Nice to see that this thread hasn't died---I've been following it off and on for a couple of years.
I've been playing with the Vortex 133 for the past two years. I also tried the 108 and the 116, but I find I get the best results with the 133. PLUS, it totally freaks out my opponents. Most of them can't get over how BIG it is. I have a 4-7/8" grip on it, which also causes some eye bulging.
I am a 68 year old USTA 4.0, only play doubles. So, in that regard, I'm out of the mainstream for this forum, as 99% of the members who post here seem to be only interested in "players" rackets, hitting big forehands with massive topspin, etc. In other words, Nadal wannabes.
My epiphany with the Vortex came when I learned to quit trying so hard to generate spin with it, and just let the racket do its thing. One earlier post mentioned that the racket does extremely well on "reflex" shots. AMEN to that! I always had trouble with service returns against big servers. Now I just let the racket feed off the service power, and the returns just float back to the baseline as if by magic.
Same goes for lobs. The Vortex seems to have some sort of built in radar that causes all lobs to land on the baseline. VERY comforting to me, infuriating to opponents.
In my age group, I don't have to face many serve/volley style opponents. In fact, I am the only consistent serve/volley player I know of in my age group (older than dirt).
Here's what the Vortex has done for my game.
1. Consistent slice serves to the deuce court, topspin kickers to the ad court. Neither serve has wicked pace or apparent big spin, but they handcuff opponents.
2. Consistent groundies, especially off the b/h. LOTS of underspin and bite, very effective sidespin down the line shots, and wicked drop shots on occasion. Topspin forehands tend to be "looped" semi-lobs, but they are always deep, and keep the opponents back, back, back --- giving plenty of time for me to wander up to the net for a putaway.
3. Biggest advantage is that many of my younger and more talented opponents don't know quite how to handle my shots. There is no pace for them to feed off of, the ball is jumping around at odd angles, and as a result, they can't hit their normally reliable hard groundies. When they do manage to hit a forcing shot, I can often block it back at an angle, or hit a semi-offensive lob that puts them back on the defensive.
Anyway, I just bought three new (demo) Vortex rackets off the internet. One is a 133 so that I will have a backup racket, but I also got a 116 and a 108 to revisit, experiment with a bit. Can't wait to learn some new tricks!