I moved on 3/31 shortly before my gym in the old neighborhood in Brooklyn (Planet Fitness) closed for the pandemic. I do not feel safe going to the gym now and it looks like gyms may be closed soon for a while in NYC anyway. And no Planet Fitness in my new neighborhood! So I started thinking about getting an elliptical for home, after many months without doing intervals as the least objectionable aerobic exercise for me. I can make room in my new apartment for a home machine but I don’t know where to start, and it’s not like there are showrooms to check them out (or are there?). Any suggestions?
You can get one that you can use to go places outside when it is nice out, or put on a trainer stand for use indoors when it is not nice out. For example:
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After spending time recently researching ellipticals, I found a showroom near me that had many models on display. Right after opening on a week day, I was the only customer in the store. The machines all felt very different from one another, so I chucked my research and just ordered the one that felt best to me (I don’t have it yet). So my advice is, if at all possible, try before you buy.
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I agree with “try before you buy.“ We just invested in both an elliptical and a spin bike. They are made by lifefitness.
LifeFitness makes very good equipment. I have belonged to gyms and DH has some home equipment. We don’t have an elliptical, though. I’ve also found that the feel of different machines is quite different. Some feel like you are climbing and others feel more like a run or fast walk. I don’t care for the ones that feel like I’m going uphill with no option to level it out. It is VERY important to try it out. They are also hard to get right now because everyone is beefing up their home gyms. My neighbor had a really cheap one (maybe still does), but it felt pretty decent and she enjoyed it for 30 minute stints watching tv shows. It also took up a lot less space. Ellipticals can be REALLY big.
I was going to quote @HighTide2020 but we seem to have lost the quote button. Yes, elliptical can be really big. We got one at Costco and it seemed normal sized in the cavernous warehouse but it’s huge. We will have to sell it with the house because once we assembled it, it’s far to large to get back downstairs.
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Can you disassemble it if you need to move it? Not every house buyer will want it (or will want it upstairs).
Anyway, another advantage of the outdoor ellipticals is that they are much less bulky and heavy (even including the trainer stand for indoor use).
Has anyone here used the “under the desk” ellipticals? It looks like you can get in some work even if you are just sitting at your desk and working. Given that I am at my desk for over 12 hours each day, this is intriguing…
If you google “exercise equipment that quickly becomes the place where you hang your wet clothes that can’t go in the dryer” there are many good options. 
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If I had a chance (financially) to invest in a decent piece of exercise equipment I’d love to have a real Pilates reformer like they have at the Pilates studio. I dropped all my out of the home memberships (gym and Pilates) as I didn’t see myself going back any time in the near (or even distant) future. My gym (LA Fitness) wanted to start charging again after a 3 month break, even though they couldn’t open and the Pilates studio was offering 6 members in at a time, VS 12. Not good enough for me, and it was already difficult to get a timeslot when there were 12! So I home yoga and still do my 3 1/4 mile walk daily. But I miss reformer Pilates the most.