Competition in the home treadmill market is getting fierce and consumers have more choices than ever before. But not all treadmills are created equal, and there is a need to find high quality, easy to use machines that will last for years. In this particular area of home fitness equipment you often get what you pay for, so we have researched the online home treadmill reviews and listed the top picks by price range:

* In the budget category you don't want to really spend much less than $1,000 for a good quality treadmill and the Smooth 5.25 fits this description nicely. It has a 52 inch belt making it a good choice for all but the tallest runners and features six electronic programs to vary your workout. It is a folding treadmill for those that want to conserve space in small areas, but also comes with a lifetime warranty on both the frame and motor. However, folks over 200 pounds or so may need a more heavy duty model for the long haul, especially if they intend to run on it.

* In the middle price range, the PaceMaster Gold Elite treadmill is a good choice. It comes in around $2,000 which is still not all that much to pay for a high quality machine, but it can handle much more weight than the Smooth 5.25 and it's deck is 60 inches long so pretty much any tall person should be able to run on it without feeling that their stride is being shortened. It also has a powerful 3.0HP motor and everything about this unit says that it is sturdy and reliable. An interesting side point is that the Gold Elite also features an interactive heart rate monitor that will automatically change the workout intensity to keep you in your optimum workout zone and burning the most calories as you go. That is a great feature as it saves you from having to manually check your heart rate constantly and make the manual adjustments each time a change is necessary.

* In the high end category the precor M9 33 treadmill is a good candidate, although there are several in this price range that will more than suffice for most people's use. It is made sturdy enough, even including a one inch thick deck that it can take a serious pounding from one or more people daily, even running on it, and still hold up extremely well over time. This is reflected in the lifetime warranty that Precor offers on the frame of this unit and the ten years of parts covered on the rest. It's especially suitable for runners as it has a 10mph+ speed rating and that should be all anyone needs to get a thorough running workout.

Any of the above mentioned treadmills can make a great choice if you are serious about either walking or running your way to fitness. They all tend to be very highly rated in most home treadmill reviews. As you can see, the price rises with the higher level of quality and durability that is built into each of these machines and that is to be expected. Your best bet then is to carefully decide how to plan to use your home treadmill and then what your budget allows, and then choose the machine that will best fit your needs from there.