Smooth Fitness CE3.7 Adjustable Motion Elliptical - INSIDE Delivery

First of all the shipping is very slow. It was free so I guess I got what I paid for. I placed my order on a Thursday and received the unit on a Tuesday 19 days later. The shipping company gave me a 4 hour window (12-4) and of course arrived at 3:55). Anyway for those used to tracking daily progress of your purchase as it speeds across the country, you will not be impressed.

The unit itself is very well constructed and went together fairly easy. The instructions were adequate but were clearly translated into english from some other language. It is very quiet when being used!! By far the most quiet elliptical I have ever used. It sounds like a broom being lightly swept across a floor. I had some concerns about how much headroom was required - We have our unit in the basement with 7'-1" floor to joist. I am 5'9" and have about 4" clearance while using the elliptical. The resistance unit is very strong the highest setting. There is a 5-10 second delay between when you increase the resistance setting and when it kicks in.

My only real gripe is the display. All segments of the LED light up at least partially when turned on, and the optimal viewing angle is at about 60 degrees off the perpendicular to the display. So I have to crouch down to read the stupid thing. I think you'd need to be 4' tall to read it without ducking. I called Smooth about this thinking it was defective and got a lecture about optimal viewing angle. What nonsense. The best viewing angle should be when your at 90 degrees. I suppose you could make a bracket to tilt the display closer to the horizontal but you should not have to do that for an elliptical in this price range. Anyway after a brief discussion with a technician on this topic, he said he would send me a display for the "DMT X1" elliptical which is not a color display and has no ipod dock. I am happy with this resolution. If you want to listen to an ipod then just wear the earbuds - the sound will be much better than the cheap speakers in the console.

So to summarize. 1) The shipping is slow. 2) The 3.7 is of very high mechanical quality. 3) Very, very quiet. 4) Standard display is no good. 5) Customer support was good and they resolved a quality issue to my satisfaction.

The machine has several features that put it above the competition, at the price point.
Firstly it looks good!
The design is very pleasing to the eye.
The machine has a nice large resistance wheel at the back, and nice wide footing for stability.
the welds are clean, and smooth.
The joints are solid, and sturdy.
The pedals are large, semi-cushioned, and supposedly have adjustable settings for height or resistance settings. **
The display panel has an iPod dock, and speakers.
The computer display is supposedly mutli-color. ***
The control panel has an integrated fan, with angular adjustment to ensure the air flows in the desired direction.


Here are the reasons to avoid this machine:

*** The display panel is WAY TOO LOW to properly see the computer display.
There is no way to adjust the panel to render the proper angle so that the eye can see the displayed information.


** There *IS* supposedly a height adjustment, but it does not work, and upon closer inspection it does not increase the height of the display panel, but rather would (if it worked) lower the height of the pedals. The height adjustment does not work, and even if it did would not suffice.

I'm a 6 foot and 2 inches tall. My wife is 5 foot 8 inches.
Neither of us are able to properly read the computer display unless we bend down on the machine while in use.
It's as if only a midget would be able to see the machine controls, which is unfortunate.
The computer display is apparently a fancy multi-color type that would be very pleasing if it we viewable.

We had the machine professionally installed by the white-glove delivery option.


If you don't care about the tracking your work-out metrics, and are willing to pay the extra money for dysfunctional color display, then this machine is for you!
If your a midget able to properly see the computer display, this is the machine for you!
If you don't care about the dysfunctional height adjustment (height reduction, pedal lowering) then you are in for a treat!

Everything about this machine *IS* excellent but if you are the type, like me, that actually track work-out metrics and your expectation is the machine "just work right" then please consider my warning.

We read the reviews and decided the CE 3.7 was the best for us. Assembly took about 45 minutes, usually with one person, but at times with two to hold the heavier pieces in place for fastening. Most pieces fit together easily, but the instruction manual was on the light side for details - reminded us of years ago when getting assembly instructions from Japan or China - you had to look closely at the pictures to make up for some missing or misleading words.

The variety of settings in the computer display are great. The four of us have different user settings with our personal information, and we each use different programs from Interval to Fat Burning to Timed Exercise. One thing that would be nice is if the computer remembered the different times you use for different programs, but once you choose a different program it forgets the time you had for the previous program; no memory. It's a very minor thing. We easily switch between programs for different exercise sessions.

The resistance system is very good. The initial level, 1, has no resistance, and though though first the second level seems to be a lot more resistive, after exercising for a week or two it doesn't seem much at all. The subsequently higher levels are all small increments harder; we have not gotten above 5 in our first 2 months.

The heart rate sensing handles are positioned well. The three-speed fan is position-able, which is good. The stride can be lengthened fairly easily, but you have to stop and do it while straddling the unit. It's not hard, but you can't do it on the fly. The foot pads move up and down with your feet to give better contact while exercising. We had a squeak in one pedal for a week, but it went away without having to call the factory. It is truly a quiet machine.

The only other annoyance is that the LED screen is at an angle that makes it a little hard to read for taller users (over 5' 9"). It would be nice to be able to angle the screen to improve its contrast, and we might home-make a bracket to let us tilt it a bit more to improve contrast.

It's a great machine and several of us use it a lot. It is solid and should last many, many years.