You don't really need to spend $2,000. At least not yet anyway. My philosophy is to find a moderately priced treadmill and then see if you can wear it out. If you can, then you deserve the more expensive version. If you can't, you've saved yourself a bundle of money. I don't like to buy junk, but I don't like to spend top dollar on something that I may not really use as much as I might think or hope. I have a Weslo Cadence that I bought about 6 years ago for around $500. It is still working fine. I used it a lot originally, and then it collected dust for quite awhile. For the last three months or so I have been on it about 5 days a week. One more thing (tongue in cheek) - Treadmills are not like exercise bikes. It is really hard to hang clothes on them when you stop using them.

I traded some summer produce and a summers worth of bread to a lady for her treadmill. An inexpensive one (proform) but it has served me well for four winters. IF I could afford a new one, the only real change would be a longer belt. The motorized ones require you to keep pace which gives you a standard work out.

We bought a Sole treadmill earlier this year, after reading the reviews like you are and comparing the features. We bought the Sole F83. We are very happy with it so far. I don't know how they compare to other brands; I believe the most important comparisons are the motor, the size of the deck, the warranty, and the features each one offers. The Sole is an excellent treadmill and the models we considered offered everything we were looking for after reading articles about what a good treadmill should include. Of course, you should first set a budget, and then purchase the best one you can afford within that budget.

I have a gym quality Trimline fold up treadmill that I use daily. It was expensive when I bought it seven years ago but I've never regretted going with a professionally constructed model. It's much heavier than most "at home" models and much more stable...which is very important if you anticipate working up to jogging on it. Mine has built-in exercise programs which I rarely use. I can manually set the speed and incline level...which is what I do on a daily basis depending on how energetic I'm feeling. I walk at least a mile a day....but if I do it at the end of a long, busy day...I'm less apt to want to set the speed any higher that 2.8. The display panel tells me the distance that I've gone...the time it took to go that distance and the # of calories burned. The treadmill has a safety pull pin which I, personally, think is very important. If I fell and the pin pulled from the slot...the machine would shut down immediately. I've never had it happen...but I'm glad to know it's available. At the time that I purchased this Trimline...the retailer who sold me the model couldn't get the next model up that had a heart rate display. If I ever replace this treadmill...that's an option I want and would suggest it to others. Otherwise...I'm more than satisfied with just the basic options noted above. It was far more important to me to buy a sturdy piece of equipment than something with a lot of toots and whistles. I don't use it for weight loss. I was diagnosed with diabetes seven years ago and I use it to help control my glucose levels. It's been so helpful to me that I was recently told by my Dr that I'm no longer considered a diabetic. Between a low carb, low fat diet and my treadmill...I've conquered diabetes...and extended my life span. I find that pretty amazing considering that it only takes perhaps 20 minutes out of my day to walk that mile on my treadmill. Anne