I asked about a blender here a while ago and hands down it was between the Vitamix and Blendtec. I bought the Vitamix (factory refurb, 5 year warranty w/free shipping) for around $280. I've never looked back. I was considering a Breville, but for $80 more, I bought the last blender I will ever need.
I use a frozen banana as the base of my smoothies, I add fruit / frozen fruit (usually whatever is on sale), greens (spinach, kale, whatever...), carrots, protein powder, greek yogurt, and enough fruit juice to make it thin it out to a drinkable level.
FWIW: A BJ's membership has made my smoothies easier. Check out the freezer isle for a ton of frozen fruit / kale choices. Grab a bag of organic baby carrots and a huge tub of organic lettuce along with some Plain Greek yogurt and I'm %90 there.
EDIT: Found my old thread:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2422212