My goal is to present a potential massage chair buyer with a comprehensive and unbiased review of a given massage chair.  We have developed a 5 category system to evaluate a massage chair.  I give equal weight to each category and give 0 to 20 points rating and then add them up to present an overall score.  My categories include Warranty & Customer Service, Comfort/Ergonomics, Ease of Use, Features and Massage Therapy.  This systematic approach forces me to a disciplined method of evaluating a massage chair to help guide anyone looking at massage chairs.  The Sanyo HEC DR7700 K shiatsu massage chair price is in the luxury range of $4,000 to $5,000.

Warranty & Customer Service: It is important that the manufacturer stand behind its product.  A good gage of the company's confidence is its warranty coverage and duration.  Sanyo gives a 1 year labor, 1 year parts and 1 year in-home service.  It does cover the roller mechanism for 3 years.  Sanyo is well below other manufacturers in this category with its parts and labor.  Sanyo recently instituted in-home service with the 1 year in-home whereas most are 90 days.  Customer service is good.  Sanyo has a national hot line with 24/7 service.  Turnaround time on service is good.  Our Rating in this category is 14.

Comfort & Ergonomics: Comfort and ergonomics are important design characteristic with a shiatsu massage chair.  Sanyo designed the DR7700K to compete in the luxury class known for comfort and relaxation.  This shiatsu lounger is well padded with nice upholstery.  The armrests are padded and comfortable.  The Sanyo DR7700K is a bit restrictive to accommodate taller users.  Sanyo designed this chair for the Asian market and is importing it here without modifying it for the taller American market.  The Sanyo DR7700K is a 15 in Comfort & Ergonomics.

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 important features of the Sanyo HEC-DR7700K are the GK Rollers which is designed to provide over the shoulder massage in a third dimension.  The other key feature is the Zero Gravity which takes the weight off you spine.  The jointed massage heads of the GK Rollers push out and over the shoulders in a gripping action.  Most rollers move in the X and Y coordinates, Sanyo has added the Z coordinate to add a real third dimension to robotic massage.  Zero Gravity is a comfortable position with the body weight evenly distributed across the back.  Overall Rating for the Sanyo HEC-DR7700K for features is 18.

Massage Therapy: The DR7700K has 4 full body automatic courses, 5 massage speed settings and in a total combination of 83 manual massage courses.  The manual massage techniques include the following:  Shiatsu, Kneading, Tapping, and Kneading & Tapping.  Additionally, because of the GK roller system, Sanyo offers Grip, which is a squeezing sensation.  Sanyo incorporates various stretches.  The DR7700K massage chair uses 24 airbags with projections that perform a shiatsu massage on the calves and an undulating sole shiatsu massage.  There are a wide range of massage capabilities and the GK rollers add a critical third dimension.  Our rating in this category is 19.

We just reviewed 5 categories ranging from warranty to features to ergonomics.  How does the Sanyo HEC-DR7700K   Based on the 5 categories the total score for the Sanyo HEC-DR7700K is a 85/100.  The Sanyo HEC-DR7700K provides fairly thorough full body massage therapy.  The technology is innovative and reliable.   Sanyo has one of the weaker warranties providing less protection for the customer.  The Sanyo HEC-DR7700K integrates some interesting features to locate trouble areas and provides good relief to the shoulders and neck.  The Sanyo has most of the elements of a great massage chair, but seems to be lacking from its roots.  The sensory experience missing seems to be music and with Sanyo's background in stereos just seems odd.  This is a luxury class massage chair and has solid technology, but just seems a bit incomplete.  The Sanyo HEC-DR7700K is just average for the luxury class of shiatsu massage chairs.