Schwinn 431 Elliptical Trainer

I am so pleased with this machine. I purchased it about 2 weeks ago and having been using it faithfully. First of all, I want to say that I have severe arthritis in both hips and this machine allows me to use it carefully without creating serious stress on my hips as such would a treadmill or a recumbent bike. I have used many ellipticals and it is very hard to beat the several thousand dollar club machines.
That said, I am amazed at how smooth this machine is. Usually it takes a few uses of any elliptical machine for your body to acclimate to its rotations. I was pleasantly surprised at how fast I moved right into the groove of this machine. Five minutes into my first use felt like I've been using it for months.
Today, I went to Sears and got on about 8 different elliptical machines ranging from $300 - $1200 "on sale." The only machine that came close in quality and yet did not beat it in smoothness and quality was the $1200 "on sale" Nordic Trac model. I felt the highest price Nordic Trac was a good machine, but I would honestly prefer the Schwinn 431. The other 7 machines felt very stiff and sterile and difficult in their stride. They just felt cheap!
The Schwinn 431 is so smooth and has many features that make it not only a great deal, but an almost must buy. If you are looking for a reasonably priced, great exercise machine that is gentle on your body but excellent for the cardio, then look no further. Even if I had 4 or 5K to spend on a machine, I do not think I would waste the money. This machine is giving me a great workout and it just FEELS GOOD! It is built solid, it rides smooth and I can just tell by its construction and feel that it will give me many years of great exercise. And let's face it, in the most important aspect of any exercise we must ask ourselves the question: Is it helping my cardiovascular system? This one does the job and it does it well.

UPDATE:
I'VE BEEN USING THIS MACHINE 4-5 TIMES A WEEK NOW FOR ABOUT 2 MONTHS. I AM EVEN MORE PLEASED NOW THEN I WAS THEN. THIS MACHINE IS WORTH AT LEAST DOUBLE OF WHAT IT IS SELLING FOR. I AM NOW UP TO 40 MINUTES AND I AM GETTING AN OUTSTANDING WORKOUT. NOT ONLY THAT, BUT UNLIKE OTHER WORKOUTS THAT A WHILE TO GET GOING BECAUSE OF THE LABORIOUS NATURE OF THEM, I JUMP ON THIS AND AM READY RIGHT AWAY. THERE IS SOMETHING WONDERFUL ABOUT THE ELIPTICAL MACHINES AND THIS ONE IS RIGHT UP THERE FOR QUALITY.

This machine's works are great. Good quality fitness equipment. Very smooth operation, good electronics, a great workout. Definitely would purchase again. Only fault I could find is all the "accessories" are cheapie-looking. The cup holder and tiny fan are very plastic-y and look like they were added so they could boast of them in the ad. But the fitness parts work great. It took about 3 hours to put together. There were a lot of bolts, but the pictures were good and there were the right number of parts and the holes matched up and were well drilled. A ratchet allen wrench would be helpful, but the small one they included did the trick. Thumbs UP.

I have had my eliptical for two weeks and I like the workout I get, the one thing i don't is all the times you have to adjust the bolts to get rid of squeaks and knocks. After two weeks of tuning I still have one knocking sound I am not sure where it's coming from. But, I like the programs and it's a nice looking machine, just the knocking is a bit annoying! Assembling it was pretty easy too. Just follow the instructions. My eliptical was missing the wire harness in the console mast, but I contacted Schwinn and they mailed me one in a week. All in all, I like the machine despite the noises considering the low price!

The 431 Ellipitcal is well worth it's money! It is very quiet and glides very smoothly, however at first there was a terrible squeaking nois (which is to be expected on a new machine). My husband greased all the parts that moved and now it's fine! The backlight on the panel makes it easy to read in low light conditions. The fan for me needs improvement. It blows to the top of my head; the adjuster for the angle of breeze sits in the middle of the fan so the bottom half of the fan blows to me and the top half goes right over my head. It's not very powerful maybe at the start of your workout you will cool off but middle too end of your workout you can't really feel it. I only gave it 4 stars because the of the fan.

Hello everyone... my husband and I researched for a week to find the best at home elliptical. One that didn't cost an outragous price either! We ended up going with the Schwinn 431. It got the best reviews. People complained how long it took to put it together. My husband and I did it in an hour. Which is not bad at all! It was pretty simple. The squeaky noise some people talked about, I got. My husband looked at it and found that the arms were screwed in to tight! Just a little adjusting and it is fine! So if you are looking for a great elliptical,this is the one. I bought it on Amazon and saved $100.00 and got free shipping! I do recomend you get a warranty! We went with the 2yr. Hope this helped and goodluck!