Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I did a lot of research before buying this treadmill, but, from what I read, I thought that it might meet my needs. I wanted something that I could use in front of my living room tv and then wheel away when not in use. I wasn't interested in running, just in walking fast enough to get my heart rate up to 85 to 90% of my maximum heart rate, and, because I'm short, I thought I wouldn't have problems having to lean over to reach the handlebars. I was concerned about having to put the machine together -- I'm not very handy -- and I worried about whether it would be too noisy or not pleasant to use. I purchased this treadmill about a month ago and I have been using it almost every day since I got it. It is actually one of the best products that I have ever purchased on Amazon (and I make about 50 or more purchases each year). After using it for a week, I cancelled my gym membership, because I found that the workout I was getting on the Phoenix was at least as good (if not better) than the workout I was getting on the electric treadmills at the gym. I use it in front of my huge 46 inch TV each night for about 45 to 60 minutes and it's made me feel much less guilty about the amount of TV I watch (especially this time of year, when my beloved Red Sox are on nightly). One thing that I especially love is that I can step off the treadmill briefly -- to advance my DVR past the commercials or whatever -- and hop back on without having to press any buttons and without losing the accumulated totals of minutes, calories burned, etc. shown on the display (the display "remembers" its totals for up to 4 minutes). I was able to put together the Phoenix by myself (and I'm a very short -- 4 ft. 10 in -- 66 year-old woman who is not very handy around the house) in about an hour. The only difficulty I had was that one of the screws that connects the handle bars to the sides just wouldn't quite fit, even though I had the holes aligned as much as possible. I fixed that problem by putting the metal screw into the freezer for about an hour and by then the screw had shrunk enough to fit into the holes. I put some treadmill oil on the roller platform before I first used it and I haven't had to re-apply it since. To start it, all I do is hop on and lean my upper body forward until the tread starts moving. I wore a heart monitor the first few times on the machine because I wanted to make certain that I was in the right range. On my first use, my heart rate rose too high for someone my age -- it was over 150 per minute -- so I solved that problem by putting a one-inch paperback book under each of the back wheels, so the slope wouldn't be quite so much, and my heart rate went down to the 130s which is where I want it. I don't find the treadmill too noisy. It makes some noise of course, but nothing that prevents me from hearing the TV easily, and much less than an electric treadmill. What I especially like about using this manual treadmill is that I feel that I am in total control of it (instead of feeling that I have to constantly race to keep up with an electric treadmill). I just step on and start or stop whenever I want, without having to press any buttons or program any machines). I also really like the padding on the handle bars. It makes the handlebars really comfortable to grasp. I started by using the treadmill only about 20 minutes at a time and now I use it up to 45 minutes at a time or for two 30 minute sessions 6 days a week or sometimes even for 3 sessions of 20 minutes. Oh, and I've lost 5 pounds since I got it (about a month ago), another nice feature. I don't know how sturdy it is, or how well it will hold up after months and years of use. But, at such a low price, it seems easy enough to replace should I need to. This treadmill will not meet the needs of everyone, especially for those who want to run or who are tall. But for me, it has been pretty near perfect.