A friend has had one for years. I love the smoothies and soup she made, so I bought one on QVC. I love my Vitamix blender. The power and ease of cleaning is amazing.
If you want quality and POWER to smoothie-ize almost anything, forget the cheaper ones and go right for the Vitamix. Because if you're serious about smoothies, you eventually wear out or out-grow lesser blenders.
Blending fruit into smoothies is healthier than juicing because you keep all the pulp/fiber.