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263 of 265 people found the following review helpful.
Top quality & User Friendly
By Neil Gundel
My experience is limited to the Omega 1000 and 4000. Both are very good machines, but one of them has some distinct advantages.
As the other reviewers have noted, this machine is very solidly built & should easily outlast the 15 year warranty. However, I think the model 1000 will probably last even longer.
Why? Because the 4000 is so much more pleasant to use that you will use it more, because the operating principle is a little different.
Both machines have a chute that you feed fruits & vegatables into. At the bottom of the chute is a stainless steel disc/blade that grinds up the food into a pulp.
On the 1000 model, the pulp is thrown out by centrifugal force into a drum that is just like a washing machine drum - it is perforated stainless that traps the pulp on the inside and allows the juice to strain out. Just like on a washing machine spin cycle, it is possible to get the contents out of balance so that the whole machine shakes & makes a real racket! This is very easy to do on the 1000 if you load apples or other foods with skins, because the skin will often stay intact so it has to go on one spot on the drum, throwing it out of balance like a pair of jeans. There are some "tricks" that help in this case, such as saving some carrots for this emergency. Many times feeding a carrot will stop the shaking.
Another consequence of the "spin-cycle" approach is that after you have feed a few pieces of fruit, the pulp in the drum can clog, trapping all the juice inside. This happens especially when you try to juice bananas, pineapple or strawberries.
The model 4000 works differently because the spinning drum is cone-shaped, which forces the pulp to ride up the sides of the drum for a brief period & then it flies out into a pulp ejector chute. This means the 4000 never gets the shakes like the 1000, and also the drum stays much cleaner, which allows you to keep juicing much longer. For example, this morning I juiced apples, carrots, celery and grapes in that order on both the 4000 and 1000. Although in both cases I got exactly 12.5 ounces of juice, the juice from the 1000 had no grape color and less grape flavor.
The other advantage of the 4000 is that it when you turn it off, it stops in just a few seconds. On the 1000, it continues to spin for much longer because of the heavy food in the drum, dribbling all the while and sometimes walking across your countertop!
So I give 5 stars to the 4000, and only 4 stars to the 1000. The 1000 does have an optional citrus juicing attachment that is rather nice. If you can't stand pulp, the 1000 also accepts some very inexpensive coffe-filter-like filters that virtually eliminate pulp from the apple-carrot-celery etc. types of juices. You really can't use it with tomatoes, strawberries, etc., because it will clog instantly.
Cleanup is pretty easy on both, once you get the hang of it. The only tricky part is getting the pulp out of the strainer. I use a stainless scrubby pad gently on both sides, which seems to work well on both models.
The 4000 gets the nod because it doesn't have any vices.
67 of 70 people found the following review helpful.
Not A Bad Juicer. A Little Overpriced.
By Alex Green
I got this juicer about a month ago, and I have been enjoying a fresh-squeezed juice ever since.Having read all the great reviews here, I was a little disappointed with the fact that the pulp that comes out of it is far from being dry. In fact, it makes sense to throw that pulp back in to get some more juice out of it. For a "professional grade machine", I expected better performance in this area.The chute for throwing in the fruits/veggies is a little small. If you think about throwing in a whole apple, forget about it. It has to be split at least in 4 to get in.I found that the juicer's ejection tunnel gets clogged up with pulp fairly easily, so you often have to stop and clean it in up in order to continue to juice efficiently.Important note about 15-year warranty. It's only for motor. All other parts carry 1-year warranty.The machine is fairly loud, but that's what you expect of most juice extractors.Cleaning is easy except for the strainer. It takes a bit more work and it is recommended to leave it for a while in soapy water before cleaning.I like the fact that it's made in U.S.A., in fact it is "Made in U.S.A with pride". :)* Update Nov 5, 2004*Someone noted that my statement about warranty is incorrect. Here's an exerpt from the product manual:"...The Basket and Blade assembly is warranted for one (1) year. Plastic parts warped due to high heat will not be covered under the warranty. This warranty does not cover breakage of any part in shipment or damage cause by misuse.A service charge of $10.00 must accompany any unit over one (1) year old..."If you remove "The Basket and Blade assembly" from the product, the only remaining part is the motor assembly. Hence, this is the only part that is warranted for fifteen (15) years.
41 of 43 people found the following review helpful.
Lasts forever!
By Daniel DeReuter
When I worked at a health food store, we sold more of these juicers than any other kind. They come with an incredible warranty, and they seem to last forever. It wouldn't be uncommon to see someone come in and ask if we carried parts- some people would say, "I've had this juicer for 10 years, and I need a gasket..." Definitely would recommend it!
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Nice Truck...But Be Carefull...
Kind of dangerous!
