Kitchen Blenders

Whenever I make a milk shake it always comes out icy instead of creamy. Trust me, it's not the blender. I have a $500 Vita-Mix Blender so that's not the problem. Anyway, whenever I make milk shakes they're never like they are at the restaurants!
I better word for creamy would be thick.

when i was little mom made really creamy and thick strawberry milkshakes. she would only blend milk, vanilla, sugar, and frozen strawberries straight from the freezer.

use less liquid and more frozen stuff, for example, sometime i actually freeze my milk in ice trays. so frozen milk and frozen fruit, you're garanteed a thick and creamy shake! haha, just make sure you use a little liquid.

…that is not obnoxiously loud. I have the Cuisinart blender/processor combo which is a little small for what I need, not to mention horribly loud. Anyone have a recommendation?

Kitchen Aid KFP710 was Consumer Reports “Best Buy” at $80. It looks like just about any Kitchen Aid or Cuisinart should be good and scored as being very quiet.