I have been looking for a multi-station weight gym. I have been looking at the Weider Weight System, Pro 4950? Any recommendations? Comments? Anything appreciated!!! I thought it would be the best alternative. Free weights are out becuase I don't think my wife will use them. I wanted to stick to a multi-station gym becuase my wife and I would work out at the same time!!! Sears.com I have been having a hard time finding other alternatives, please help!!!!

To get a good quality multi-station weight stack gym you're going to pay $1500 and up. The Weider 4950 is junk! Any multi-station gym with multiple weight stacks costing $399 is total crap (unless it's your rich uncles and he feels sorry for you). What is your budget?

Yes, believe me I do know that there all junk!!! That is why they are cheap!!! But I have been trying to talk myself into to thinking they are not.

That is why I am at this forum, for advise. I would like to spend less then $1000!!! If I can be convinced that the $1500 one is the one, then it is worth spending(or not spending money on the cheap ones). This thing is going to last forever if it is a good one.

garyl43- what would be your recommendation?

Should I go for a cage type gym and get some free weights where I can just keep expanding?

Get on craigslist in your area and find a home gym. You can get some beauts for 50-75% less than a new one.

This is a machine I seriously considered about a year ago: BodyCraft K1 Home Gym | The Home Gym Superstore. You can learn more at the bodysolid website (they used to have a larger picture and more information their but it changed a bit, now they have a video though). Notice it has real large gym type bearings on the lifting arm, adjustable cable pulley arms (a huge plus), an incline-decline bench (you never see a decline bench on these things, another huge plus!), 2:1 ratio cable system so you actually get 400lbs of resistance (giant plus!), optional leg press station, a lifetime warranty on everything (ginormous plus!) and free shipping (colossal plus! It would probably cost over $300 to ship)! The only reason I didn't buy it was that I thought it might be a bit to large for my living room .

A cage and freeweights would be great (and cheaper), but like you said you will probably never get the wife to use it . The K1 is easily and quickly adjustable so it's easy to for two people to take turns on it. They have some cheaper models but they don't offer the resistance or quality of this one.

I personally went with the Bowflex Ultimate at $1700 (you can get one online now for $1300 w/ free shipping) because it offered lots of resistance and folds up so it doesn't take up much space. I love it! But like I said, the K1 would have been my choice if I just had a little more space for it.

What you want in a home gym like this is quality, durability, a large variety of exercises and plenty of smooth resistance. So far I haven't seen anything in this price range match the K1. Just look at it as a lifetime investment. The only machine I've seen under $1000 that offers quality, variety and up to 410lbs of smooth resistance is the Bowflex Blaze: Product Detail - Bowflex® Blaze™ Home Gym

Thanks guys for the info. I appreciate it. I really like the craigslist. Who know what I will find on there. I think I am more confused now. It is hard to think that the $400 machine is not good enough for me. I wish there was something decent for $600-800.

You might want to check this one out, it's sold at Sears and Costco and is the same as the Blaze but runs $200 cheaper: Bowflex 140010 Sport™ Home Gym at Sears.com
You might want to look at something like this also: DumbbellBuddy.com: Powertec Workbench Leverage System
You have to buy your own plates, but these are really nice machines!