I never understood the Aeron chairs, I’ve always found them uncofortable and considered them mesh for the sake of being mesh. I agree they paved the way for some great chairs that are around now though.
As people have said before, pick a selection of 4-5 chairs, try each one out for a week at a time. Also, make sure you are shown exactly how to setup the chair for yourself, whilst the mechanisms on newer chairs are getting simpler, the minor adjustments make a huge difference.
My current chair, The Girsberger Reflex. Good solid base so none of the pressure point problems you get with mesh bases. The back is an extremely sturdy thick mesh that just seems to give the right level of comfort and solidity.
All the chairs listed here are in the comments of your original thread, I think.
At work I have an aeron. I was torn between the Ergohuman Mesh and the Humanscale Freedom. I went with the Freedom, as I found one in good condition on ebay for $220.
The Freedom is a great chair, its massively more comfortable than the Aeron, but after coding all day in summer the seat gets moist and doesnt seem to get better. Which is strange: I live at 6000 feet; its incredibly dry and toweling off after a shower is substitutable by just walking around for two minutes. I havent really figured out how I’m going to use the chair late July / early August, I’ll probably end up having to throw blankets over it.
For those from Poland I can highly recommend @motion from Nowy Styl. http://www.emotion.nowystyl.com/
I’ve bought it one year ago and I must say that even then I was not truly convinced because of it’s spartan look. But right now I’ve forgotten what the back pain is at all and I have problems when for example I must leave my office for a business trip and I must use some strange chair they offer me in another office.
The only minus for me is the headrest - you cannot use it while programming I use it only for sleep during lunch break.
It costs something around 600$-700$.
Ha, I’ve got the same chair where I work (the Aeron), it’s absolutely incredible. I used to have some big old black monster that I thought was nice, but once you sit on it, there’s a huge difference. That difference being, you don’t even notice the chair.
Of course, now I was bothered by other things, like the cleanliness of my desk… have some coffee mug rings.
I agree with you, Jeff!
The chair is a very important investment for health and self-productivity for a programmer.
But I thnk the first investment is a good monitor. And the second is a good chair.
Before buying my first LCD display, I’ve been suffering of hard headaches and burning eyes. When I bought a Philips LCD 17 my pain stopped.
Before buying my first Stokke Variable I’ve been suffering of great backaches. http://www.comproedono.it/C_it/Prodotti/DettagliProdottoCDO.asp?id_Product=24594fm=1iffaid=16008
It’s amazing. It’s the best chair I’ve ever used. And after using that, you’re not able to sit on normal chairs anymore!
Jeff - I like your chair post in particular and your blog in general. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.
I tried both the Leap and the Mirra, and both are comfortable chairs. In the end, I found the Mirra to be more comfortable. Partly I think this is because it breathes better because of the mesh and the plastic back panel. Mostly, I like it because the arms are completely removable. I agree with John, Ian, and Liam: chair arms get in the way. So I give the Mirra props for allowing that option. It’s not possible on some of the other high-end models.
I think, a blog is a place where you express your view, it can not be on demand. If that is the case then bloggers will start offering premium subscription for on demand content.
I have to agree with Robert (way up there in the comments) - i think that the office chair is by nature a hard beast to tame, but the executive and manager chairs at staples have always been my favorite - i’ve gone through 3: one is in my home office and has been there for years (i’ve had to tighten a screw every once in a while, and oiled it once), but it’s my favorite chair of all time, so I bought one for my office cubicle, but left it at that job, and got another one at my job after that.
I know what works for me obviously won’t work for everyone, but I have to include the point that i’ve had massive surgery on one leg, and in the wrong chair i’m not just uncomfortable, i’m actually in severe pain after a short period of time, so a comfortable chair is of utmost importance. Of course, so is a good walk every 60 to 90 minutes,
I went with Steelcase Think. I was attracted to it’s simplicity and self-adjusting nature – I don’t have to deal with a whole set of knobs. It’s environmental credentials are a nice bonus.
Funny – after sitting my Think chair I wasn’t terribly impressed. I wasn’t until I had to sit in my co-worker’s chair I grasped how awesome my chair is.
After reading this blog post, and much research, I got an Aeron (which is why I was curious as to why you felt the Aeron was not as comfortable as other chairs like the Mirra).
I’ve also started a forum for Aeron users at http://aeron.ning.com/ to discuss the good and the bad of this chair.
The thing that unexpectedly struck me about sitting in the Mirra was my breathing. It felt like I was taking in more oxygen - I could feel it in my chest and head. Seemed too strange to be placebo. Surprising the difference that a small change in posture can make.
I’m only a hobbyist programmer, I’m teaching myself how to write flash games. This blog which I’ve been reading for a while has induced me to get a copy of code complete, which along with the AS3 language referance is becomming my bible-- but by profession I’m a commercial pilot.
I don’t disagree with the importance of a chair for people who sit all day at work, but I find it funny that computer people seem to think they discovered ergonomics. I’ve flown a few vintage aircraft… the pilot seats of the 1940’s era C-46 have 4 adjustment levers. The 1950’s DC-6 has 6! I haven’t had the pleasure of flying one- but I’ve jumpseated in one and the (pilot) seats of the MD-11 have more options than the autopilot (almost)!
Perhaps not germane, but I’ve seen so many ‘chair review’ posts I had to comment on one of them.
-TF
I use it only for sleep during lunch break.
I’ve flown a few vintage aircraft… the pilot seats of the 1940’s era C-46 have 4 adjustment levers. The 1950’s DC-6 has 6! I haven’t had the pleasure of flying one- but I’ve jumpseated in one and the (pilot) seats of the MD-11 have more options than the autopilot (almost)!