This arrived in good time and condition, considering I spent less than 3 bucks on shipping. The box weighed about 150 pounds so it took two men to move it anywhere. My guy and a friend assembled the machine using the instructions included in a few hours, with no hitches--so assembly was very acceptable. The unit itself is really neat, and, nice. I've been working out on it now for several weeks, and, tried a lot of different things on it. The best things about this machine are: it can be used by a number of people, of different size and with different fitness goals and abilities with no problem. It provides the strength and flexibility you're looking for. The only negatives are: It didn't come with any written instructions for use, only a videotape--and since we don't use television at our house, we had to borrow a portable unit, and commit to watching the video along with the workout until we could get it memorized. I called www.staminasales.com and they were kind enough to send me a couple of wall charts of exercises, but, they don't quite match the tape so....small problem for those of us who are too busy to think about stuff like that. The plastic thingies that protect the top hand strap from the pully assembly are too fragile; I accidentally lost grip on one of them one time, and when it snapped up, it broke upon impact. This doesn't interfere with use of the unit, it just annoyed me. Lastly, I have to say the video that accompanies the unit is a little annoying, the woman narrator just says silly things like, "really play with it, have fun with it....this should feel like you're getting a massage...." ...when you're doing something really demanding on the machine. All in all, I'd buy it again, or recommend it to a friend.