Friday, October 24, 2008

Shiatsu Massage Chair Review of the Sanyo HEC-DR7700K

By James Knolan

If you are a potential massage chair buyer, then finding an unbiased review of a given massage chair can be helpful. Here are 5 important categories to evaluate the total massage chair experience. This system gives equal weight to each of the 5 categories with each category having from 0 to 20. A 100 point score means the chair and the company has achieved total excellence. The 5 categories are Warranty & Customer Service, Comfort/Ergonomics, Ease of Use, Features and Massage Therapy. The discipline of a systematic approach provides for balance help those seriously considering a massage chair. The Sanyo HEC-DR7700K is the subject of this review. This luxury shiatsu massage chair is in the $4,000 to $5,000 range.

Warranty & Customer Service: Warranty and customer service come from the company that makes the massage chair. A warranty protects the customer and customer service must rectify issues one may have. With the HEC-DR7700K, Sanyo covers 3 years on the roller mechanism, 1 year on parts, 1 year labor and 1 year in-home service. In most cases, Sanyo has 1 year covering shipping. Sanyo covers the roller mechanism for 3 years, but other parts and labor is only 1 year. Sanyo forces the customer to purchase an extended warranty for additional protection that other manufacturers already. On the customer service side, Sanyo overall is available 24/7 and has average competence and average turnaround times. The Sanyo HEC-DR7700K is a 14 in Warranty & Customer Service.

Comfort & Ergonomics: Massage chair recliners should fit the body and be comfortable to site on. The Sanyo DR7700K is well padded and the chair back comfortable. The detachable head pillow is designed well to support the head. The seat is average to sit in and the armrests are plush. Unfortunately, the footrest cannot be adjusted which limits the chair to shorter individuals. Taller people feel some restriction with the footrest. Overall Rating for Sanyo DR7700K for comfort and ergonomics is 15.

East of Use: With the advance of electronics, the controls and features can just be overwhelming unless you work for NASA or JPL. Sanyo has made the controller fairly simple to use compared to what is out there. There are 4 automatic programs where one can select and just sit back and relax. There is one button to take you to Zero Gravity which is nice. A side panel contains many manual controls with basic controls for the massage techniques and the lower body air system. The sub-remote allows the chair to be raised or lowered and has the stiffness detector built in. Our rating in this category is 19.

Key Features: The most prominent features of the Sanyo HEC-DR7700K are the GK Rollers and the Zero Gravity Position. Sanyo designed jointed massage heads into the GK Rollers that have the capability to grip the shoulders. This GK Roller system is the first attempt by a massage chair manufacturer to bring in a third dimension to massage. The gripping action is soothing in the shoulders and neck areas. Zero Gravity is achieved by raising the knees above the heart with the chair back 170 degrees. The Sanyo HEC-DR7700K is an 18 in Key Features.

Massage Therapy: The Sanyo HEC-DR7700K has both automatic and manual massage settings. Sanyo incorporates 4 full body automatic courses, 4 manual massage courses, and 5 massage speed settings for a total combination of 83 manual massage courses. The manual massage techniques include Shiatsu, Kneading, Tapping, and Kneading & Tapping. Sanyo has some stretching capabilities for the lower body and has 24 airbags of coverage. The airbags have projections to perform shiatsu acupressure massage. There is a good variety of massage therapy techniques in this massage lounger. The Sanyo HEC-DR7700K is a 19 in Massage Therapy.

How does the Sanyo HEC-DR7700K rate? Overall, our rating of the Sanyo is an 85/100. The technology of the massages for both the back and the lower body are solid and thorough. The controls are easy to use and intuitive. The main drawbacks with this Sanyo shiatsu massage chair are first it has a weak warranty for the price of the chair. Second, the footrest cannot be adjusted, which limits the size of who can use the chair. Comfort is important because the massage helps one to relax. All in all, this is a solid chair with many interesting and novel features. You will not be disappointed.

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