Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

asdfasdfLet me start out by saying this is a really nice ball, but there are definitely a few pieces of information that could be of use to you. First things first, the ball does smell pretty strongly at the beginning, but on day one the smell is already dissipating, and in my experience this is very typical (I have a handful of these balls from different manufacturers for chairs at desks around my home) but it does smell like a sort of plasticy petroleum type smell. It will go away, but be prepared for it. You get what you pay for with the pump, it is by no means a good pump, but works for the purposes of filling up the ball for the first time, and is nicer than many that I have received with other balls I have purchased because it is a foot pump rather than a hand pump, which my arms could not have been happier about. A simple trick to make life a bit easier is to superglue the hoses into position so they stop popping off; once I did this it was a simple matter to finish inflating the ball. The ball is EXTREMELY hard when filled to the appropriate size (the size indicated by the measuring tape); the whole time I was filling it, I felt like it would burst but it handled the pressure like a champ (one member of my family ways over 300 lbs and didn't seem to be taxing the ball at all). This is great if you need a nice hard surface to work out on, but if you want a bit softer of a seat or feel to it then go up a size and let some air out. The surface is the shiny smooth one rather than the textured one. I don't personally care which one I have, but if you want a specific texture, realize that this is the smooth one and might not be the perfect solution for hardwood floors (though I'm using mine on hardwood and it seems to be doing just fine. While the description on Amazon says that the ball will hold 1000 lbs of pressure, the materials included in the packaging clearly indicated 600 as the max. I'm having trouble thinking of a situation where 600 lbs wouldn't cut it, but again, forewarned is forearmed. As far as anything else goes, the teal color is very true to the images, the shipping was quick and the package was well protected by a second box inside. After purchasing a few exercise balls over the last few years, I can say that so far this is my favorite, buy with confidence.