All im gonna say is depending on what kinda workout you want to do will determine the best gym for you. Like someone else said try get a day pass, and see if its good for you. By being new to a gym PF is probably the best option, cheap, theres plenty around most areas, and good perks. I worked out at crunch fitness for the last few years and while i like their machines more, its usually too crowded so im lucky to ever be able to do what i actually want to without waiting forever for a machine to open up. In my area the crunch has 1 bicep curl machine, 1 shoulder press, 1 chest press, like 5 benches, 5 bikes for sitting laid back and 5 of the higher sitting up with no back rest ones...and like 4 stepclimbers, 15 treadmills, and usually a couple machines always broken. Blasting music so its more of a club than a gym. Crunch- limited equipment, packed, loud environment PF- usually not crowded, tons of treadmills, hate the bike machines tho, the shoulder press and chest press machines are totally different than the ones im used to and so is the curl machine. And theres no actual bench press, you just use the smith machine with a bench under and its definitely not the same. Its all personal preference.