Green Star or Champion? Need help deciding

[Shivananda]

Is there another thread running on this? I would be very careful about buying Greenstar at this point, no matter how good the reputation used to be.

According to earlier posts, which you can probably find in the archive to check the links for yourself, the Korean manufacturer went bankrupt and closed down, and what is being sold now is what was left in inventory plus some additional machines that were assembled from left over parts. I've read complaints online from recent buyers about getting lemons and having real nightmares getting them replaced or fixed. And replacement parts could be a real hassle in the future.

[ktkat]

Hey,

Sorry for the delay (busy weekend), but I did banana and berry ice cream and both turned out awesome!! Thanks I would have never made ice cream with the gs. They both had soft serve consistency, and tasted great, but the berry was not continuous because of the individual berries, but I was able to smush it together. I took pics, but not sure how to post. I will say that when doing clean up there was berry "soft serve" left in the gears which is some waste if not disassembling right away, and because I ran it after juicing it came out a little watery at first b/c I didn't dry anything. I tried refreezing some of it and eating it later, but not good. I'm not sure about Shiv's post (as that would be a big prob w/ gs), but when looking for a juicer I think you just really need to consider what's most important to you in a juicer. I needed a versatile one-stop machine that I could use once a week. I'm really happy with my decision b/c I love the way the gs just eats up wheatgrass, kale, etc and yet does fruit too (you don't need anything extra per the instructions of the American gs associate I spoke with, just adjust the outlet knob). The clean up does take me half an hour top to bottom, but I'm slow, and I can live with it for not having to juice everyday. Good luck, hope this helps.
kt

[mbf]

Thank you KtKat and Shiva ! Yes, I posted this in 2 places because I was getting no response at first.

I still have not ordered one yet ! But after Shiva's post I think I will go for the Champion. I have a juicer that I like and really just want the champion for ice cream !

Since Alissa sells Greenstars I am going to e-mail her as well.

Thanks again!

Mara

[Sheryl]

Are you thinking of the Samson factory in Korea going bust? It did but they were just a contracted company, and did not own the design. A new factory is now making the juicers, mostly from parts supplied from the same companies as before.

Tribest owns the GreenPower / GreenLife design and are happily in business. I have heard nothing of problems with them. Can you please confirm what juicer you are talking about so I can look into it further?

Cheers,
Sheryl

[Sheryl]

The Green Life and the Champion. I only use the Champion for nut butters (from soaked and dehydrated almonds). I have to pause it regularly or it heats up too much. I got mine second hand too.

The Champion was designed over 50 years ago. I consider that there have been many advances since then, and do not use it to juice. We use the twin gear for that. It does do nice ice cream, but so does the Green Life. I love it! Lately though I use the Vitamix for ice creams... it's faster and easier to clean.

Cheers,
Sheryl

[mbf]

I e-mailed Alissa about this this morning as well since she sells Greenstars.


Mara

[AJ Bodine]

I have the GreenStar and couldn't be happier with it. The clean up and assembly is not hard at all. And it juices greens and wheatgrass beautifully! My unit is quite a few years old now and is still working great. I use it at least 3-4 times a week along with my other juicers/blenders. I've not personally tried the Sampson, so I cannot compare them.

[heabrook]

I've owned both the Champion and the GreenStar. Currently, I have the GreenStar. The Champion is good but less complex. You can do more with the GreenStar.

[Vegan Diva]

I love my Green Star. I use it almost every single day for greens, wheat grass, and occasionally fruit.

[threedogs]

Is there another thread running on this? I would be very careful about buying Greenstar at this point, no matter how good the reputation used to be.

According to earlier posts, which you can probably find in the archive to check the links for yourself, the Korean manufacturer went bankrupt and closed down, and what is being sold now is what was left in inventory plus some additional machines that were assembled from left over parts. I've read complaints online from recent buyers about getting lemons and having real nightmares getting them replaced or fixed. And replacement parts could be a real hassle in the future.

Are you sure it is the Green Star you heard about, and not this:

http://www.matstone.info/

This website says that it is the maker of the Samson juicer (Samson in U.S., Matsone in England) that has gone bankrupt. As it says in this website, the original Green Power did go bankrupt (way back in '93) but the rights were sold to Tribest. Tribest still looks strong as ever:

http://www.greenstar.com/

I had an original Green Power, which I loved, back when they first came out, and regretted the fact that I sold it when money was tight. I now have a Green Star, and I couldn't be happier.

The machine I wouldn't buy is the one that is being sold as the "Green Power" today:

http://www.greenstar.com/news.asp?ID=16

This is sold as the Hippocrates juicer, and a bunch of other names. Maybe some people have had good luck with theirs, but I have read a lot of complaints, and, personally, I just don't like the fact that different names/labels can be smacked on the same machine.

Just wanted to clarify this, because I would hate that a rumor would hurt a good company.

[Shivananda]

Anybody who is happy with their Green Power/Greenlife/Greenstar juicer, great!!, more power to you!! I'm not trying to knock anyone else's experience.

But for those who are still looking to buy, you should know that a lot of problems have been cropping up with the twin gear machines (stripped gears are very common and expensive to replace) that are not happening to single gear owners, and that the single gear machines are smaller and quieter and roughly half the price, are at least as efficient, and clean up much faster.

For the average person I've found the cleanup time on a juicer is the single biggest factor in whether they will actually use it regularly or not. No kidding! I use my Omega single auger machine several times daily and clean it up in 5 minutes. If it took me 30 minutes, like the once a week Greenstar owner here recently mentioned, I would never use it. In fact, that's why I gave up on my old Acme Juicerator, despite it making the best apple juice ever, because the centrifugal basket was such a bear to get clean.

Here's an interesting comparison from someone who gave up their twin gear machine for a new single gear machine that I found on the Ethical Juicers website (UK) . Please note that the Oscar VitalMax mentioned is the same machine that is marketed in the US as the Omega 8003/8005.

****
My previous juicer was the Green Life / Green Star twin gear machine which our family owned and used regularly from around May 2003. Herewith are the advantages of the Oscar that I've observed

1. The Oscar is infinitely easier to clean as pulp comes off the single gear easily after disassembling machine. The Green Life's twin gears are a hassle to clean as pulp fills up every single groove of both gears and has to be 'gouged' out with a cleaning tool.

2. The Oscar's screen is easier to clean compared to that of the Green Life.

3. I've made the rather staggering observation that the Oscar actually juices green veg stalks (kale and esp thick broccoli stalks) better than my Green Life. As for yield, after popping the pulp back through the chute a few times there's virtually no pulp left and what is left is very dry.

4. The Oscar is very much lighter than the Green Life - a great advantage in the home and when it comes to taking your juicer on holiday.

5. The Oscar is small and takes up less space in the kitchen compared to the Green Life.

6. Transparency of the feeding chute of the Oscar is a major advantage compared to non-transparency of the Green Life. One can see how the greens are feeding down on to the gear and how to manipulate them to facilitate juicing without having to use force (and strain one's wrists and stomach muscles).

7. When using the Green Life, one invariably has to use downward force as the twin gear arrangement makes them less receptive to incoming greens in that the greens are effectively being ground down to minute particles the moment they enter the gears - and this instant conversion process is possible only with human force. In contrast the progressive action of the single gear Oscar is a brilliant idea, which easily takes produce and slowly breaks down the solids into liquid.

8. The Oscar has only five parts, whilst the Green Life has eight.

9. The Oscar came with a really good length electric cord. The Green Life has a very short one. Nothing worse than having to locate an electrical appliance right next to the plug point or having to be careful not to nudge it lest it prompts a disconnection.

10. The Oscar is INFINITELY quieter than Green Life. As a family this has made a major difference to our lives.

11. When cleaning, you don't have to clean the face of the Oscar whereas you do have to clean the face of the Green Life and even then it gets harder to do so as the pulp becomes ingrained over time. The Oscar's design in this regard is fantastic as cleaning the face of the Green Star drove me potty.

Our Green life has been packed away and resides in our garage. Thanks for talking me through the purchase -I feel healthier every time I see the Oscar. We have highly specific needs and it seems as if the Oscar is just right for us.

I'm beginning to see the Green Life family as over-hyped and even obsolete, as long as the single gear machine being used is as good as the Oscar.
****

[rawpriestess]

I have a champion and am very happy with it.

I've seen the Green star used, and it didn't work near as well, actually bogged down often, and stopped and jammed several times while the champion continued to work beautifully.

[mbf]

Hey Shiva, thank you for your research ! You have totally convinced me NOT to buy the Greenstar BUT should I be looking at Omega now ?

What can I use for wheat grass if not the greenstar ? Doe steh oega do wheat grass and make custard like ice cream out of frozen fruit?

Thank you all!

Mara

[spicyfull]

Good Luck........

[dogmd]

Hi.. thanks for this thread. I just got my champion juicer off of e-bay for $70.00 but I need an instruction manual.. CAN ANYONE PLEASE POST THE RECIPE FOR THE BANANA ICE CREAM until I find a manual. I am dying to try this out!!

Thanks again!!