Confidence Gtr Power Pro Motorised Treadmill

Being used to long walks in the mornings, I find it frustrating at this time of year when it's too darn cold to go for 5 mile hikes. I'm not as young as I used to be! This was the answer to my problem and though it doesn't give the scenery I'm used to seeing in the country, it allows me to keep the fitness levels up. It is a value for money buy. It was simple to put together and is fabulous to use. Better than I bargained for to be honest. I would very much recommend.

You get what you pay for with this one.

The first delivery arrived damaged, although sportsdirecthq were quick to replace it (note that you have to contact them through their own website - the email through amazon doesn't work). The replacement isn't as damaged but still quite poorly made - there were knobs and ends that weren't properly fixed and needed a whack with a hammer to put them in place. I also received an email a month after receiving the treadmill from the seller saying there was a misprint in the instructions.

The display is easy to use and the range of speed I found was good enough for a beginner. However it is noisy and it isn't exactly sturdy; running on it does shake the whole unit regardless of how light you are, and the fold up system isn't as simple as other treadmills I've seen (you have to unscrew something at the bottom, fold it, then screw it again with a different screw).

It's cheaper than other treadmills and I'm keeping and using mine in the garage, so noise and vibration doesn't annoy anyone I live with. I'm only a beginner and I can get a decent workout on it despite how shaky it is. However if I could invest more money into a treadmill, I'd probably go with a more sturdy machine.

I had been looking at every size shape and price of treadmills that the Internet has to offer but went with this model simply based on its weight (very lightweight in comparison to most, just 28kg) I live in a 3 storey house with only the kitchen/dining room and garage being on the ground floor, therefore it was likely that the treadmill would have to go on the middle or top floor and I was conscious of the noise levels that it may produce, I know my 2 and 4 year old girls sound like The Great Migration in the Seregeti from downstairs when they are playing! Well the machine itself is very quiet in my opinion, but you will get the 'thudding' of pounding feet emanating though the house.

Size was a big selling point also, I wanted a machine that didn't take over half the room and one that folded up to a decent size and shape for storage, I am happy to say this ticks the boxes here, it folds up just about as compactly as it could. Some others still have their running surface at 45degrees or so but not this one, it's as near to vertical as it gets. The low weight of the treadmill helps with moving it around and I can easily manage it on my own.

The running surface dimensions quoted seemed quite narrow but having used the machine I can safely say there is plenty of room width wise. My husband also says he feels perfectly comfortable with the width and being 6 foot 5" and 16 stone, his stride is not compromised by the length either. Another selling point was the max load weight being higher than many others at 19 stone.

The controls are simple, 3 pre-set buttons offering 3, 5 and 7 k/ph, Increase and Decrease buttons on the console AND on the handle bars, AND Start and Stop buttons on the console and handle bars too. There are 12 pre-set programs which are set at 30 mins and have 20, 1.5 minute segments of varying speed. Duration can be changed from 5-60 mins even on pre set programs. You can also set a program based on the distance you wish to run and it will count down from your setting whilst you run.

The machine always starts at 0.8k/ph unless you choose the pre-set speeds and you always get a 3,2,1 countdown before the belt starts. The heart rate monitor fluctuates a great deal and I am not sure if it is all that accurate but this doesn't bother me at all. All measurements are in k/ph which again I don't have an issue with. The only thing I wish the machine did differently would be to not lose all of your data every time you press stop, it always resets time/distance etc back to zero, but again a very minor irritation. There are also 3 levels of incline, altered manually, it is easy to remove the pin and place in another hole to choose between flat/horizontal, 3.5%, and 7% incline

The machine is very sturdy and seems well built......especially for the price, even though the reviews were good, I still expected some sort of flimsy feeling machine...not at all. The set up was unbelievably simple, seriously my husband was running on it within 15 minutes of carrying the box up the stairs (alone may I add!) all necessary tools are included.

Finally the service and delivery....I seriously do not know how they managed to get this machine to me in the time frame they achieved! I ordered it about 2pm on a Wednesday afternoon and at 11am the VERY NEXT DAY the courier was carrying it through my front door, excellent, need I say more!

I cannot say enough about this machine, if you simply want the convenience of running without the need to hit the streets at a reasonable price, then buy this machine. Yes it's a budget machine compared to some of those you will have run on in the gym but for £199 quid you simply can't go wrong. It does more than I will ever need, not sure I'll even use the presets as speed adjustment is so easy.