Merit Fitness HTM0779-01 725T Plus Treadmill

This treadmill arrived at a warehouse on the mainland on the day they said it would. Of course I had to have it shipped from there to me by freight at just over $47 which took a couple more days. The box looked a little battered, but there was no damage to the treadmill.To put it together, lay the box flat on the ground, and cut the yellow straps. The lid will lift right off. The first problem is that there was a big warning not to remove the machine from the box without first reading the instructions. We could see no instructions, and I wondered if they had been lost in transit. Looked on line for a downloadable manual, but found none. My husband is mechanically inclined, and we decided to put it together without instructions. We started to remove the item from the carton, and, voila!, there were the missing manuals under the treadmill. From then on, all proceeded smoothly.There are, for some reason, two manuals. The instructions for assembly are clear. The packets of bolts are clearly labeled for steps 1 - 5. Moving the treadmill is next to impossible so be sure to assemble it where you want it. It was perfectly level in all directions after setup so we did not need to do that part of the assembly.Here is information I did not see before I ordered it: They say don't put it on a porch or in a garage which is not temperature controlled. OOPS! There is absolutely no place to put this other than our garage. I looked all around our small house to see if I could find another spot. Be warned. This apparently voids our guarantee. Our garage temperature is very stable - about 40 degrees in the winter and 70 in the summer. It is insulated and attached to the house. We decided to keep the treadmill anyway. Another warning I did not see before we purchased it is that it is supposed to have 3 free feet on either side and 7 feet behind. No wonder people are building mega houses these days. Those two warnings would probably have prevented my purchase, and I took a star off because of them. I, however, am glad I bought it anyway. Another warning was that it needs its own electrical circuit. Except for a light, nothing else was on that circuit, but you might take age of wiring into consideration before your purchase too.With two of us we did not have trouble lining up the holes for the bolts. A ratcheting screwdriver made assembly easier, but tools do come with it. We are in our seventies with some vision dimness and hand unsteadiness problems so it took a couple of hours. Someone young and fit could do it in half that time.I have not yet tried the programs, but I have tried varying the speeds and slopes and everything worked fine. I think the pulse doesn't seem to be accurate I might find a way to test that. I do like the machine.

We ordered the treadmill and opted for the free shipping. It was supposed to take 7 to 10 business days but we received it in 3 days...that was a pleasant surprise! However the box it came in was pretty beat up--it was torn and there were large holes in it. I had read that this had happened to a lot of people but most said the treadmill inside was in good shape. I got all the parts out and put it together in about an hour. The instructions were very clear and all the bags of parts were labelled 1 thru 4. It works great...very quiet. The reason for the 4 stars is because some parts were damaged: The right side plastic rail at the bottom had a chip out of it; the right hand grip sensor (metal part) was dented; the motor cover was cracked and there was a rubber foot missing from the bottom of the frame. The bottom left part of the steel frame was crushed at the top so I had to pound it open so that the small steel extension piece would fit into the frame. There is a happy ending however: I emailed the company that makes the treadmill (their email address is on the instruction book) because it was a Saturday and there was a recording when I called the 800 number. They emailed me back on Monday and apologized for the problems I was having with my treadmill. They asked me to send them a receipt for the treadmill so I sent the "receipt" (email confirmation) that I got from Amazon. They responded very quickly and sent me a parts diagram asking me to list the part numbers for all the broken parts. They emailed me back stating that the parts would be shipped in 2 to 3 days and that someone would contact me to set up a time to come to my home to repair the treadmill. Sure enough I got the parts in 2 days and a guy called me 2 days later. He came and replaced the broken parts with the new ones and answered all my questions. (I could have done the repairs myself but I think they had to do it to keep the treadmill under warranty). The only thing he couldn't fix was the part of the steel frame that had been dented but I got it pounded almost back to normal. (To be fair I didn't tell them about that part because I figured they'd have to replace the whole treadmill). I did ask the repair guy if I needed to lubricate the treadmill before I used it, because it already seemed to have been lubricated (the manual says to lubricate it). He said it is lubricated at the factory and that I didn't need to lubricate it yet. He also recommended the "Slik Stik" to lubricate it so the tread would not have to be loosened. In summary, this is a great treadmill. If you are willing to take a chance on the delivery then this is the treadmill for you. If anything is wrong with it, the company will take care of you.

We love our merit treadmill- at first we were hesitant to buy a treadmill of Amazon but received it fairly fast (and in a giant box) and put it together fairly easily.We use it moderately, mostly in the winter when running outside isn't fun. It's light and some of the plastic a bit cheap, but who care when it's the carpet that is important. The base is solid and the carpet runs well. Word of warning: we kind of bent our carpet because we over-adjusted while tightening and so the carpet went too far to one side and caught the carpet. It still works there's just a little bump. This was user error though, and the manual tells you how to tighten/balance the carpet properly.We're really happy with the treadmill. Great to run on.

I love to walk; its my favourite form of exercise. Having a treadmill has been a goal of mine for ages, since that means I can get in all my steps even when the weather is terrible. This Merit Fitness treadmill is pretty great, once you've got it put together. But, it is far from perfect.I'll start with the good. First, it is so simple to use. Plug it in, flip the power switch (located near the floor on the back of the deck), and select your program using the buttons. The display shows you how fast your going, how many calories you've burned, your pulse, incline, etc. (Sadly, all in Imperial, not metric.) Everything is super easy to read, and changing setting is as simple as pressing a button or two. The controls are responsive, and speed and incline changes are smooth.There are two water bottle holders on the control area, and a ledge to set your tablet or ebook reader. Unfortunately, the slant of the holder is a bit high for someone short (like me!), but it is still usable if not ideal.There are ten build-in programs, ranging from a gentle walk to a mountain climb. You can make adjustments to the programs, or you can run the treadmill on manual mode and make adjustments on the fly.The deck is a little on the small side, measuring 18" x 45", but I have found it more than adequate. The machine as a whole runs very quietly. If it is making a lot of noise, that means you need to adjust the mat. When the incline is changing it can get a wee bit noisy, but it isn't really to terribly bad. The sound of the machine has never been loud enough to downed out whatever it is I am listening to while walking.On to the bad--this machine is terrible to put together. First, be sure to build it where you want it to live as it is very heavy and very hard to move once it is built. (Our is living in our dining room right now because we can't figure out how to get it into the basement...) The tolerances for the parts are small. We had a hard time getting the control panel onto the arms. It almost didn't fit. It is like the machine is twisted a bit, even though it isn't.Our machine also came slightly damaged. There is a hole in the back of the control panel; the pin that holds up the machine when folded is totally sheared off; and the bottom of the motor covering was a bit folded under (we were able to repair this).Speaking of folding the machine up--don't count on it saving much space. The deck only comes up to about 45°, and then you slide one little pin over to hold it up. It doesn't feel safe, and it doesn't save much space.Despite these issues, I really do like this treadmill. I enjoy using, and feel safe doing so thanks to the safety features. I know it will get a lot of use as the weather gets worse.

I've been enjoying watching movies while working out on my Merit 725T for a while now and over all I'm pretty content with it. I'm just an average user, never been a marathon runner or power walker, I just wanted to stay active during the winter months and attempt to be healthier in a comfortable environment. I'll throw on a movie or some music and just step on and start with a light 5 minute walk to warm up, an increase the speed gradually until I'm feeling like it's taking an honest effort to keep up; Never push yourself to the point where it is uncomfortable, it should feel challenging but rewarding. It's not a machine for quiet homes, this thing squeaks and squawks, moans and groans with a dull mechanical roar the entire time it's in use; you really need headphones or powerful speakers to drown it out. The auditory feedback isn't all bad, at times it helps me focus on my timing but it really is a noisy contraption for home use. There are several features that I don't take advantage of because I'm just not that worried about tracking my vitals; I'm just a casual user that wants to see results on the weight scale; I treat these exercise as supplementing a healthy diet which is where I see the majority of my health progress.Packaging was pretty minimalist, just a large heavy brown cardboard box; getting it inside and upstairs was a nightmare. Very heavy machine. Overall I'm happy with what it is and what it does, I'm a larger man and I fit comfortably in between the hand rails, I believe the machine is approximately 45 inches wide, which is very generous. To help you visualize that space, it's 15 inches or over 1 foot wider than a standard door frame inside your house (Door frames are 30" wide). I think the biggest attraction to having a treadmill at home is the convenience of not having to pay for gym memberships, travel in the cold or feel uncomfortable in a gym. I think I'll make good use out of it as long as I keep myself motivated, with out the motivation to work out, it's just a very large piece of furniture in your home.4 out of 5 is my rating, not for bells and whistles or build quality but for convenience, price point and overall happiness with the product from an average users perspective.