Treadmill in a boxSo now that I have decided to add a treadmill to my cubicle I needed figure out some of the basics, like which treadmill to buy just how to rig this up to work as a functioning workstation. I have seen several ingenious designs and even one sexy commercial one by Steelcase that runs over $6,500. Perfect for the exec who has everything but remember, I work for a non-profit, and while they are willing to let me set up a treadmill workstation, it is a different matter to buy one for me. So this is going to be on my dime (for now) and I need to keep costs low. I have looked online and at reviews on places like Treadmill Doctor but have been disappointed. Many of the products reviewed are no longer carried in stock or when I went to real world showrooms to test the top rated products myself I was disappointed.

I pretty much had to go on three things in order of importance:

  1. Price - Again, I can’t bring up enough times that I work for a non-profit organization.
  2. New not used. If I was doing a home office walkstation that might be different but I don’t want to risk a lemon, while being the guinea pig for this at work.
  3. My gut feelings testing them out on the show room floors.
    My Criteria:

    1. Quiet - I have co-workers to think of.
    2. Smoothness - Many of the models treads were jerky, my impression is that would drive me crazy over time and the last thing I want to think about is walking while I am working.
    3. Solidness - I don’t want this thing to bounce as I walk on it. It has to handle my weight.
    4. Structure - Is the display board small and compact or does it look like something from a Star Trek set? Can I put my monitor and key board over it?

Things I do not give a rats ass about:

  1. cup holders
  2. ipod plugins
  3. Cooling Fans
  4. Speeds above 1.5 MPH
  5. Incline
  6. Workout programs
  7. I probably don’t care about the emergency stop but who knows for now…

I wound up purchasing a Horizon Fitness LS60T Treadmill at Sportsmart for $499. I looked at other stores and Treadmills but either they offered only high end multi featured treadmills with gizmos and gadgets I would never need or I was confused by just what they were trying to sell me. I also purchased a one year extended coverage service plan for $79.99 and a mat ($22.49) to protect the carpeting at work I doubt I will work up a sweat but who knows the machine could spew out….

I figure if I can get two years out of it with my service plan I will be happy. If anyone have has other suggestions for treadmills feel free to leave a comment.

Shelving in a box

And now shelving…

More troublesome than the treadmill is the apparatus I have to build to hold my laptop/keyboard/monitor. I have little interest in building anything so I want to make it as simple as possible, it also as to look somewhat decent as it is in an office environment. A bachelor cube does not cut it. So a trip to Home Depot is in order to come up with the least troublesome, low cost, yet sexy solution which presented itself in the form of a 4 Shelf Chrome Storage Unit for $49. This will take some jerry-rigging, considering my treadmill selection did include a treadmill with a Star Trek size control panel, I will have to work around it.