cardio equipment

[trapz101]

not sure this is the right place to ask,mod feel free to remove to apropriate forum.

plan to buy some equiment to do cardio at home,right now i have either treadmill or spinning bike in my mind,but since treadmill cost 3-4 times more than a spinning bike (at least in my area),which one is best bang for buck?
and another question what is the difference between spinning bike and stationary bike?

[oldtimer1]

A spinning bike is made in general to simulate a road bike in body position. They generally use locking cleats in their bike shoes to lock their foot to the pedal like serious road bike riders. An exercise bike in general has a more relaxed riding position. Who's needs to be aerodynamic riding a stationary bike? Many road bike guys use spinning class to train when the weather is bad or they just need a change.

Personally and it's just me but riding a stationary bike gets old real fast. It's also easy to be delusional with how hard you are actually working by not putting enough tension on the bike resistance.

I would go with the treadmill. You can have really tough fast walking workouts if you use the incline feature. A quality treadmill can go up to a 5 or 6 minute mile that could challenge most serious runners. Many guys repeat the often used myth that a treadmill is a poor substitute for running outside. There are plenty of competitive distance runners who live in cold weather snow areas that train for months on a treadmill. Scientific analysis shows the same amount of energy is used running a 8 minute mile outside when compared to a 8 minute mile on a treadmill at a 1% incline grade. Personally I would never run exclusively on a treadmill because there is a very slight difference between the way you pull the ground when you run but again it's very slight. To somewhat contradict my prior sentence, I made some of the best improvements in my distance running one year from 2 months of exclusively running on a treadmill. 

[Donny]

Spinning bikes i donīt like. They are only really good if you have a Spinning class where you are basically told when to apply resistance yourself with a brake. on your own it wont be good. A normal exercise bike you can select a Programme  for example interval Training. same with a running machine as Oldtimer said ..Speed and incline. we have a type of consol in the gym for spin bikes where you can choose terrain and Music .. also Shows when to apply resistance. Only a few people really use it. Not being a big gym we only have two consols. Get the exercise bike, cheaper than a treadmill and for your purpose better than spin Biking. Me i prefer a Cross Trainer.. another good Option.

[Donny]

we use this My Ride from Matrix... can be used with a Big Screen...
http://www.matrixfitness.com/docs/MYRIDE_english.pdf