5 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
By Griffen Yu
Own this treadmill for a few weeks now and had put some hours on it. Feeled comfortable with the product to write it a review.
- Built quality is good. Though some rough cuts are noticeable on the rubber armrest where it joins the aluminum frame. Just minor cosmetics.
- Performance is great. This machine is rock solid when run on. Not even the slightest wobble at all. The incline adjustment feels smooth too. I weigh 175lb, and run at 5-6mph mostly. The machine definitely live up to its claim of being 'gym-like' quality and performance.
- Now onto the main thing that makes this treadmill stand out from the crowd. The Passport Media Player and the Virtual Active trails. Other reviews on the web, and even the product's official webpage, basically only tells how 'cool' it is or the flashy things about it but never tells you exactly how it works, what it does and what it doesn't do, nor the spec of the device itself. Well, here it is, my friend, sit tight and read on.
The Passport Media Player is basically a media player just like WD TV Live, except it only plays up to 720p videos, and doesn't have WiFi (hence no streaming movies sorry). Also it only supports limited number of video formats. Supported ones include: MP4 (H.264), WMV (v1 & 8), MOV, MPG, MKV, TS, AVI (Divx, Xvid). No RM/RMVB support, nor FLV (which most youtube videos use). AC3 & AAC audio codec support is flaky. Some of my videos work but some don't. MP3 support works fine.
When playing videos other than 720p, picture will get resized to fullscreen. There's no option to adjust it. The Passport Player has no internal storage. It has two USB ports for connecting flash drives/HDDs. All your own movies have to put in to a folder called "Library" on the USB root for the Passport Player to pick it up. All the Virtual Active trails purchased from the official website goes in another folder called "VA" on the USB root. There are 10 VA trails you can purchase from the official web. Two of them already came on an 8GB Sandisk USB flash drive with the treadmill when you purchase it.
*Btw, you can buy & download the VA trails for $10 each from [...] directly. But if you are on Shaw cable like me and try to go to the website, you'll get redirected to world.passportplayer.com, which has no direct buy & download options and they will ask you to find a local reseller and buy a 2-VA pack pre-loaded USB stick instead, which sells for $50-$60 each. I had to use the internet from my work place to get to the [...] website successfully. Not sure about Telus or other ISP tho...
**Another btw, each VA trail is about 2GB after unzip. All 10 together is 19.7GB. I bought a 32GB USB stick from a local computer store in order to fit all 10 VAs on it.
Every VA trail is made up of multiple segments of MOV and MP3 files, which are sync'd by script files as you run on the treadmill. The script files also contains information for incline adjustments, so the treadmill adjusts the incline automatically as you run through the trail. However, there is no automatic speed adjustment. The video do not speed up or slow down as you change your speed on the treadmill, nor vise versa. It can either pause or play. The reason each VA trail is cut up into segments and has its video and audio in separate files is so it can customize and loop according to your workout needs (ie. you can set the workout length to be half an hour to several hours). Because the video and audio are stored separately, the transition from segment to segment during run is seamless and smooth. Very nice design by Johnson Health Tech.
However, the downside is it's very difficult if you want to take your own video and convert it into a VA trail compatible with the Passport Player. If you're like me wondering if there's anywhere else you can get more VA trails and come across this site at[...], hate to disappoint you, but their trail videos are just regular video clips. They will play but you don't get the auto incline adjustments and infinite loops.
The Passport Media Player has a LAN port in the back, but afaik it can only be used to download their official VA trails after you paid for them online. There's no option for connecting to home network shared drives unfortunately. For outputs you get a conventional 3-pin RCA and 1 regular HDMI port. The package came with a HDMI-to-DVI cable, which I used to hook up to my old PC monitor. For sound I use the RCA to output to a portable speaker.
Earlier I mentioned there are 2 USB ports. The flaw is that the 2 ports are only 2mm apart one on top another. Unless your USB sticks has no casing, it's impossible to have both plugged in at the same time. Another bad design is the Passport Player's menu design. While the menu screen looks nice at 1st glimpse, it's not very intuitive. When browsing for videos, you use left and right on the remote to cycle through your video collections. The screen is laid out such that every page you see 5 thumbnails along the bottom half of the screen, while the top half plays the preview of the video clip you're currently selecting. Click 'right' 5 times on the remote moves you to the next page where you see the next 5 thumbnails and so on. Good luck trying to pick your favorite show if you have your entire movie collection on the external HDD.
Oh, and did I mention there's like a 1 second lag every time you push a button on the remote? The response time between the remote and the media player is unbelievably slow! Yes, batteries in the remote are new. To make the matter worse, movies you put on the USB stick/HDD are not shown in alphabetical order when browsing them in the Passport Player's menu. Which means you'll just have to keep clicking 'right' and go through every page till you find the clip you want. Or, till you just gave up...
Also, no subfolders are allowed in the 'Library' folder. The player won't pick up anything you put in the subfolder. Btw the media player does occasionally freeze (while the treadmill keeps going), in which case you'll have to power off and power on, and start over again. Oh and forgot to mention that you do have to resync everytime you turn off the media player or the treadmill. The screen freezing happened to me twice in the past week. Seems to be random.
Aside from all the software design flaws, the official VA trails are all very nicely done. It indeed provides a refreshing and immersing experience for me during my workout routine.
Back on the treadmill itself. A solid 300+lb performance workout machine, but otherwise dull and basic. There is an audio-in and an audio-out jacks, but no built-in speakers. There's no fan, no color display, and no iPod connectors. But of course if you still choose to buy this treadmill, you probably don't care about those bells & whistles like me.
I ordered this treadmill from Livestrongfiness.com directly when it was on a crazy sale for $1,099 + a free chest strap and free shipping (within US only). The deal only lasted 1 weekend, just before Lance & Oprah's interview was aired. I guessed all the speculations surrounding the interview at that time was the reason the company tried to clear out their stocks. The price is back to $1,599 now on Livestrong website. At $1,599 I'd recommend to buy from local Canadian Tire when it's on sale. It's not an easy job to transport this 300+lb monster across the boarder. I had to beg a friend and borrowed his grand caravan, pay for his gas, groceries, lunch, and a full day's drive to and back from Seattle, and not to mention the boarder tax... Do I regret purchasing from the States? Nope, but I probably won't do it again just 'cause all the hassle.
*UPDATE 2013/06/15*
I've been wondering about the "LiveTrack" USB port on the console from time to time when I'm on the treadmill, but always forgot about it soon as I turn on the Passport Player. Till this morning the little USB port again caught my attention, and I decided hold off my workout and look it up first. The treadmill's manual was useless. Did not mention anything helpful at all regarding the USB port. Googled and found out that apparently all Livestrong treadmills have this "LiveTrack" feature that's capable of adding new workout programs to the treadmill via this USB port, as well as updating the treadmill's firmware. So where can I get the new workout programs? and new firmwares?
My web search eventually led me back to Livestrong Fittness's website, but not on the LS Pro2's page, neither is "Livetrack" even mentioned on any of the newer/better treadmill's page. You have to go back to the earliest model, the LS8.0T. There you'll see a page details info on "Livetrack Interactive", and it basically asks you to sign up a free account on LIVESTRONG.COM before giving you access to the new workout programs and firmwares for your treadmill.
For those who don't want the hassle of signing up anything, here's a link to another hidden page where you can download the new workout programs directly:
http://www.livestrongfitness.com/content/fitness-fusion-workouts#download-new-workouts
After unzip the downloads, put the workout programs *.PRG on your USB flash drive here: %USB root%:\LS\PROGRAMS\
Then plug your USB flash drive to the USB port on the treadmill, use the Incline Up/Down buttons and the Enter button to cycle through the options and install the new workout programs to the treadmill's memory slots.
Btw, I tested the USB port with my other USB device and found that it can power my speaker and even charge my PS3 controller. Nice.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful.
By D.H.
I purchased this treadmill primarily because the Passport system would keep the workouts interesting. I am not a treadmill runner, as I typically find the workout especially boring, even with a TV show or movie on. So far I have logged over 200 miles on the treadmill with no issues.
Shipping:
I will echo the complaints with the shipping of the treadmill. When the treadmill arrived, there was only the driver trying to offload it. I helped him get it into the garage, but the treadmill is especially heavy. Consider this, and get the appropriate amount of help if you intend to move it up or down stairs.
Running surface:
I was concerned that the running surface would be too springy, but the deck surface is nice and firm. I have had to switch shoes from a minimal shoe to something with a more substantial sole, as the first pair I started running in would get too hot and cause my feet to overheat.
Passport:
I have most of the videos. They all feature spectacular scenery. The treadmill will adjust up or down slightly to simulate running uphill, or leveling out. The two that come with the treadmill will repeat automatically, however, the ones I purchased from the site will end after approximately 30-35 minutes (but may vary for quicker or slower pace). This is nice for shorter runs, but not for longer runs. I have not seen a patch or fix for the video as mentioned in a previous comment, but would like to learn more about when the fixes are made for the other videos. The site for purchasing the videos is fairly simplistic, and it is tough to identify the appropriate contact information for customer support for the Passport system. I prefer the routes where you see a lot of people, such as Chicago, the Pacific Northwest, and Italy. The more nature-based routes are very nice looking, but don't seem to pass the time quite as quickly.
I wish the Passport would also automatically track or log runs. It seems a bit silly that it doesn't, as there is already a thumbdrive with all the videos installed on the player. The music on the videos is not great, but there are some ambient sounds tied to the location of the video, such as a dog barking, or a siren wail. I usually listen to other music while running.
Overall, I strongly recommend the treadmill for people who can not handle the boredom of a traditional treadmill.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
By K. Hatlemark
Received our treadmill about a week ago and have already put about 50 miles on it. Very sturdy and quiet with an easy to navigate console. The passport feature with a 42 inch TV set-up is amazing. Really makes the treadmill work out fly by with beautiful scenery and fun city sites. The only downside with the passport feature is the additional purchased videos. These additional videos do not have a continuous loop after 30 minutes, unlike the 2 programs which were provided with the treadmill. Have been advised by the company that they are in the process of working on a "patch" to correct this issue. Have contacted Livestrong support through email with a few questions and have had very good response in short amount of time, unlike my previous experience with our old "Smooth" treadmill, which had never responded to any of my inquires.
Shipping was "fair", arrived in within 10 days, but only one delivery man for a 400 pound treadmill. I had to help off load, it would have been a problem if my wife was the only one at home. The box was rather beat up and there were some "good" scratches to the console, but fortunately all functions worked properly.
Product Feature
- 3.25 CHP motor; Speed range 0-12 MPH; Incline range 0-15%
- 20" x 60" running area with MaxComfort? RunnersFirm? cushioning; Polar wireless receiver and contact grips for heart rate monitoring
- Large BrilliantView? LED and DataTrack? Display;
- Passport? media player with Virtual Active?, 16 training programs, Livetrack Interactive? technology
- Warranty: Lifetime motor, 5-years parts, 2-years in-home labor; User capacity 375 lbs. Purchases of this product ensure that a minimum of $4 million will go to the Lance Armstrong Foundation and the fight against cancer.
Product Description
When we first started the LIVESTRONG LSPro2 project the goal was to provide the most technologically advanced user experience in the fitness industry. What came out was the new Passport device, which allows you to run through destinations all over the globe in full HD quality. Passport is included with no additional cost with the purchase of the LSPro2. The next focus was on quality and core components. The LSPro2 comes with our new maintenance free belt and large 60mm rollers, which ensure proper lubrication and alignment at all times. Lastly we integrated full cast aluminum components that eliminate all vibration and shaking, no matter how hard you’re working out! The Livestrong LSPro2 is the ultimate treadmill for serious runners. The LSPRO2 is a true workhouse treadmill that’s designed to last a lifetime. The highly durable, full-cast aluminum non-folding frame delivers a club-like workout experience that puts your focus where it should be: on reaching your fitness goals. Designed with the runner in mind, our new RunnersFirm™ cushioning system provides a firmer, track-inspired deck to support your training year round. More power, greater incline: A commercial-grade, 3.25 continuous-duty horsepower motor brings the smooth and consistent feel you expect at a gym right into your home. Both backed by a lifetime warranty, the ultra-quiet drive system and extended-range power incline deliver new challenges and more workout combinations for better, faster results. Motivating extras for better performance: The LSPRO2 comes with our exclusive Livetrack Interactive™ technology for easy, online fitness tracking and access to new, FREE workout programs designed by Peter Park, Lance Armstrong’s strength and conditioning coach. And for the most accurate performance feedback, this treadmill includes a Polar telemetric heart rate receiver*, allowing for easy, hands-free heart rate monitoring. *This feature requires a heart rate chest strap, sold separately.
Product Detail
- Amazon Sales Rank: #451104 in Sports & Outdoors
- Brand: Livestrong Fitness
- Model: HTM0863-01
- Released on: 2011-12-14
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