A little over a month ago [fluggart.com], I mentioned that we bought a Diamondback 850Er elliptical machine [diamondbackfitness.com] to work out on.
Since we have been using it for a longer period of time, I have been preparing to give it a more comprehensive review. But then we started having problems with it, so I'm going to wait to see how it gets resolved.
The primary problem that I have seen with it so far is that it sometimes randomly resets in the middle of the workout. And I have noticed that it corresponds with the heart rate monitor showing phantom readings (obviously, this only happens when I'm not actually wearing a heart rate monitor) -- in other words, since I'm not wearing a heart rate monitor, there is no way that it should be showing my heart rate, but sometimes it shows something. We found out that the machine can sometimes pick up wireless internet signals, which cause the phantom heart rate signals. And when it detects that your heart rate is too high, it resets, on the assumption that you are about to die.
This is definitely something to look out for if you are looking to buy an exercise machine. It only happens rarely, but it's annoying.
Other things to look for: ours can only store one profile (age, weight, target heart rate range, desired length of program, etc). But there are two of us. In addition to the obvious inconveniences this might cause... there is a display that shows how many estimated calories you have burned in your workout so far. But I'm pretty sure that it's based on the details in your profile. So, if you are interested in watching the calorie counter, it'll only be a good estimate for one person.
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