This was fairly easy to put together with the tools and part included. I got help to slide it out of the box, but that was more for convenience. The rest I did by myself while half watching TV.
The seat seems like it would be uncomfortable, but it is not so far.
The foot rests look kind of cheapish, but are actually really nice because of the extra width and the straps work well.
It comes with batteries for digital monitor that shows your calories, elapsed time, current count, total count. You cannot change the units. It will cycle through everything every few seconds unless you set it to only show one stat. You can reset the stats at will.
The flywheel is super smooth and quiet, the seat slides super quiet and smooth as well. I haven't had an issue yet, but the directions say if it starts to squeak, you can put car polishing wax on the belt to fix that.
It supports people from 4 foot 11 inches up to people 6 foot 7 inches tall and weighing up to 350 pounds (about 159 kg if my math is right) I'm on the shorter end of the range and my husband on the taller end and we both can use it comfortably to a full range of motion.
It's easy to turn the knob and change the resistance (and see what you have it set at)
It is easy to lift and stand up to save space and safely set back down to use. It ways right at 50 pounds, but with the leverage you get from the way it's made, it's easy to lift the back end and push into upright position and lower again.
A note: I've used rowers at the gym that had a different mechanism and felt more like real rowing in water. This one isn't like that. It does, however, have a really great feel and range of motion and it a good option if you don't have high-end rower in your budget.
MY 3 ISSUES: (aka, why I would knock off 1/2 a star if I could)
1. The manual says the digital monitor will turn itself off after 4 minutes of inactivity. Mine turns off after 1 minute and 10 seconds. I timed it. I find this highly annoying and will only rely on the total count number to log my progress. I'll use my phone for the elapsed time. (it comes with a lip to hold your phone or tablet) An option is to pull the handle every minute or so to keep it active. But again, annoying. I have googled and read the manual but can find no way to make it wait as long as the manual says it should. In case it's not clear, when it shuts off after 1 minute 10 seconds, it resets your progress, losing everything except the total count. I believe that will reset when the batteries are changed.
2. It has bluetooth built in and can connect to two available apps. (their own Merach app and Kinomap) These apps may solve my annoyance in #1, but both of these apps require subscriptions that cost money. It is annoying to pay money to be able to pause for up to 4 minutes without a reset. Plus I prefer to listen to books or videos when I work out, so I don't need all the things these apps offer and they only seem to offer free trials and not a free level with the bare minimum (like mapmyrun does)
3. The resistance could be better. It goes from 1 to 16 and I feel like it could start at whatever resistance 8 is. The first several almost feel like zero. So far we are keeping it cranked up to 10+ for enough resistance. I'm putting this on the minor side because I have been rowing for a while on a different rower style (a Sunny with a bar instead of a belt for rowing) and I may not be able to judge the lower resistance appropriately for beginners.
