I bought an elliptical and I get a good workout on it. It gets boring just like a treadmil would, but like other posters said, you can walk outside anytime. I agree that those calorie counters are not accurate. I bought a HR monitor to track my calories and HR instead. My ONLY issue with my elliptical is that it makes noise (I got an inexpensive one from Walmart). But believe me, I'm out of breath and work up a sweat on that thing!

Personally, I only use stairmills and treadmills for machine cardio. I've tried all of the other machines and they just don't do it for me.

I just had to pop in to say I own the Orbitrek Platinum elliptical and I love it! It's made much better then the earlier model Orbitrek and I get a great workout on it. My heart rate increases quickly and within 10 minutes I'm sweating and puffing. Of course the more you do it the better you get at it. It has resistance levels on it but I leave mine set with less resistance so I get more cardio benefits from it. I paid $200 for it and I saw and infomercial for it and they had it on a payment option. I noticed they had an optional attachment to turn it into a recumbent bike as well. I thought this was interesting.:) But I still want a treadmill. It's just a space issue for me. I live in a small apartment and don't have allot of room so I have to be careful what I buy.

when I said that you burn more calories on the elliptical I should have been more specific! I have read in several different fitness articles that being on an elliptical burns more calories then a treadmill at the same precieved rate of exertion. In other words, it feels easier to burn more calories while being on an elliptical than while being a treadmil.

I'd say elliptical. Although, I'm obsessed with both, I think treadmills are incredibly tough machines! I really think they are ten times harder than if you were to run or walk outside or something... But, both are great machines... Ellipticals are better for knees, and much much lower impact!

Is there any possibility that you could get a temporary or guest membership at a gym, to test both machines before you buy? The elliptical gives you a tougher cardio workout, but I personally find it to be much harder on my knees. This goes against the common perception, and I really can't explain it, but the simple fact is that my knees hurt whenever I use an elliptical. They don't hurt when I use a treadmill. That's why it's a good idea to try both machines out for yourself and see how they work for your body.