Any money spent on a good chair, will be well spent. Consdering all the money one might spend on hardware, there are very few that spend enough on a really good chair that will survive 5 or even 10 computers. And your back and body will certainly thank you for it.
Zoomastigophora wrote:I don't have any specific chair recommendations (I'm looking to invest in one myself), but I have some recommendations as to what to look for in a chair based on personal experience:
- Adjustable arm rests: I've found adjustable armrests to be absolutely essential in avoiding shoulder and neck fatigue, particularly for programmers. Armrests should be adjustable in height and width and should be adjusted to allow your arms to be close to 90 degree angle with the keyboard when typing.
- Adjustable seat depth: This is another big ergonomic thing. You don't want the back of your legs and knees to be flush with the edge of the chair when sitting in your preferred position as the majority of your blood circulation runs through that area. This is something those $150 Executive Premium Leather Awesome chairs at fail at because the chair body is one unit.
- Mesh/fabric material: Those leather executive chairs at the local office store might look fancy, but they're hot to sit in and don't offer any benefits. Getting a chair with a mesh back helps your back breathe and keeps you cool. Ideally, your seat should also be mesh, but personal preference factors in a lot more with the seat and chairs that do mesh seats properly tend to be much higher end.
- Independent tilting: A lot of the chairs you see at office supply stores have the chair as one connected unit, which means when you lean back, your legs go up with you. You generally want to be able to lean independently of your lower body, but this might not be as important to you.
- Lumbar support: Pretty self-explanatory and very much based on the individual. You'll need to find what works for you.
To see what a higher-end office chair looks like, check out the
Herman Miller Aeron chairs. For your price range, I would probably consider this
Ergo Mesh High-back Executive Chair a minimum starting point.
What can i say, spot on for everything. I got myself a chair over 10 years ago with all of the above except mesh. Mesh wasnt available at the time.
Had to get another seat pan unit for it last years since the first one was finished and the padding deformed after probably 15000 hours, but since it was a true $1000 office thing, of course they had spares ready for order. The only thing I can say is that while leather is hot to sit on in the summer, it holds up incredibly well and is easy to clean. After 10 years using the chair for probably 4+ hours every day, the leather still looks as new. Between 2000 and 2005 I had the same model of chair at work, which mean I probably spent some 12-16 hours in one of those. If it holds up for that, while still being ergonomic and not giving you any pains, if thats not a good chair, then I dont know what is. The only thing that have me thinking of ever switching out this one is to get a mesh chair of something akin in quality, which problably means Herman Miller Aeron or its likes, but those are going for $1500 around here so...
I have one of these, but all leather, not mixed leather / cloth as in the photo.
, the materials are of high quality
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