I ordered the JumpSnap directly from the website, not from Amazon. I gave it a go for about 2 weeks and finally decided to return the product to receive my cheerfully refunded money back, plus shipping and handling. Two months later, I'm still waiting for my refund to show up on my credit card.
The JumpSnap itself is very well built and sturdy. There are two handles, one of which has the LCD display that helps to track calories burned, rotations of the "rope," elapsed time, and a beeper to let you know when your workout is over (if you wish to use this feature). It has a "snap" audio feature to make it sound like you are actually jumping rope. This can be turned on or off. There are removable weights that can be inserted in the ends of the handles (I never used them). The handles are rather bulky, though, so I wished that there would have been a smaller-handle option when purchasing the JumpSnap. However, overall the JumpSnap is a quality well-made product. So why the low rating?
If you look at the picture of the JumpSnap, you'll notice the ends of the handles have weighted blue balls attached to a short string to simulate the jumping rope action. They worked great as long as you are perfectly rotating the handles. If you break rhythm, change hand position, or stop, the balls will whack you in the hand. It stings! If you do a web search on this product, this seems to be a common problem with other users too.
The beginner and intermediate DVD workouts that come with the JumpSnap are incomplete. For the price of the product, I expected a complete workout including warm up, cool down, and stretching. Jumping rope is very strenuous, and properly warming up and stretching are crucial. Nowhere in the DVD intro or workouts is this fact mentioned. At the beginning of each workout, you go right into jumping. No gradual warm up. Not smart. At the end of the workout, you just stop. You should never just stop cold after an aerobic workout, especially an intense one like this! What do runners do after running? They walk around to cool down and bring their heart rates back to normal. Cooling down is VERY important, and again, nowhere on the DVD is this mentioned. Beginners or those new to jumping rope should be aware of this.
There is a separate 15-minute "Jam" DVD that features a large group of people doing an extended workout with the JumpSnap. Again, it is another incomplete workout due to the lack of warm up, cool down, and stretching. Since this workout was filmed in what looked to be a huge entryway into a museum or hall or something, the echoes from the instructor shouting instructions were annoying. Because of the echo-ey sound quality, the whole workout felt like I was being yelled at the entire time.
Tressa Campbell, the lead in the workouts, apparently uses the JumpSnap at her gym in a circuit-style class. It would have been great to have a circuit workout on the DVD that incorporated the JumpSnap. Not absolutely necessary, but for the price you are paying for the product, including another workout that you could grow with would be a fantastic idea.
Basically, with improvements made to the product, it would become a 5-star piece of fitness equipment. I think in the inventor's (Brad LaTour's) hurry to market the JumpSnap, he neglected to give it an extended test trial to iron out some problems and get some constructive feedback. Work definitely needs to be done on the handle design, and some thought should be given to improving the workouts, making them safer and more complete.