the best advice I can give on buying a treadmill is TRY IT OUT before you buy it. seriously they are all SOOOOO different and depending on if you will be walkiing or running or a little of both--it will make a HUGE difference. I had a Sears Proform one for about 8 years. it was a higher end Sears one that we paid about $900 for 9 years ago. I trained for 2 marathons and 3 half's and lots of 5ks and managed to run the thing into the ground. It just wasnt meant for the heavy running/useage we gave it but thankfully we paid the extra $$ for the service contract as we got every penny and more out of that. this past spring we upgraded to more of a "commerical" type treadmill I went out to all of the dealers in my area with my running shoes and ran for a good 10 minutes on each and every one. I ended up with a basic Bodyguard model with an ortopedic tread. and LOVE it.
