Very high heart rate.
 

Before I do my usual weights routine at the gym, I spend 20 minutes on the elliptical. Within 60 seconds my heart rate is usually above 165-170 and over then next 2-3 minutes it quickly climbs into the 180's. Until about the last five minutes of the workout it is usually around 189-194. For the last five minutes it will usually be between 193-197 but it has gotten up to 207 at times. My theoretical max rate is 220-19=201 (is this right?). Is it bad for me to keep my HR up so high throughout my workout? I have been working out only for a couple weeks (3 times a week) and I am out of shape (193 at 5'9" and I'm not strong).

It's hard to know. My wife has been running 5 miles a day for 2 years, and her heart rate on the elliptical will stay around 175 the whole time which is near her max (at age 35). I have been doing a recumbant bike for 6 months, and my heart rate will be around 150 max on the elliptical. Some of this is genetic I think, but those rates do sound a bit too high.

Sounds high to me also, have the machines been calibrated recently, they might be off?

The calibration may be the cause, I've never had a heart rate monitor thats built in to anything that works. It shows I either have over 300, or about 27. At least I hope they're not working right.