Disclaimer: If you are in the market for an elliptical, I must tell you this: whichever machine you decide on, do not rely on just reviews and try the machine out yourself. You will be surprised by what other people call great you may completely disregard as not fit for you.
Having said that, I will tell you of my experience with this machine
I was trying to buy a machine that was gym-like. Meaning that it would feel good for everyone in our family of 4. I am 6 feet 3 inches tall, my wife is 5'5'', my twin sons are 6'1''. From our experience at the gym precors and lifefitness products were solid, smooth running machines, but after inquiring about the same models available at the gym, we were discouraged by their prices. I found the X5 on sale, and there was a mistake on the label price which was honored and I was able to purchase this machine for $2300 including the basic console and delivery to the room where I was assembling the machine. I did not see the need for the advance console.

I assembled the unit in about 2 hours. I was very impressed with the instructions. Everything was clearly labeled. For example for step 1, use the bag labeled hardware bag 1, and so on.

The unit is very heavy, so you will need an extra person to unpack the machine. It feels solid without knocks or problems so far. The warranty is 3 years long, and I hope I do not have to use it. The work out programs that I use the most are the manual and random. The machine is very smooth and silent. The heart rate monitor feature is pretty accurate. It is great to be able to adjust the stride length depending on your height. (Posted on 12/3/10)

I just bought my X5 elliptical trainer after loving the Life Fitness elliptical trainers at my gym for many years (older models than x5). I love the fact that you can change the strides. I can really feel a difference of where my muscles are being worked. Initially in the store, Level 1 seemed very easy to glide and something that I could go very fast on for a long period of time without resistance. I usually switch levels periodically during my workout. However, after being on my new elliptical at home for only 10 minutes at a level 1 I was winded and felt like I couldn't go on any longer. Granted, I'm not in the best shape, but decent shape. I'm 29, workout 3-4 times a week, not overweight, and have never had "winded" problems, especially on a level 1. To me, a level 1 should be very easy to glide without much effort - after all that's why there are 20 levels. I don't know if the bolts are too tight, or just needs to loosen up, but I will be returning my new elliptical if it doesn't get better in my next two workouts. (Posted on 12/3/10)

Life Fitness X5 Cross-Trainer
During our 1300 miles of traveling in July we came across one small fitness center. I had made a commitment to go to a gym once a week but that didn’t happen. Still I was surprised that this small facility had a nice line of Life Fitness cardio equipment and Hammer Strength machines. The first one I’m reviewing is the X5 Cross Trainer (Elliptical) by Life Fitness.

This model is in the home use group but is considered "health-club quality." The X5 is not quite as much money as some of the machines made by Life Fitness but at about $3100 it is expensive. Life Fitness in my opinion is the elite brand in fitness equipment.

Information on the Life Fitness X5 Cross Trainer:

The X5 weighs 250 pounds which is a bit heavier than others I have reviewed even other Life Fitness Elliptical machines. The weight of it isn’t an issue since I don’t consider a machine like this one that would be moved. You may want to note the weight because this is a sturdy, stable piece.

The X5 measures 82 inches long by 27 inches wide by 62 inches high. This is a bit larger than some but not so much that it will make a difference in your home. The maximum user weight is 350 pounds which is a nice higher-than- most number. At this point I am going to reference the X9i Cross Trainer which will cost you about $1,000.

The pedals are very large measuring 16 inches long by 7 inches wide. The pedals turn up at the front and the back. Most new models have a front and back to the pedal but if you are looking at older models you may see some that don’t. Without these nice toe and heel features even with a good tread on the pedal my foot can slip off. My foot wasn’t going anywhere on the X5.

The X5 like the X9i has moving arms. This feature is great for those of you who only do cardio work and don’t intend to do any weight training. The moving arms did work my upper body. The moving arms are particularly helpful to use as a warm up before I weight trained.

This machine however has the arms linked to the pedals. This has always troubled me when I find this on machines. You can find machines that have the arms moving separately from the pedals. If they are connected my arms can move my legs and vice versa. Let me give you an example. I was in spinning class awhile ago. This is a class done on stationary bikes with an instructor and music. Katie, the instructor, told us about a man who is paralyzed but uses a bike. He uses one with arms and the arms move his legs. So that is the risk with a machine like this. If you buy this one or any one that works this way just make sure you aren’t cheating unless you are doing it on purpose.

The X5 was quiet and smooth which I have found is true for Life Fitness products in general.

I found heart rate sensors in the handle bars and an additional u-shaped handle bar that was comfortable to hold. Many machines have bars on which I tend to put my elbows. Not having that for me is a good thing. I think my posture is better if I don’t have arms to rely on.

The console:

There was an accessory tray on the unit I used however this is an option which is crazy. I don’t understand how there is no place to put a bottle! There is a magazine rack though.

The X5 has an optional wireless chest strap. The tray and chest strap are standard on the X9i. Since I don’t like using an elliptical which has moving arms without the arms moving (in other words I would be holding onto the middle handle bar while the arms are moving by my face) my hands are pretty much always on the heart rate sensor so I didn’t miss the chest strap.

The display console showed me my distance, speed, calories, time, level of resistance, my heart rate and my target heart rate. I have been on machines that tell me my target heart rate and I love that feature. What happens is after I have input my data and picked a program I now have a target heart rate. Let’s say it is 150. If I was not at 150 there is a workout feedback display on the console that told me I have to speed up. There are 20 resistance levels and I could input my age and weight making the easy to read console displays more accurate.

An important feature for me is being able to input my age and heart rate which I can do on the X5.

The X5 has 8 workout programs. Compare this to the 20 on the X9i. If you want bells and whistles and are spending this kind of money I’d like more programs. The programs this machine had included hills, which work in intervals and get more and more difficult; random programs; and a manual workout in which I chose my own levels of resistance and speed. Remember you can always use the up and down arrows during any program to change levels. There are no heart rate programs as there are on the X9i.

The X5 doesn’t have a feature I really liked on the X9i called On-The-Fly Programming. There have been many times that I have wanted to change programs but couldn’t. On the X9i I could change from one program to another without starting all over and losing all my data.

I also found a customized cool down feature. On many machines there is no cool down; some have 1 minute cool downs; some just count down from five. This one counted down depending on the program I had chosen.

There is one feature of the X5 that the X91 doesn’t have which will make a difference for many. This model has the option of being able to change the length of the stride. So I could pick the stride to be 18 inches which would be like a walk, 20 inches which would be like a job or 22 inches which would be like a run. There is also a 24 inch sprint. The reason I liked this so much is because I don’t run. I find running to be too hard on my joints. Elliptical machines are known for the ease on joints – one reason people like them so much. This allowed me the feeling of running without impact. This can work because if you look at the machine you'll see that unlike most elliptical machines that have the pedals almost attached to the machine the X5 doesn't.

The pedals have a pole which goes to the back of the machine. The pedals move on this pole making the stride different. It's an interesting concept (Posted on 12/3/10)