I had a treadmill from Sears some years ago, which I sold during one of my fits of bad judgment. When the doctor suggested I get something that would encourage me to get off the couch, I began to shop for a new one. These machines can be very expensive if you just grab the first one you see.

The Gold's Gym name on the GG480 Treadmill was a draw because you would think that meant it was a quality product. The price of $377.00 was much better than many of the others I saw. I did read a couple of reviews that were complimentary for the equipment so the decision wasn't entirely based on price and name.

It's easy to put the treadmill together within about an hour even if you are as inefficient at those things as I am. The first times I used it, there were no problems, but then the speed control had some kind of problem and would increase or decrease on its own. I looked at the directions to see if I had done something wrong when I put it together, but couldn't see anything that might have caused the issue.

When I called support, they said it was a malfunction of the circuit board, which I had already decided myself. They sent a replacement, which took a week to arrive. After that, it seemed to be fine for about a month until the display went out. Replacing this cost money for shipping plus the added inconvenience.

I can only give this product a rating of three stars out of five because of the problems I had with it at the outset. It works okay now, but there are other brands in the same price range that I would buy if I were in the market for another treadmill.