elliptical machine calories burned?

so, the gym I go to just got new elliptical machines and the calorie burn meters are wayyyy different than the old ones, and the number that cc gives!  on the older ones (which weren't old, probably just a year or 2) i would burn over 500 calories an hour at a moderate pace.  Now, they tell me I only burn just over 300!  cc says that for an hour on the elliptical at a moderate level i burn just over 500.  which count should i use???

I think you should go by what CC says because if the only thing that has changed is your machine and the machine, the working out, and CC all have stayed the same, then the machine is wrong. It's probably promoting you to work out MORE because it's numbers are off.

Which isn't really a bad thing....

The new numbers. As a runner it's always upset me when I can run a 6 minute mile on a treadmill then go over to an elliptical and do a slow 1 mile jog and have the machine tell me I just burnt the same amount of calories.

Frankly I'm glad some manufacturers are taking responsibility and fixing the ridiculous claims they'd previously made.

A 6 minute mile. I'll work my way up to that one.

I think we should do a cross examination and take an average of what all the calorie sites say. I wish there was a regular way to calculate your calories burned like we can calculate our BMI or something.

I looked around online and found a lot of articles about the large margin of error on ellipticals. Here's one from another about.com site:  http://exercise.about.com/b/2006/07/19/how-ac curate-are-the-calorie-counts-on-gym-machines .htm

Basically if you continue through to the FAQ section the author mentions, she says that the only real way to measure calories burnt on an individual basis is through your "perceived exertion". In other words, if you're like me and you find that it feels way way way ridiculously easier to do a workout on an elliptical than a treadmill, the numbers for the elliptical are probably off.

Here's a guideline on measuring perceived exertion:  http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/strengthen ing/a/030904.htm

Hope this helps!

thanks for your help!!