Customer Reviews

Merit Fitness 735T Treadmill

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Length:: 5:04 Mins

Great treadmill for the $ so far; I chose a Friday 3 hour window to have delivered from company called Ceva- By 9:30pm they had not showed or called/emailed me so I called them.Needless to say I did get it around noon Sat and wrote email to Amazon to let them know how Ceva was- It says if they can't deliver they will contact you-not even an e-mail- Anyway, Amazon was great- they even gave me a $30. credit for my trouble.The main reason I purchased from Amazon was that many people have shipping/service trouble, but Amazon is always right on point with good customer service, and I am glad I did shop here.

735T VS. 715T/725T:

Now- I almost bought the Horizon Evolve only for the portability and storage capability, but I just could not part w/ a bigger motor and the incline. This does have a good motor and though the 725t seemed a good deal and comparable to this- it does not have a lifetime motor warranty. The 715-same thing and it only has manual incline but this 735 has motorized incline and quick keys for incline and speed which is handy.

SIZE:
I really like this unit. My chief complaint is just the fact that you really can't move it. Only 2 very small wheels at base on side where deck folds up. The console itself is huge-about 15.5" vertically and 31.5" across.I am no weakling, and I would never try to move this from room to room-too cumbersome, bulky and the 2 tiny wheels are not in a good place to move it. It takes up alot of space even when "folded" so be sure you really want this in the room you store it. Not something you want in the living room. I honestly thought I'd be able to move in and out of bedroom so I could watch tv and walk. No chance. It has a book rest and my 7in portable dvd player fits so I watch movies instead. I also never thought to MEASURE the width of door opening. Then I figured I could turn or angle it thru if I wanted. NO. You can't. It's too wide even when folded. Folded up it measures 35" when looking from side.32" left to right looking straight on. 55" from floor to top of console, and about 61" from floor to highest part of folded deck.
The pre-sets are cool, and I like the timers. I did 15 minutes and 25 minutes and it auto inclines during workout. All of a sudden it climbed to 2%, then 4 up to 7% and at end it slowly brings you back down. It was challenging for me.I'm 5'8", 148lbs) I was sweating quite a bit at the end. If you have the room, it's a great machine; fun, challenging-I have barely jogged yet, and the incline is awesome. I'd recommend if you're teetering between 735t and 725t that you just go for the 735 if only for the warranty and sturdier frame as well as motor. I also did not have any problems assembling by myself. One hole was a bit off but not too much that it made a difference. I noticed alot of complaints about pre-drilled holes not lining up on the 725 and I think this one may be made a bit better, or they've just remedied the issue. I know I agonized for weeks over which one to get (size issue). Really- they all seem pretty big if you want it to be durable- except for the Evolve- made by same company I believe. So if you have the room, do not expect that you can move from room to room, assemble it in room you will use it in (or you may never get it thru doorway) and are patient with the shipper- go for it. If size and floor space are an issue and you don't care about incline and only plan to walk- maybe the Evolve is best for you. It does actually fold down to 10 inches.Overall, I'm very happy. I made a video of the treadmill but I'm having problems getting it to the Amazon video review. I'll keep trying.

UPDATE-- So due to new furniture in daughter's room, the Merit has been put in storage at my brother's house since December. As I mentioned, that was the room it was set up in, and it was too large to hang out in living room.I decided that somehow I will sell the Merit(or wait 'til I win lottery and get a larger house so I can keep it -I really do like it)-I was going to sell on Amazon but monthly storage fees make that impracticle. In the meantime I have purchased the Horizon Evolve that I mentioned earlier.(SG model; has a 1.5hp motor) I will be posting a video review for that model shortly.It seems my videos take a while for Amazon to upload though, but I will inquire to speed up process. Out of box I can say that is indeed portable and can be rolled from room to room and through my small doorframes. It is not as light as their video describes with the older woman easily rolling it around-I think they took some parts off or something- but it is doable and I will have no problem moving back and forth a few times a week. Once I plug it in and use it I'll get that video review up for you and you can have a real comparison of both models and decide which is best for you. Again if not for my space limitations, I would absolutely still be using the Merit and enjoying the incline and multiple programs, so please don't think I got the Evolve because I don't like the Merit- not the case.

After unpacking the box which was brought by a special freight company, I ran into problems right away trying to fasten some of the parts together. It seems that the holes where certain screws were to be used seemed to have been tapped wrong(threads not all the way through or crooked)and I had to re-tap three or four just to get the parts to fit together! This was especially true with the front leg extensions. It took about an hour to set everything up. By the way, set it up where you are going to use it, because you are not going to move it once its complete. Everything seemed to work okay for about two weeks.I really liked the machine having used other types in the past. After couple of weeks in the middle of a workout the motor would just quit. This would happen several times where it would stop for awhile and sometimes come back and sometimes not, even though there was power to the unit and the board was still lit. The manual suggested calling the phone # on the back of the booklet for service. I did and was told the number is no longer in service! Finally I went to the Merit website to get a number that worked, but everytime I called, didn't matter what time of day or day their reps were always too busy to take my call!I was to leave a voicemail and they would get back to me. Well.. I left four voicemails over the course of several days and no one ever got back to me. That was IT! I called Amazon explained the situation and they ordered me another one and arranged to pick up the defective one. The replacement machine came several days later (very quick and no shipping charge)and I started to put this one together. Same problems with the same four screw holes! The same slacker must be tapping these in China! I got the whole machine together and found it was missing the power cord, certain screws and the bottle of glycerin to lube the deck. Luckily I still had the old unit in a box waiting to be picked up, so I broke into the box and took the items I needed for the replacement machine. I have had the replacement for several weeks now and it works just like it's supposed to. I really like it! The assembly and customer service are the faults with this machine. By the way, I wanted to adjust the running belt and looked in the manual and it shows a totally different model!I went online and their website also shows a different model.I was able to figure out the adjustment procedure using some common sense. I picked the 735 over the 715 because of the bigger motor and I'm glad I did. I'm using it for fast walking not jogging because of problems with knees and one heel and the absorb feature of the deck works nicely taking care not to be jarring when you come down on the deck. Like I said, I like the unit very much and I hope I have no more problems. I will let you know in a couple of months with a follow-up to see if I still have a smile on my face!

UPDATE: Its been four months now and I still love the machine! No real problems except for some squeaking at times when the board is in the inclined position. This doesn't happen very often. I use the incline settings up to 7% during my 45 minute workouts. The fan and heart monitor are useless! Do what I did and buy yourself a monitor from Amazon. Bought an Omron HR-100C and it works great! You really need to monitor your heartrate to get a good and safe workout. Really love switching the incline on the fly. Don't really use the pre-programs, just manual. This machine compares with many I have seen in the gym. I have had no contact with service, so I don't know if theres an improvement there. Am increasing my rating to four stars.

I received this treadmill a few days ago. I like it!! It has a lifetime motor and frame warranty which is great. I was sent the wrong instruction book, which told me there was only a 2-year motor warranty. Thankfully I followed up and learned it truly was a lifetime warranty.

A few minor annoying things: 1) The on/off switch is near the floor. 2) It beeps a loud annoying sound when turned and and when programmed. 3) The book rack is so far away from the person you would definitely need giant print. 4) The fan, which is a wonderful idea, does not aim at the person...

But, having said that, I am very satisfied. It is quiet and easy to use and has lots of options for those that want them. (I am a walker only).

We've had the treadmill for a little over a week now and are really enjoying it. It seems to be sturdy and built well. We broke a piece of the machine on the first day of use, but the manufacturer offered to send it to us free of charge while I was fully prepared to pay for it.
The only issue we have is with the way the machine folds. It's not perfectly flat so that the running board sticks out at an angle.

Overall a great item and you can't beat Amazon's deal on this one.

Treadmill works great. Nice and quiet. I've had it now for about 6 months and am very glad I made the purchase. Has a nice smooth feel, just as good as any I used when going to the gym. Product came quickly and in perfect condition. Highly recommend!

I love this treadmill. I did a lot of research since even though I wanted a great treadmill I couldn't afford the ultra expensive treadmills but I run a lot so I didn't want flimsy treadmill either. I settled on this one because of the price, the other reviews on amazon, the lifetime warranty on parts and the free shipping. So far the treadmill has not let me down. It is pretty quite and the fan is a nice plus. I liked the fact that it inclines with no problem and when I am done I can fold it up. It folds at a diagonal so even though it saves some space it's not as much space as I hoped. All in all it's a great machine for the price, I've gone to the department stores and tried the treadmills there and my treadmill is just as good at half the price so I'm very happy.

****I've had it for 5 months now and I'm still happy

Well I never used a treadmill before and researching for one didn't take very long. I decided on the 735t because of the good reviews and they were right. I'm very happy with this purchase, the person who delivered it was extremely professional, putting it together was quick and easy, it took me maybe an hour, the instructions were written by someone whose English was native born and that still amazes me.

Now the other reviewer was right, the holes for the front leg extensions didn't line up and like most American males I have a deep faith that a hammer can fix anything so I went and got my hammer, lifted the frame up off the ground, placed the hammer underneath the frame and took the weight off of the extension and the holes lined up perfectly. The power switch is located in a bad spot but a power cord, 2 zip ties and double sided carpet tape solved that problem, I attached the power strip to the side frame and used the tape to secure it and the zip ties to keep the cord away.

I wrote this a year ago, I love this treadmill and have lost 35 pounds since I started using it, it may not seem like much but there have been long stretches of inactivity and I could have easily doubled my weight loss.

I very much enjoy using this treadmill, its very quiet after the loud beep it makes when you turn it on, all the functions work great but I don't trust the heart rate monitor or the calorie counter. I haven't used all the functions but I do speed it up and slow it down along with raising and lowering the incline during my workouts which is 6 miles a day every day since I bought it a month ago.

The treadmill has been returned. I'm waiting for a refund. The item was not what I expected. The quality was terrible. Very cheaply made.

I purchased the Meit Fitness 735T treadmill with the expectation that it would be "middle of the road." However, to our amazement it does everything that we need and performs just as good as the treadmills at the fitness center. I highly recommend this product.

I like the treadmill. The two negative items are: the on/off switch is located up under the front of the treadmill, instead of being located in a more convenient location and the tolerance for the bolts used in assembly makes it difficult to get the bolts started in the openings.