Here at the Revue Ie noticed a trend that needs to be addressed: treadmill manufacturers have decided that their treadmill design is perfect and has no room for improvement, therefore they have stopped working to make a better quality treadmill and instead will lure you into buying their model or replacing your aging one with new worthless doo-dads. If you go shopping for a new treadmill today, you will be dazzled with treadmills that have heart-rate sensors, body-fat analyzers, connections for an ipod, speakers - some even have subwoofers, LCD televisions, dvd players, and more. Even the lowest end models now have some of these extras - other times the only difference between two models is some extras that just aren worth the price difference. Let me help you out by shedding some light on these frivolous extra - some are nice to have, some are near worthless. Here the scoop:
That heart-rate sensor is worthless, but is standard in all new models and you are likely not paying extra for it.
These are worthless for two reasons - the first being they are cheap and inaccurate, and the second being that the second you stop the natural swinging of your arms and slow down enough to use the device - which typically involves you holding firmly onto sensors - your heart-rate will drop by at least 40%. There is one type that is more accurate and can be used while running full-throttle, and that is the type that straps around your chest and hooks up to your treadmill (some are wireless, others have a cord). This has its own caveats however
pain, and eventually the contacts that read your heart-rate will wear out and the sensor will need to be replaced. I personally don know anyone that uses the device more than once. This is one feature that is included in EVERY treadmill produced right now, down to the lowest end model, so you will get it regardless of how useless I say it is.
The body-fat analyzer is inaccurate and tedious to use - buy a scale that does this.
Some newer treadmills include a body-fat analyzer that beats tour uses the same sensors that the heart-rate sensor uses to tell you what percent fat you are. The problem lies in that the treadmills need your weight, age, and gender to be accurate - and if your treadmill has more than one user, it can be a tedious monster beats process to input all that each time. Even with that information in my experience the results are inaccurate, often grossly inaccurate. If you buy a treadmill that happens to have this feature, great - but do not pay extra solely for this - go buy a dedicated scale that includes a body-fat reader for this purpose.
A cute little fan to keep you cool.
Nearly standard beats pro by dre on every new treadmill is a small one or two speed fan that sits in the center of the console. They do a passable job of giving you a slight breeze near your face (or neck/chest if you are tall) - but will not replace a normal fan if you run hard or in non-air conditioned rooms. Like the heart-rate sensor though, you can get around getting this add-on and it is nice to have. On some models these fans are fairly loud for how small they are - so put on some headphones, or turn up your treadmill television system.
Audio Input/Output
This allows you to hook up an audio device to your treadmill (say, an Ipod or Zune) and then hook up your headphones to the treadmill itself (as opposed to the device). This has one big
Speakers - Because your whole house wants to hear your loud techno music blaring from your cheap crappy treadmill speakers.
Treadmill makers are always trying to one-up each other - and here the latest: treadmill speakers. Essentially the treadmill has a stereo on the console, where you can plug in your own device and have it played over the speakers. Now, if you live by yourself, aren interested in audio quality, and don already own a stereo this could benefit you. If this describes you, you might be the only person like this. For the rest of us, this addition is useless because: 1) It loud - you will need it loud enough to overcome the THUD THUD of your treadmill, so if you live with other humans, they may have an issue with this. B) The speakers suck. Really, did you think NordicTrack is going to put in Klipsch? 3) It makes the console look gigantic and goofy. This gives your treadmill the appearance that you should be using it to travel to space, not run on. D) Don you already own a boombox you could do this same thing with?
Television - Your treadmill is now your new home entertainment system, just put a chair on the belt part and make some popcorn.
In addition to the speakers described above, some high-end treadmills have gone as far as to put in small (7-93) LCD televisions on the console. Here are my problems with this - 1) You probably don have a cable hook-up near your treadmill. 2) The televisions are cheap and poor quality. Go read the buyer comments on Amazon - these are not Pioneer Elite televisions people. 3) The tv is in a fixed position, and on many models was hard to watch for any length of time - neck strain from having to look down at an angle is common, and I personally just find it hard beats studio to be vigorously running and watch that little TV. Maybe if you walk a lot it could be nice?
I did find it useful for one purpose: hooking up my Zune to it using the AV cable and watching television shows and movies on the treadmill played off the Zune (the Ipod that can play video can do this as well). Ideally however this would be done using my alternative suggestion below:
You are far better off having a regular television in the room and watching that. If you don have one, or don have the room, I suggest this: Go buy a small LCD television for a few hundred bucks and mount it on the wall at eye-level in front of the treadmill. At this position you can see it without straining your neck and then get all the benefits of owning a real, actual television.
Conclusion
None of these eatures? are necessary nor should be considered in the treadmill purchase. Pick out a treadmill based on the components that matter - a little television will not make up for a treadmill that can handle your vigorous workout or that has reliability problems. Choose a treadmill based on the standard basic components of the unning? part of the treadmill and reputation of the manufacturer - and then if that model happens to include some of the above features, than great - but do not make your purchasing decision based on these so called features.
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