Treadmills: how to choose one?

[Lonyo]

I'm thinking about getting a treadmill for general exercise (ie: daily walking/jogging), but I don't really know what sort is best.

I'd prefer not to spend bucketloads, but not go for something too cheap.
Are motorised that much better than manual?
What sort of speed is average jogging speed? Quite a lot of the cheaper motors seem to only go to 6mph, which doesn't seem particularly fast, I was hoping for "normal" jogging speed, although I don't know what that is.
And are any particular "brands" better than others?
(I'm in the UK, so US sites won't be much good, unless they have specs/reviews etc)
TIA.

 

[radioouman]

All that I can tell you is that I'm familiar with the electic treadmills... It's nice to have the option to set the speed and run some different workouts. 6.0 mph isn't terribly fast. Just an hour ago I finished 2.5 miles at 5.8-6.0 mph. I would think that you would want something that goes a little faster. (Maybe up to 8??) 6 mph is only a 10 minute mile.

I don't own my own treadmill. I use the ones at the YMCA.

 

[DrPizza]

For the price of a decent treadmill, you could buy a few nice sets of work-out clothes suitable for all types of weather conditions... then, get outside and walk. Sorry, I don't mean to thread crap, but that's just been my opinion for a long time. I could never figure out why when I rode my bike past the YMCA, I'd see dozens of people in front of the windows on exercise bikes and treadmills.

 

[radioouman]

True. I spend $30 per month for my YMCA membership. It would take two years of YMCA membership money to pay for a treadmill, and I get access to a LOT more machines and other activities. And besides, you can go outside and walk/jog/bike when the weather is nice.