I think the best place to shop for equipment when you're on a budget is Craig's List. People sell their old equipment all the time. Find out the model then check the reviews on Amazon.

I have a Weslo treadmill that I bought at Fred Meyer a year and a half ago for $299...and an elliptical that I bought at Sears like 3 years ago for about the same price. Both get well used (I even run on my treadmill) and are holding up just fine. My in-laws purchased a treadmill for around $2k, and have already spent several hundred dollars on repairs. For that amount, I could buy a new treadmill AND elliptical like 3 more times!!!!!! That was what sealed the deal for me ;)

For dvds, hand weights, yoga mats/blocks/straps, balls, and other similar equipment-places like Wal-Mart or Target are just fine.

We have had good luck with recumbent bikes from cheaper places like this (we had a recumbent bike that was only about $200, and it lasted for YEARS, and we upgraded to a $600ish Dicks Sporting Goods model last year. The only difference between the two, is that the more expensive one has all of the programmed workouts, and the cheaper one didn't.

However, when you get into treadmills, what you are going to notice is that the cheaper ones usually have a shorter and narrower belt...and more expensive ones have a longer/wider one. If you are a woman and are going to be using it just for walking...the smaller, cheaper model might be just fine. If you are a taller woman with a longer walking stride, a runner, or a man with longer legs-you might find that you *need* a bigger one. In places like Wal-Mart, they might only have one or two models, but in places like Dicks Sporting Goods, they will have 8 treadmills lined up together-so you can see the difference in the size of the walking/running area.

We have one from Dicks Sporting Goods. It wasn't the cheapest model, and it wasn't the most expensive one, either. In the price range of a couple hundred bucks up to a few thousand...ours is in the mid range. We have had it for about 3 years now, and so far we are completely happy with it. We don't need a full fledged gym model with all of the bells and whistles...but we need more than a smaller, cheaper Wal-mart model. (I powerwalk AND jog, and my husband runs on it frequently, and has a long stride.)

Keep your eyes open in the local classifieds. In SCL we also have a local news/radio station that has it on-line. People are always selling for cheap what they paid high dollar for but never really used.

I saw my treadmill on sale for $50 about a mth after I bought one for $300 on sale from $500. But, when I called to check it out, it had sold in one day. So you have to be quick about it.