This was a helpful review.
I’d just add the quote that the ideal posture for sitting is one that constantly changes. (Stuart McGill, who’s research on spine health I’d recommend to anyone with back problems.)
I’ve found this possible with the Aeron (with Posturefit), which to me feels great. But needing a second chair, I’m going for a Leap, which feels close to the Aeron with a bit more adjustability.
On new year’s eve I managed to walk into the local retailer for Herman Miller chairs and gave Mirra and Aeron a try. I must say I was totally astonished, after tweaking all parameters of the chair, just how much support was spread all across the surface area of my back. In was instant relief for my spine and my body never felt so good in my life. Just from fifteen minutes of testing.
I opt for the Mirra because it hugged my back more than the Aeron. A variety of colour choices does not hurt too. The only I truly preferred on the Aeron was the arm-rest design; but that was not so important since most of the time my arms would be on the desk.
The odd thing is, I expected the Mirra, being the newer improved model, to be dearer. It turned out the Aeron is more expensive.
Here is my review of the Steelcase Amia that I purchased last week. As I did not feel the need to go with one of the many color choices available for this chair , I was able to order the black/black Amia that provided free next day ground shipping (as in, it would leave the Steelcase store on the next business day, to be transported via FedEx Ground).
I ordered it directly from the Steelcase Store on a Sunday and it shipped on Tuesday and was delivered on Thursday. A signature was required for delivery and I received a phone call from the FedEx driver Thursday morning asking if someone would be around within a one hour delivery window from noon to 1pm, which was excellent customer service, in my opinion.
It arrived in a fairly large box with a stated weight just over 76lbs. Took a bit of wrangling to get it into the house, but with a minimum of effort there was the new chair, covered in some plastic wrap. It was already fully assembled and once the plastic was removed it was simply a matter of adjusting the chair to my liking.
The armrests are probably the most love/hate feature of this chair. They have the standard move up/down controls and those lock into place, but they also have the ability to swivel to account for different arm widths and arm positioning. This allows a large freedom in positioning, but it also doesn’t lock into place at all, so you will find yourself adjusting them back into place a good deal at first. Once you get used to it, it’s not that big a deal (at least to me), and I find the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.
Locking the chair into a full upright seating position feels almost too straight up at first, but that’s probably from years of slouching in my previous chairs. The seat pan adjustment, seat height, lumbar adjustment, and reclining resistance work as you would expect and function well. Some folks might prefer more upper back support, and if so the Amia is not the chair for you. Reclining is comfortable, yet still allows you to work/play comfortably.
I have been using the chair for just under a week for working from home and for a few extended gaming sessions.
Overall, I am very satisfied with my purchase (although it is still tough mentally to part with $500-$1200 for just a chair). I will caveat my review with the fact that I am approximately 6’ tall and weigh 185lbs, so what works for me, might not work for you.
I often advise my patients that along with a quality chair and workstation, you need to take microbreaks periodically. Get up every 30 minutes to move around for 1 minute.
Many of them gladly take this advise to avoid a recurring http://lloydchiro.com/blog/2010/07/28/herniated-disc/
Todd
I have used a chair like the Herman Miller Aeron chair for a while, but I found the model I used did not provide all the support I was needing. I found that a lumbar support pillow helped me avoid the bad sitting posture I had gotten into, and reduced my back strain. Check out my site, http://lumbarsupportpillowreview.org for some more info on other lumbar support options.
My office chair used to be a source of misery for years and it is good to read all these chair reviews. I found that posture is actually just as important as the chair — I know, sounds funny. But if you “Sit up straight” just like mom used to tell us, you will feel better. So this sounds crazy, but buy a couple of wall mirrors and put them in your office. So you can catch yourself when to slouching. Makes a world of difference. The site we found was wallmirrorstogo.
I live in dominican republic and the best I found was a MARKUS chair @ IKEA. About 280 USD. A great chair.
Arm rests on a chair can be VERY important …
A few years ago, I was submitting an order for some lab equipment, and I was told I had to get a lab stool with arm rests … because the guy that was going to use the chair would sit and ponder a problem … and then forget he was on a stool, lean over to rest on the arm rests, and when he did this on stools with no arm rests, he actually fell off the stool! … The scary part is this is really true!
My first chair out of college in '99 was a office store special that I bought on sale along with one on their 25 off 75 coupons and thought it was a pretty good deal. The chair was never great, but it served it’s purpose… for just over a year when the plastic arms that supported that back finally gave out. By that time the seat was pretty much permanently depressed and the chair had little life left to it anyway.
After that I considered buying an Aeron, but the $600+ price tag was still hard to swallow. I spent some time looking into various chairs online, but finally happened to find a couple of Steelcase Sensor chairs in good condition at a donation/resale shop near me for $20 each. I bought them both and that was it for me looking for new chairs. I’ve gone through a few other chairs since, including a Herman Miller Equa 2 and an overly cushy Knoll, and they’ve all been finds from local thrift stores. I’m currently sitting in my 2005 Steelcase Leap chair that I bought for $25 just this past week. The base has a slight wobble if I sit forward, but I never sit forward. Other than that the chair looks almost brand new.
I just wanted to point out, good chairs aren’t cheap, but that doesn’t mean you still can’t buy them on the cheap, given some time and a little luck. While I’m not suggesting it’s common to find the high end HumanScale or Herman Miller’s, like the Aeron, I do regularly see mid-range quality chair from Steelcase and similar brands when I go looking once or twice a month.
Dan ‘penny-pincher’ M.
PS. Best time to find donated office furniture seems to be around year’s end. A combination of holiday replacements and year-end tax write offs, I imagine.
You should check out the Recaro office chair http://www.ergofurniture.com.au/recaro-trend.html it’s basically a motorsport bucket seat converted for office use . . . . should help you code faster!
Seriously though if cost isn’t an issue it’s a pretty cool seat and has more adjustability than you can shake a stick at (watch the video on the product page).
There’s both great and bad information in this thread I feel compelled to comment on. First of all, sitting all day IS not only bad on the back, but downright unhealthy as it does all sorts of bad things to your metabolism, blood sugar rates, circulation, etc. I can quote stats if anyone is interested. Thus I’m with you that programming is hard on the body (not that manual labor isn’t) and a good chair is a necessary investment that could impact whether or not you can work. I know because I’ve spent thousands undoing the damage of sitting in front of a computer all day.
Here’s some basic snippets that are all fact:
With that said, the manufacturers in your article do make good chairs, but they aren’t the only ones out there and other companies make chairs that fit more people, offer a better range of adjustments to fit bodies and work styles better, and can be quite a bit less expensive.
Some of the brands that are popular with larger corporations include Neutral Posture, Bodybilt (these two are not cheaper than the ones above), Soma Ergonomics and OfficeMaster (great value and scientifically designed for comfort). These may not be a pretty but from what I remember of human anatomy classes, our backsides don’t have eyes. 
I also like the Nightingale CXO Chair which looks like an Aeron but is WAY more comfortable in a number of ways. It’s not cheap but well worth its price and unlike the Aeron, you have the option of a headrest.
I do recommend doing research, but just as Consumer Reports often misses the best choices, so can any author. I also found a site that does free personal recommendations. I’ve had a number of coworkers use them. All got different recommendations and all love the chairs they eventually chose. A few minutes filling out the Chair Selector Questionnaire was worth it to me.
Best of luck to your backs and butts.
It depends though. If you can spend less than 500 that is comfortable to you and has good quality then go ahead. But I prefer to invest more where I know the chair can last for years than having to buy new chair again and again; and eventually experiencing back problems, thus costing me more in the long run for actual purchase of chairs and going for check-ups and consulting with doctors!
From the least though, I’d for either the Aeron Chair, SteelCase Leap chair and the Eurotech’s Ergohuman. I found great reviews on Comfy Office Chair.
I still recommend the Mirra, or Mirra 2.0, as my baseline. I have an Embody now, and it’s nice, but not that much better than a Mirra!
I just stumbled across this today. Damn, reading this really has me convinced that I should probably upgrade my chair. I’ve been using the same crappy $20 taskchair since 2007 and a piece of crap $64 desk. The main problem I get from that chair is that it gives /all/ of my legs paraesthesia. I can’t really justify purchasing a new chair because I’m currently earning mere pennies a day, but maybe I would make more if I had a comfortable chair that makes doing what I do more enjoyable. But, y’know, there’s a thing about a chicken and an egg.
I love this Steelcase Think Chair. Its green color is loveable it matches with my office room paint.It provides supports to our our back.Moreover its design is good. I always use to give preference to my body fitness and relaxation rather than money. I will definitely buy it right now ! and those who want chairs with some reasonable price then you can check http://www.dxracerchairreviews.com/
It’s been almost three years since I first read this blog post and decided to go out and buy a Steelcase Leap chair. It’s also, as I sit here typing this, the only part of my work setup that has survived that three years. I won’t make a personal recommendation for the Leap because honestly you should find the chair that works best for you but if you’ve just read this blog post and are on the fence on if spending that kind of cash on chair is a good idea, it is and you should do it.
The chair is the most important part without a doubt. I used to use a cheap/old fashioned chair, then I started having this severe pain in my right hand shoulder. At the beginning, I didn’t realize that it was because of the chair, but when I changed it to a more decent one (around $150), shoulder pain went away. I got a very good quality chair without nick support (cheaper this way:)) then I got my self a nick support from Amazon ($16) and installed it and voila!. Of course other equipment are mandatory for programmers, but believe me, it’s all about the good quality chair.
Spending money on a quality chair is worth the price, for me. Because unlike stuff (also important) like monitors, graphic cards or CPUs a good chair will last for a very long time. Perhaps even a life time.
When I started at Bwin in 2004 all developers got Aeron chairs. And when I left the company in 2012, I still had the chair I got back then in 2004.
And as a farewell gift I was given that same chair and I am still using at my desk at home.
So, that chair is already 15 years old and in the same great condition and comforting my butt as good as at the beginning.
I didn’t count how often some other stuff got replaced and how much money those replacements costs comparing to the price of that chair. And yes, it was/is a lot of money for a chair. But really well spent money.