Great rower that lives up to the hype (5 Stars)

By GettinFit (Phoenix, AZ)

Nov 1, 2009

Almost pulled the trigger on the Concept 2 but was convinced by a friend to check out the Proteus Rower (we each ended up buying one). This rower is definitely commercial quality as advertised from head to toe. I am very impressed with the fit and form of all components, the European manufacturing influence is very noticeable. Display panel provides more than I will ever need but it is great to have all of the options. Extremely smooth workout, so far so good. I will keep you posted.

Love the machine, just have one issue (5 Stars)

By K. Ringel

December 2, 2009

EDIT: I'm editing my original review up to 5 stars. The machine is great, and I found my error on how to get customer service. Looking again at the product page, I saw an "other products from HCI Fitness" link. HCI Fitness is in Seattle, and looks like who I'd contact to resolve any further service problems. It certainly isn't obvious from what's inside the box, but now I know and feel much more confident about the machine. Below is my original review:

There is only one reason I'm not giving this product five stars. On my first workout on this machine, I got about 2/3 through when suddenly the computer displayed an "E-2" error. I tried power cycling the machine, but "E-2" came back. That's when I went to the manual to look for customer service.

The only contact info of any kind that I found was the company website. The website URL is shared with "Zeta & Co" auto parts, and clicking through to Proteus Fitness revealed a pretty basic and Taiwan-based website. I could either call or email Taiwan. I chose email. To the company's credit, I received a response in 24 hours, with a Word doc with pictures on what I might look for to troubleshoot the E-2 error. As it turns out, in that time my husband unplugged and plugged the machine back in several times and the error cleared itself. We think it isn't a computer problem, but rather perhaps something with the magnetic resistance getting stuck that aborted the workout program. But what if it hadn't worked out? What if it's flawed in some way still? How would I get this machine fixed? They really need a U.S. customer service line or something that instills a little more confidence.

We've had a couple error-free workouts on the machine since. The machine itself is fantastic... smooth mechanical operation, well-constructed. The workout programs are great. We especially like that they aren't fixed length... you can choose the workout profile and separately the workout time and one will scale to the other. So far, we're keeping the machine, but I'm checking Amazon's return policy so I know what I'm dealing with. If it remains error free before a return period is up, we'll probably roll the dice and keep it. We love it that much. If it craps out again, sadly it will have to go back to Amazon rather than have some reasonable repair path available.

Highly recommend H2O Proteus PAR (5 Stars)

By Barnatola

December 30, 2009

Pros:Easy To Store, Easy To Use, Operates Smoothly, Quiet Operation, Sturdy Base

Best Uses:Endurance Training, General Fitness, Low Impact Exercise, Strength Training,

Bottom Line:Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

This rower is commercial grade and rock solid. The user manual states it will accommodate people up to 330 lbs. I am not a competitive rower but I have no doubt that someone who is would find it a very good value as well. I like the versatility of the unit as far as the ability to tailor the workout to strictly aerobic or high resistance strength training or any combination of the two. I have a bad knee and the low impact nature of the rower has allowed me to workout with no restrictions. This versatility enables my wife who has MS to use the unit . I love the software that is included. It includes several pre-programmed workouts that I am still exploring as well as a program that allow you to "race" a virtual machine or base your workout on a targeted heart rate. I would recommend this rower to anybody and expect to use mine for years to come.