Monday, August 22, 2005

Gintell massage chair

Last Saturday afternoon, my gf and I went to Sg Wang Plaza to shop for her sandals- she wanted to get something comfortable for the Bangkok trip. After buying one that is relatively cheap and comfy, we decided to walk about the plaza since it was still quite early(we had a birthday party to attend in Ampang in the evening). After walking around, our legs were getting a bit tired and I was feeling a bit sore on my lower back since I had just taught an RPM class. We were thinking of going for a break at a cafe or fast food joint until we saw this:


Here it comes to save the day!

The moment we saw it, we knew it was the logical thing to do -both of us are pretty good at pretending to be interested in products that we don't intend to buy. We had pulled the same trick at Cheras Leisure Mall with Ogawa last May. But the sales lady was quite persistent with my gf and at the end, I feel kinda bad for not buying. How I wish I could just walk to them and say, "Look, we just want to get a nice massage and we don't intend to buy it... can we still try it?" but it's kinda odd to say that, right?

So, that's why I'm blogging about this... sort of giving them some free promo online. There were a couple of models on display but we only tried one.

INTRODUCING THE GINTELL G-PRO



the G-Pro massage chair is Gintell's high end offer to the market. According to the sales personnel, the motor is from Japan but the chair is assembled in Taiwan. She also claimed that Southern Hospital in Melaka had bought a few these chairs for their patients(can anyone verify this?). Having tried Ogawa and Osim before myself, I had doubts whether this chair was going to be good. My mom has a basic Gintell massage mat that you can place on a chair and I find it a bit hard and uncomfortable.

However, the moment it started, I was surprised at how nice it actually was. The fabric on the chair felt good and cool. Apparently Gintell has become more serious with making quality massage chairs instead poor substitutes. You get tapping, kneading, rolling modes to work your back and air massage bag for your thighs and calves. The easiest thing to do is just press the "auto" option(though there's one set back which I will digress later) and you get them all for a preset time of 20 mins. I chose that option and reclined the chair... ahhh, it was good! The air bags were great, but if I'm not mistaken, the chair does not have as many air bags in comparison with other brands. Nevertheless, it's not a big problem here as I still got a nice massage for my legs. The upper body massage is so much better than the one my mom has... Good work, Gintell- KEEP IT UP!

It would have been nice if the chair had foot massager option but it's not really that important, I guess. The only issue I have with the massage chair was the control which is probably the biggest in the market. There are also too many buttons to press for custom massage. Even for auto, you get 3 options- stiff neck, accupressure and lower back. I don't know about other people, but I for one wouldn't like to think when I want to relax on a massage chair. So it would've been nicer to get just 1 simple "auto" that does all 3, wouldn't it?


This couple sat next to me- they had triplet teenage boys with them!

After 20 mins though, I wishes I could sit there longer. But alas, all good things must come to an end. So we got up, saying "no" in the most diplomatic way to the sales girl and walked off. My legs and back felt refreshed... the chair did the work and I feel like a car with that "just-serviced" feeling!!!

Overall, I think the Gintell G-Pro is a value for money investment if anyone wants to buy a comfy massage chair yet does not want to burn a hole in his/her pocket. With a price tag of RM6388, it is relatively cheap compared to the big players like Ogawa and Osim. Public Bank credit card holders can get 30-month interest free installments.

Go get it if you've nothing better to spend on!