Smooth 9.65TV Treadmill

This unit promises a lot, but has the potential to be plagued with issues.

The good thing about this is that the track/base is well built. Heavy construction and solid motors that will last a long time. However, the console isn''t so well put together.

When I received it, one of the speakers didn''t work. I emailed smooth fitness customer support. Don''t use email. I never heard back, so I called them and left a message.

In the meantime, I took apart the console. I''m an electrical engineer, and sometimes I fix TV''s for fun on the side, so this was a fairly trivial troubleshooting job. After removing the cover, I was horrified to discover a mess of wires going everywhere. Absolutely no organization to it. In fact one of the wires had been crushed during assembly and the insulation was compromised. Another had been positioned so that a screw pierced it. That was one of the power wires too, so it''s a wonder it worked at all. But I did find the problem with the speaker. There was a short on the audio amplifier board, and it needed to be replaced.

Lastly, there''s a bit of plastic in the middle of the upper border of the LCD screen that was slightly deformed so that it hit the screen when I was running. It created an annoying artifact in the picture. So I took the TV off and added a 1/8" thick by 1/4" wide piece of foam weatherstripping to help damp out vibrations.

Honestly, for the price, I expected a lot better construction and attention to detail.

Given the lifetime warranty, I think it''s fair to include my overall experience with the manufacturer:

A Sales guy got back to me and referred me to the service technicians. They have a different extension, so I had to call them and leave another message. The tech called me back within 24 hours. (There is always a 24-hour turn-around on any communication, so keep that in mind if you need something quick). The tech was nice and easy to deal with once we finally talked. I described the parts I needed and he promised to get them to me, no questions asked. In another 24 hours I got a notice that the package was shipped.

A few days later, UPS lost the shipment, so I emailed the tech and requested that he have UPS investigate its location (only the shipper can do that). He never replied to me, but I did see that a tracer was put on the package within a couple hours of me sending my email.

When the package did finally arrive, the cables I had asked for were not the ones I needed. This I blame on their technical drawings. If you take a look at them, it''s impossible to tell which part is where, and none of the cables are identified. The amplifier board was shown in a completely different area than it was actually located. So I wasn''t even sure that I would get the right board, but it was the right one. And it fixed the problem with the speaker.

After putting it back together, I can understand why the cabling wasn''t in good condition. It''s very difficult to line up the holes correctly. So sometimes a screw will go sideways. The plastic is soft and will flex enough to fit "correctly" even with several holes misaligned. But those misaligned holes and sideways screws can damage the cables because the cables are not tied down very well. It''s the perfect storm of assembly nightmares. Do not attempt to take it apart unless you have experience doing this sort of thing, and a great deal of patience.

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