I wonder how the people who design this machine sleep at night! When you pull one of these apart, you will pull a Clara Peller and shout "WHERE'S THE BEEF!" This machine is so devoid of any parts that would remotely resemble quality that rather than calling this machine the Proform Performance 300, we have a suggestion. Why not call it the Proform You Have Been Screwed Out of $400 Treadmill. It would be more accurate and if you already own one of these, do yourself a favor and don't spend another dime repairing it.
General Information
These products are produced by Icon Health and Fitness. They are the largest retail fitness company. This is one of the original Icon brands and can be found in most mass merchants. They typically range between $500 and $1,500 and have short warranties for the most part although they have excellent warranties on the higher end. We have seen a shift in regard to that on mainly motors in some units. The gee-whiz factor is high on these machines because they are packed with features but some of those have tended to be glitch prone. Except for the higher priced units with a selling price of $1,000 or more, we wouldn't recommend these for runners, but the quality of the machine is so much better than the ones produced just a few years ago, most people who are walkers or casual users will be satisfied with the new Proform machines.
Quality / Philosophy
Proform is produced by Icon, a company with thousands of employees and large resources. Put simply, their machines have the best design in the business. Icon has a long, storied history that provides an example of how the big keep getting bigger. Icon used to be the mass-market darling because of their cheap prices but they used to have quality to match. These days they put quality into the machines and pack them with features. Service by most of the lower priced companies can be spotty but you get what you pay for.
Outlook
Icon is the largest fitness equipment producer in the world with over $1 billion in sales. If the fitness industry were a solar system, Icon is so powerful that they would be the Sun. Although you get a great value price for the product, you also get value service so keep this in mind when buying their machines. We don't get nearly as many complaints about Icon's service as we have in the past. Due to the sheer number of units they produce, we pick up support in many cases where this factory leaves off.
