Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

*Updated review after a few months* I finally got issues worked out with iFit subscription. Bottom line is that Nordictrak did not include my subscription in the box, and there was a lot of miscommunication and people tripping over each other on the customer service side to get it straightened out. I was quite unhappy with my first two weeks having the rower. Now that the subscription issue us solved and I've had a few dozen workouts on the machine, I'm adding a star (moved from 3 to 4 stars) and giving more detail. What's been good: The workouts with iFit are outstanding. I have loved rowing the rivers of the world with olympians and champions. The coach has a helmet camera on, and they talk you through the entire routine as they row through beautiful settings. I absolutely love these challenging but scenic rowing experiences. The coaches give good instruction, and I'm always clear on what I'm supposed to be doing at any given time. The studio sessions are also very good. I like the coaches and the fun atmosphere when I want a change of pace from the river-based scenic routes. Overall the iFit courses and library are really good, I like the variety of workouts and trainers, and I'm excited to see them continue adding more content for self-guided workout schedules. I would like to see iFit add more structure to their programs...as in create automatic playlists and calendars based on goals (for example, 90 day programs for weight loss, competititon training, cardio, etc. based on goals). Right now you have to choose your own workout and schedule, so I'm not sure if I'm doing the right types of workouts at the right intervals to accomplish my goals. The cons: Unit does occasionally freeze and needs a hard reset (unplug, plug back in). Startup time is pretty slow, so I usually plug in the machine and go fill up my water bottle, do some stretches, then come back to the machine to get started. Everything else is listed in my original review. Original Review: Got my RW900 over the weekend, and first impressions are mixed. Let's start with the positives: +Rower has a very solid build quality +Setup was very easy (I bought from Amazon so I could skip the mandatory $250 "White Glove setup" scam from Nodictrack's website. If you are able-bodied enough to use a rower, you should have not trouble putting this together DIY. +Rowing was very enjoyable, I like the fan control handle and the overall feel of the machine. +As a rowing machine on it's own, this is a great piece of equipment. It's everything else (you know, attention to details) that is making me strongly consider sending this thing back. -First frustration, the Amazon description says "1 year free iFit". There is no promo code or instructions on how to redeem the free year. On one of their brochures in the box, it tells you to visit ifit.com/activate, which I did. It said everything was set up activated, but I'm still locked out. If you don't plan to have iFit, DO NOT buy this machine. Nearly everything on the rower's interactive screen is locked out if you use the free subscription. I really wanted to use this rower in a guided training session, but since nothing is working I will probably end up spending an hour on the phone with customer service. There should be VERY clear instructions in the packaging that tell me what website to visit to activate my iFit account, what activation code to use (the machine asks you for an activation code during initial setup...which of course I didn't have!), and how long it will take before my free 1-year subscription becomes active. -Next complaint, customer service is only M-F during regular working hours. Very unhelpful when I also work those hours and don't have extra time to spend on the phone getting things fixed. -There is no on/off switch or auto-shutoff feature. I waited for the machine to turn off, and after several hours and it was still running, I went back to my owner's manual that says to turn off the machine, you have to unplug it. WHAT!?! It's irritating enough that the boot up time on this machine is 3-5 minutes (if you don't count the two times it's frozen up on me already), but to have to go through the boot up procedure by plugging in the machine every time I want to use it is very poor design thinking. -The touch screen is huge, which I love, but the bezels on it are also huge (see photos, the black outer border is about 1.5" thick all the way around). It looks like they stuck a small TV from 2009 on the end of this thing. The image quality is acceptable, but the touchscreen is frustratingly slow compared to my other smart devices at home. -The "row your boat through cool locations" feature is really lame. I was thinking I would be able to casually row through an iconic canal or lake while the video slowly rolled forward to match my speed and the sound of waves rolling and birds chirping overhead played through the speakers. Instead, NordicTrack has ripped off still images from Google Maps that just reload every few seconds (think about Google street view when you click to move to the next still image). With all the money I'm spending on a rower, you would think they could afford to send someone to these locations with a GoPro to get some real footage. -The beeps and tones the machine makes while interacting sound more like error noises. They need to improve the sounds the machine makes when acknowledging things like startup, volume up, volume down, etc. -The overall firmware of the system feels clunky and underwhelming. The design/ UI isn't bad, but the experience/ UX is bad. It's based on Android software (way to save money, NordicTrack!), and the menus are very thin and unhelpful. The look and feel is attractive, but nothing makes much sense where it is placed in the menu screens. For example, when you complete a workout, there is one giant button that says "Save Workout" and a tiny button on the other side of the screen that says "delete workout". It took me a while to figure out that "Save" meant "Log" my workout, as in "yes, please keep track of my progress". Also, since my iFit membership is in limbo, virtually everything I try to do on the screen is a deadend to "subscribe now!" Overall I am beyond frustrated at my experience and am contemplating sending the machine back. With the rower, tax, and protection plan is this purchase as almost $1800. I'm happy with the machine, but extremely disappointed with the service, software, and design thinking from everything else. Hopefully I will get a chance to revise my review to be more positive once NordicTrack makes some software updates and I get a chance to talk to customer service.