I bought one for $389 American, it broke under daily use after three months. I replaced it with a Nordic Track Audio Strider 900 that I got for $999 American, I've been using it pretty much daily for about three months now, no trouble so far. They say it goes to 350 pounds, but the reviews say anything over 250 is pushing it long term.

Everything I read in my research said that anything under $1000 American was considered 'budget' and would have plastic parts, be built accordingly, that kind of thing. So, look at the warranty on whatever you buy and see what it covers, for how long, etc.

I don't know about you, but I couldn't go spend $1500 on an elliptical trainer right now...

Well it really depends on the elliptical. I would look up review off the brand you are looking into. One brand I know is AWESOME from experience is Lifecore Fitness Ellipticals. I have a LC 980 and I purchased it for $700 American. It is definitely worth more! Great elliptical.

Good luck!!!!

mine was around $800 U.S. dollars its the nordictrack spacesaver one-with ifit technology-- i've had it for about 2 1/2 years now=== works great=== but i dont know the weight amount on it

I'm not a 20something so pardon me for butting in

When I was first elliptical shopping, it was a frustrating experience. You would see ellipticals in stores like Sears and Dicks that were falling apart and cost around $900. I read things like Consumer reports and other things that said you should not pay under $1000 for an elliptical although they did make recommendations for budget ellipticals around $1000. There are a lot of things to consider for ellipticals and they are expensive machines. They have weight limits but also stride lengths. I've read that if you are really short, you may get away with a short stride length (<18") but really you should look for something with at least 18" and possibly more or else you risk knee issues. Ellipticals are generally highly recommended for those with knee issues but if the stride is too short, it can actually cause pain.

Ellipticals generally have a very bad warranty unless you get into the $1500+ range for them and then some still have really bad warranties. The reason being the ellipticals have a lot of moving parts and they tend to fail especially if cheaply made.

So I'd say try the machine out, look at the stride length, look at the warranty and try to figure out your expectations for it. If you plan to try it out to see if you'd like to upgrade later on, I think $500 is a reasonable amount to spend. I would worry about the stride length with your height though so I'd take that into consideration. Also, review the return policy and try to put in as many miles as possible during the return policy window.

Thanks for your input ladies, Greatly appreciated. While I'm there I'm going to look at Treadmills aswell. I've been torn between the two.

I would definitely check out Craigslist if I were you. I got a Precor EFX544 (awesome!) for $600, including delivery. It's a professional grade elliptical, gym quality, in great condition, that costs $4000-5000 new. I was able to get it so cheap because a small gym was upgrading their equipment and needed to get rid of old stuff. Best purchase I've ever made. You can find some great stuff on Craigslist, if you're creative and have a quick trigger finger on response emails.

Elliptical shopping is so hard!! My husband and I purchased one in January and I have to agree that the whole process of finding one is very time consuming and overwhelming. There are so many choices and spending that amount of money is scary in itself.

Anyway, because I am a fellow tall girl, 5'9'', I also wanted to reiterate the point about the importance of the stride length. It really makes a BIG difference. We ended up getting an AFG 3.0 AE with a 20'' stride from American Home Fitness. I believe it ended up costing around $1,200. With long legs I definitely recommend going with the 20'' stride, it is definitely worth the extra money if you can spring for it. I am very happy with the purchase.

Best of luck with your shopping!

I had NO luck shopping in stores yesterday. We went to a number of stores and they were all HELLA expensive. My budget at the moment was for about $600.
I ended up ordering that one online from Sears. It's Body Break brand, thats a little exercise show we have here in Canada. The stride is only 18". But, I figure if I like it, eventually when I can afford it, I'll invest in a good elliptical. This will have to do for now.
The thing that sucks is it doesn't get delivered until November 24th because they were out of stock boo!
Thanks again.

I bought a nordic track audio strider space saver in february for under 900, it has been great. I don't know the weight limit sorry, but I use it almost daily and i couldn't be happier. Shopping was a pain though. There are so many different options, i went with the one i did since it had a larger stride (i'm 6'0). I recomend going somewhere you can get on them and try them out, it really helped me narrow down my choices. Good luck.