Star Trac E-TBTe Elliptical Review

Brief Overview

If you are looking for a Commercial machine for your home, this is one of your options.

Overall Quality

Insanity equals paying $8K for a home elliptical. You will never need the quality that this machine has for home use and you get better features and value from True, Precor, LifeFitness and almost anybody else in my opinion.

The Star Trac E-TBTe is a decent commercial model. At $8,095, however, the asking price is higher than it deserves. The quality is great, but it's more than you'll need if you just plan on using this elliptical in the home. You also don't get the extensive feature set that you get with other manufacturers.

Ergonomically speaking, this machine is nothing special. You can find a few ellipticals that sell for just over $1,000 that provide a more natural range of motion. The lack of adjustability is even worse. 20 Levels of digital resistance give you the ability to align your workout with your fitness levels. This is unacceptable for an $8,095 elliptical. You can even find some machines selling for $499 that have as many options for adjustments.

As far as projected reliability, this machine is very good. Unfortunately, this kind of durability is made less impressive by the high price tag. There are a few ellipticals selling for $3,000 that have longer life expectancies. The quality of parts used is also well below what you should get considering the cost.

The noise levels are average. Most ellipticals make about the same amount of noise regardless of price. If quietness during operation is a major concern for you, you can easily find models that do a better job in this area that cost less, but we don't expect the average user to be bothered by the amount of noise this one makes.

The warranty on the Star Trac E-TBT is fantastic. The labor, headphone jack, iPod connector, and USB port are covered for 90 days; wear items and labor are covered for 1 year, and parts are covered for 2 years. This amount of coverage is impressive, but it doesn't make the high cost any easier to swallow.

The top of the line elliptical offering from Star Trac is a high quality, low-value machine. If you are going to sink this much money into an elliptical, why not just go ahead and buy a Precor AMT, it would make more sense.