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The main reasons I wanted an elliptical trainer are that they allow you to exercise your arms, and shoulders, as well as giving you a good cardio-vascular workout. When researching the machines available, I focused on comfort, design features and performance.

Comfort
The Schwinn 430 elliptical trainer has a BioGlide motion which I like very much as it reduces the impact on the joints of the knees, hips and back. I find because of this that I can use the machine for long periods and I don't have any pain in my knees, which is often the effect of treadmills. Although generally comfortable to use I thought that the foot plates were a little hard. They are not very well padded and can be a little tiring on the feet during a long workout.

Design Features
I was also attracted to the Schwinn 430 because of its eight computer controlled resistance levels and eight workout programs. This is great as it is very easy to vary the workout whilst you are exercising so as to change the intensity and add extra interest to what you are doing. Another feature which is particularly useful is the "calorie goal" program. You can input your own details and set the number of calories you want to use and away you go. The machine's computer works out the perfect length of workout for you.

As with most exercise machines these days the Schwinn 430 has a holder for a drinks bottle. There is also a heart rate monitor which works via sensors which are built into the handlebars. One problem with this is that you can't take a heart rate reading whilst you are using the moving arms facility.

As mentioned, the Schwinn 430 uses Schwinn's BioGlide motion technology. This not only makes the movement smoother and quieter but it gives the user a fairly realistic 18 inch stride. This is great news for people who are not really tall, as many elliptical trainers have unnaturally long strides.

Ease of Use
Although the Schwinn 430 is a strong and heavy machine, it is easy to move it into different rooms as it has special transport wheels built in. Very handy for moving it to vacuum around it as well.

One slight drawback is the time it took to assemble and the inadequate instruction manual that is provided. Although assembly wasn't all that difficult it did take more than two hours to get the machine ready to use.

In summary, this trainer is comfortable, easy to use after setup and most importantly, it gives great results. The keypad and heart monitor are both very straightforward to use, and the calorie counter serves as both a way of tracking progress and a motivator.