If you are looking for a massage chair, then finding relevant information regarding potential shiatsu chair candidates is important.  Reviews and evaluations can point out the relevant aspects of each product.  To assist potential purchaser researching massage chairs, we evaluate 5 key categories which include Warranty & Customer Service, Comfort/Ergonomics, Ease of Use, Features and Massage Therapy.  Each category is worth up to 20 points.  All points are added up to give a total score based on the 5 categories.   A disciplined, systematic approach takes out bias and presents facts.  We review the Luxury range of $4,000 to $5,000 and feature the Sanyo HEC-DR7700K massage chair.

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: 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 Zero Gravity. Zero Gravity is a leaned back position where the pressure from your body evenly distributed across your back and your knees are above your heart.  The GK Rollers are jointed massage heads that push outward from the chair back and can grip your shoulders.  The most impressive feature is the GK rollers as they bring a third dimension into the robotic massage world.  The sensation of the rollers coming over the top of your shoulders is an important advance in massage chair technology.  The massaging capabilities of the Sanyo HEC-DR7700K are solid. Our rating in this category 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.