If you go to www.vitamix.com you will get all of the information you need
about the actual machine. You also see them demonstrated quite often at home
shows.
They look like a blender, but are much MUCH more powerful. Where a blender
will crush ice for awhile before giving up the ghost, the vitamix can make a
living doing that. (You often see them at places like Starbucks and other
places that make things like Frappucinos). They can also grind grains, make
soups (heat them using the friction), make amazing whole-fruit and
whole-vegetable juices, make great SMOOTH dips (never could get my fat free
hummus smooth until I got my VM), mix bread (then you let it rise and cook
it), and lots of other things. If you have a hard timemaking sure you add
more fruits and veggies to your diet, or are missing "desserts" and don't
want to pay exhorbitant prices for sorbets, that alone makes it worthwhile.
I use mine to make my own sorbets all the time.