I just bought the new Revolution a few months ago. It is a good piece of equipment. Did the people in the ads and infomercials get their bodies from the bowflex? Probably not. Do the people in the muscle mags get their bodies from the free weights? Yeah but with the help of steroids. Steroids would work with the Revolution too! You can work every muscle group with this thing. As for how the resistance compares to free weights, a friend of mine lifts free weights at the gym. He normally does 3 sets, 10 reps, @ 300 pounds. He tried the revolution at 200 pounds and couldn't budge it. We reduced to 150 pounds and he could lift that, although he has shakey. He might be able to do a little more if he took the time to get used to the cables and the linear resistance. My wife and I have used this thing for a couple of months now and we both think it's great. I am toning up and feel much better. Now, I was a couch potato before we got this so anything would have helped. But the Revolution, is designed to work all of the muscle groups and work them well. There's over 100 exercises with 400 variations. By the way, it has a 10 year warranty. I made a stupid mistake of pulling the wrong lever and letting the seat loose while it was in the stored position. The seat fell into the hooks that the foot rest hangs on while doing leg presses. It tore the seat in two places. I called Bowflex and they replaced the seat NO QUESTIONS ASKED! Amazing! They stand behind their product well. I also have the i-trainer software and the organizer rack for the Revolution. The software pretty much replaces a personal trainer, if you're computer savey. I think people who actually try this thing will love it. People who are commenting on the Bowflex but don't even own one, don't know what they're talking about. Why should you listen to someone who hasn't even tried one for a while? Someone said it earlier, the trick is, use it.
Randy