006, and the Green Power Kempo. What I wanted was a great juicer with longevity that I could throw a variety of produce at. I don't care for making my own nut butters or sorbets, I just wanted incredible juice. I plan on doing about 60% greens and veggies, and the rest fruit.Does the VRT deliver? A resounding YES! Better than you would believe, there hasn't been a produce item yet that it hasn't squeezed the life out of into tasty juice. We've been running the juice gauntlet ever since it arrived a few days ago, spinach, carrots, celery, cucumber, pineapple, oranges, apples, ginger, and garlic are just some of what our Vrt has chewed on. It has handled all of it from the soft fruits to the leafy spinach it works like a champ. I'm sure there are a variety of juicers out there that would do the same, but I know I picked the right one for our household. Overall I'm very pleased, and had a friend come over who has a juice fountain centrifugal design and was amazed. Y the quietness, the yield, and the quality. The Omega puts out the best tasting juice you've ever had.Here's some questions I had in the beginning, I'm not sure they are yours but they would've helped me being a new juicer, they are curiosities I didn't see the answer to during my search for juice.1. Is there a ton of pulp? I saw mixed reviews on this and wasn't sure what to expect, I'm not a huge pulp fan, but I don't hate it unless it overpowers the texture of the entire glass. The VRT comes with a large and small strainer and I've never used anything but the small/fine screen. If you've ever ordered fresh squeezed OJ at a restaurant and know what it's like you can expect less pulp than that. If you bought a store bought juice the VRT produced it would probably say "some pulp." it's not pulp free but it doesn't get in the way either. I've been pouring my juices over ice and I don't even notice the pulp. It lead me to believe that some people want a lack of pulp on the level of something packaged that isn't even juice, like a vitamin water or Gatorade. I was taken aback by the first glass, as it was so smooth I can't figure out what people are complaining about. If you must have a pulp free juice a cone masticating juicer like the 8006 or centrifugal juicer is probably better. personally I think the vrt outs out a rich flavor and a glass that's easy to drink. In short no one I've handed a glass to has mentioned the pulp.2. Preparation and cleaning time, is it a hassle? Again I say, these can't e serious complaints. I'm a person in a rush like many of us are and taking the minimal time to prepare juice has been beyond easy, let's take cucumber, carrot, celery and spinach. That's one I like, basically I chop the cuke and celery in under a minute, lop off the tops of the carrots, and start stuffing spinach in the thing. There are some great tips on juicing out there, especially by John over at discountjuicers.com --- nothing has ever gotten stuck on me and while I don't feed everything I possibly can into the thing at full speed it chomps through produce very quickly. I simply listen to it chew up the previous item as I toss the next one in, it's really fast though, and I find myself lagging behind the juicer frequently. Cleanup is a snap, see my forest sentence here, there is no complaint, it takes no time at all. One caver is if you are utterly lazy, the parts on the Omega say they cannot be thrown into the dishwasher or it will be damaged. I'm not going to do that anyway with an appliance this pricey. I'll time myself in the future but right now prep and cleanup has to be under 5 minutes it's quicker than making a cup of coffee.3. Is it worth the admission? That friend I told yo about with the breville, well we had a juice off last night and the difference in quality and yield was astounding, not to mention that we were all laughing at the lawnmower like sound the juice fountain produced. In contrast I was running the vrt on the counter next to our barstools with music playing from an iPhone and conversation going. Then I heard "what are you doing, you can't juice spinach" as I lumped a handful together. The quality of the juice, and what it can juice is simply amazing. It's so consistent in the glass it's like you bought something off the shelf or went to a juice bar, except that it's even better! I do a lot of exercise and meditation and I like to think I know my body, and like most Americans i have too much fat, refined flour, and processed food in my diet. I'm an organic consumer, go to farmers markets, but I don't kid myself, I know what my modern diet is doing to me. The first glass of carrot and spinach changed me into a complete believer, I instantly felt a prolonged sense of energy throughout the day. Already I find myself craving a glass of juice in the middle of the day. If you are struggling with the finance, maybe do what I did and tell your friends you would like an amazon card to put toward better health. This was our Christmas present to my wife and I this year, and for the price of good health it can't be beat.4. Is juicing expensive? It looks that way, especially if you watch the videos of the vrt where John is using 3 pounds of carrots :) in truth you can build a glass or two for yourself with as little as, 3 carrots, 2 apples, one celery stalk. I was ale to find 3 pound bags of organic apples for $3 at a regular store, carrots for a $1 per pound, and the yield with the VRT is so high you don't need a ton of reduce. The first couple times I actually made far too much following juice recipes online. Besides those bacon and eggs I like so much are equally expensive if not more so.It's only been a few days but I feel like we made the best choice going down the path of slow juicing. I'll try to check back in a fe months and report my progress. Right now I feel the choice should have been a no brainer with a lot less deliberation, but hindsight is always 20/20. It may not be the right juicer for you, but I feel like any juicer in this range is going to be a boon to your health. For me, that is the VRT 350, and I'm utterly pleased I watched all those comparisons on the web and pulled the trigger.Best of luck to you and your juice!