Treadmills & ellipticals: the right choice makes workouts less tedious.

Exercise hardly tops most people's list of favorite activities. Our latest Ratings of 33 treadmills and elliptical trainers include several that can help you make it less of a chore and--dare we say it?--more fun.

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For our tests, we trotted, paced, and pumped many miles in our labs and even pulled apart some machines to inspect for signs of wear and tear.

The equipment ranged in price from $500 for the least-expensive treadmill to a heady $3,700 for the priciest elliptical.

Though you'll find some bargains, paying more typically buys you sturdier construction and friendlier features. But you can also spend a lot and get a subpar machine. For example, the Nautilus NE 3000 elliptical, costing $2,700, is one of two models we judged Not Recommended (see box on page 28.)

Some 20 percent of the exercise equipment in U.S. households sits gathering dust, according to a survey by American Sports Data. And in an online survey of subscribers by the Consumer Reports National Research Center, 37 percent said their machine was used much less than expected before it was purchased. So sweat the details before you spend big bucks to sweat off pounds.

Treadmills usually have an electric motor that powers a belt moving at anywhere from a slow walk to a fast run. They're the leader in aerobic exercise equipment, with almost half of all sales.