Doesn't sound to me like he's contemplating buying. I'm not a big fan of ellipticals. I do like the Stairmaster Stepmill, however:
http://stairmaster.com/products/stepmill-5/
better known as the Stairway to Hell.
The Stepmill is something different to do in the winter and it helps keep the quads balanced and the kneecap tracking straight - at least I think it does. Seems to help my knees, anyway. I use it for base. 1 to 1.5 hrs. of Z3 will have your legs quivering real good. 45 minutes of Z2 makes a decent recovery workout. Oddly enough, it doesn't seem to make the slightest difference in my performance standing on the bike. One would think it would, but it doesn't. Specificity. But then neither does an hour of spin class, since those machines are all fixies. Not really any help with pedaling mechanics on a freewheel bike, but you do get a lot better on a spin bike.