TR Forums

Hello,
I will go overboard here, I know the chair I will recommend costs a fortune but hey you sit on it for several hours a day, so it's pretty important. Especially to avoid future lower back pain.

The chair I recommend is a Herman Miller, yes I know it's pretty expensive, but let me tell you something. It's one of the best chairs I have ever sat on. I know a lot about gaming chairs, but you can't have that in your office.

Here is an article about the Herman Miller https://exposegaming.com/best-gaming-chairs-under-1000/ . It gives some info on the chair, pros, cons, specs. I'm aware it's a gaming chair article but these guys include 2 Herman Miller because they offer amazing chairs, they even use them for gaming.

Good grief, those are very expensive chairs. No way I can afford one of those.

whm1974 wrote:

Good grief, those are very expensive chairs. No way I can afford one of those.

Hey, you should be able to afford one with the money you're saving by cutting down on your soda habit!

whm1974 wrote:

Good grief, those are very expensive chairs. No way I can afford one of those.

That's the problem with good chairs. They aren't cheap. Think the HON I'm sitting in right now cost me about $500 10 or so years ago.

just brew it! wrote:

whm1974 wrote:

Good grief, those are very expensive chairs. No way I can afford one of those.

Hey, you should be able to afford one with the money you're saving by cutting down on your soda habit!

Nay, I rather save up the money freed by cutting my soda habit for a few years and build a new computer.

Captain Ned wrote:

whm1974 wrote:

Good grief, those are very expensive chairs. No way I can afford one of those.

That's the problem with good chairs. They aren't cheap. Think the HON I'm sitting in right now cost me about $500 10 or so years ago.

I guess if you want something really good you are going to have to pay for it.

whm1974 wrote:

Good grief, those are very expensive chairs. No way I can afford one of those.

Last year I bought a couple of SKU# 0857562 CALUSA, CHAIR, MESH, BLACK from Office Max. They are normally $179 and were on sale for $99. And hey they are still on sale over at Office Depot. These are not super comfy but have been durable and if you slouch you can take a snooze in one. The arms fold up or down.

whm1974 wrote:

Captain Ned wrote:

whm1974 wrote:

Good grief, those are very expensive chairs. No way I can afford one of those.

That's the problem with good chairs. They aren't cheap. Think the HON I'm sitting in right now cost me about $500 10 or so years ago.

I guess if you want something really good you are going to have to pay for it.

If it's any consolation, something lie the HON Ned mentioned is designed to be used 8 hours a day, 5 days a week and probably for a 10-20 year lifespan.

I've been through a few office chairs in the past 10 years, probably paying more than $300 over the years (and dealing with some really crappy comfort as certain things break and foam degrades). Had I spent that money up front, I might not need a replacement.

superjawes wrote:

whm1974 wrote:

Captain Ned wrote:

That's the problem with good chairs. They aren't cheap. Think the HON I'm sitting in right now cost me about $500 10 or so years ago.

I guess if you want something really good you are going to have to pay for it.

If it's any consolation, something lie the HON Ned mentioned is designed to be used 8 hours a day, 5 days a week and probably for a 10-20 year lifespan.

I've been through a few office chairs in the past 10 years, probably paying more than $300 over the years (and dealing with some really crappy comfort as certain things break and foam degrades). Had I spent that money up front, I might not need a replacement.

Good point.

whm1974 wrote:

superjawes wrote:

whm1974 wrote:

I guess if you want something really good you are going to have to pay for it.

If it's any consolation, something lie the HON Ned mentioned is designed to be used 8 hours a day, 5 days a week and probably for a 10-20 year lifespan.

I've been through a few office chairs in the past 10 years, probably paying more than $300 over the years (and dealing with some really crappy comfort as certain things break and foam degrades). Had I spent that money up front, I might not need a replacement.

Good point.

Along the lines of keeping property taxes low... Locally at least, staying under the $350 limit for personal property items is worth it for me.

Mr Bill wrote:

whm1974 wrote:

superjawes wrote:

If it's any consolation, something lie the HON Ned mentioned is designed to be used 8 hours a day, 5 days a week and probably for a 10-20 year lifespan.

I've been through a few office chairs in the past 10 years, probably paying more than $300 over the years (and dealing with some really crappy comfort as certain things break and foam degrades). Had I spent that money up front, I might not need a replacement.

Good point.

Along the lines of keeping property taxes low... Locally at least, staying under the $350 limit for personal property items is worth it for me.

Where do the hell do you live that still has a personal property tax? How does this work, they come into your house and figured the value of what you own and charge a tax on it?

I used to sit for a couple hours, then get up and do something (either stand in front of a rack for a little, or walk to a user's desk, etc.), and for that, the type of chair didn't matter much.

Later, when things changed and I found myself staying in the same chair for five hours (sometimes more), I found out that the kind of chair I used made a huge difference in how I felt.

After a few weeks of reading and trying some out, I ended up getting one of these: http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/510830

The mesh bottom gives me very comfortable support, and after many hours, my back doesn't hurt, and neither does my bottom. I don't have to get up slowly because things are stiff and hurt when I start moving them again.

There seems to be a lot of diversity in the chair backs. Before getting all googly eyed over a fancy back, pay close attention to how much time you spend pressing your back into the back of the chair you're currently using, and remember that 100% of the time you use the chair, you will be pressing your bottom into the seat and therefore seat comfort must not be compromised. I find myself leaning in with most of my back out of contact with the chair most of the time, so for me, fancy backs are pretty unimportant.


Go try out some chairs. Sit in them for more than 3 minutes before you decide. Take something with you that will allow you to simulate desk work for a few minutes. Chairs last too long to saddle yourself with a pain in the bottom.

whm1974 wrote:

Mr Bill wrote:

whm1974 wrote:

Good point.

Along the lines of keeping property taxes low... Locally at least, staying under the $350 limit for personal property items is worth it for me.

Where do the hell do you live that still has a personal property tax? How does this work, they come into your house and figured the value of what you own and charge a tax on it?

No, No, I bought these for my business and they do do that for your business. They count anything in the building that is used to do business. So, all my instruments, lab tables, PC's, etc. and office furniture.

I have those fancy $1000 Herman Miller Aeron chairs at work, and I realized what makes them special is the mesh fabric on the back and bottom. With a solid material like leather, the stuffing behind it eventually wears down. With a quality mesh chair your only wear comes from the material stretching. As long as you don't bounce on it or weigh a ton they can last a long time.

I've had one I bought from Costco for like 3.5 years now and it's still almost as good as new. It's beginning to stretch at the base, but I put a fuzzy throw blanket over the chair and it's super comfy still. Again the key is mesh on the bottom (the back is common, but the mesh bottom is harder to find).

Something similar to this
https://www.costco.com/Metrex-III-Silve ... 15866.html

https://www.costco.com/Worksmart-Breath ... 11426.html


edit: Looks like PFarkas basically already said what I did. You can find these chairs for well under $300 though.

Also one last point - just like keyboards, mice and monitors, the chair is something you interact with for hours a day, every day, for years on end. Don't skimp out. The difference in quality of life from a better product can be tremendous over the life of it. If you spend 6 hours a day working in that chair, that is literally 1/4 of your life. Make it comfortable, don't cheap out.

Duct Tape Dude wrote:

Staples has some decent chairs honestly. I'm not a fan of any foam-bottomed chairs unless they're the expensive memory foam ones, because after a year or two the polyurethane foam just goes flat. So I decided to try an all mesh chair and picked up the Staples/Quill Hyken when it was on sale for about $120. It's nice enough that my wife wanted the same one (though she just left it without the headrest, because it's not very adjustable). http://www.staples.com/Staples-Hyken-Te ... uct_990119 it's actually on sale again now, how fortuitous!

There are always better chairs like Herman Miller etc but the midrange Staples/Office Depot/Office Max chairs really aren't bad if you know what to avoid. Just make sure you never pay full price for one, since they go on sale every 3-6 months.

I just ordered this to replace my grungy 10-year-old chair. Thanks for the tip!

whm1974 wrote:

Good grief, those are very expensive chairs. No way I can afford one of those.

I know the feeling. Like someone mentioned above in the past ten years I've bought many office chairs, the total might even go up to 1000$. It's almost the same price as the Herman Miller, sure it's a big hit to take, investing so much money in an office chair, but in the end, you are the one sitting in it for several hours a day.

You can look up online on the importance of having a good office chair. Anyways good luck on your quest!

I thank you guys for for all the tips and advice you have given me. I'm no longer in the market for a new chair since my current one has been fixed, however I may buy a new chair later on down the road. Maybe a mesh chair?

Kretschmer wrote:

I just ordered this to replace my grungy 10-year-old chair. Thanks for the tip!

Yay! Hope you like it. This chair is my daily driver and I like it--it's even stood up to moderate cat clawing.
The best part is if it doesn't work out, any Staples accepts online returns.

Interesting thread! Work chairs (and messenger bags) are something(s) that I can just really get into for some weird reason.

Personally, I'm trying to hold off on a "seating upgrade" until they've released Level 4 to Level 5 Autonomous Office Chairs. These are furniture lines that are loaded with sensors to determine body position, type of task being executed, repetitive behavior patterns, etc. The chair will then autonomously re-position it's various components, (seat, arms, back, head rest, etc.) with adjustments made across more axes than there were nations that fought in World Wars I & II combined! This will ensure ergonomic bliss; optimal body position & seating characteristics are continuously adjusting to the individual user, regardless of height, weight, sciatic conditions, recent surgeries, and so on, (all of which the chair will detect, classify & store data on).

Heck, these babies will even sport sensor arrays to read changes within the surrounding environment, and they'll initiate appropriate action if circumstances dictate. This will include such measures as: rotating the chair to face an approaching boss or wife; rotating the chair so your back always faces that "one particularly annoying co-worker", or the "pesky office parent" who approaches you 2 or 3 times a week to push their kids latest fund-raising campaign; even taking evasive maneuvers to avoid collision with out-of-control toddlers, or streaking dogs & cats.

You can even program the chair to generate a range of haptic stimuli to serve as reminders for imminent deadlines or scheduled meetings. Or, if you happen to be an obsessively controlling boss, choose from an array of electric shocks & give your slovenly, sloth-like, time-wasting employees a little "productivity spur"!

All of this functionality can, of course, be conveniently controlled through handy phone & desktop apps. Since your chair supports Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, & NFC, (with LTE an optional upgrade) it inevitably supports IOT right out of the box. (Online app tutorials and live classroom training will be available.)

Being IOT ready, you may be wondering ... and yes ... no doubt painfully invasive advertising will begin assaulting you through your chair soon after these bad boys hit the market. Plus, you can expect your "friendly neighborhood ISP" (Internet Seating Provider) to begin assessing monthly chair usage fees with seating capped at 27.5 hours per week. Sitting for more than a total of 45 minutes within any given hour will incur overage charges.

Oh ... and you won't really "own" the chair you've just spent multiple thousands of dollars to acquire. But all that will of course be explained in the Terms & Conditions of the "Sitters End-Parking Agreement" that you'll be required (by law) to complete before taking possession of (not exactly "your" chair, but) whatever OEM model you decide upon.

But don't worry for even a brief moment about all of your collected health data, work attendance records, etc. being compromised, stolen & sold by (state supported) Ukrainian Chacker Collectives; (chacker = chair-hacker). Despite all chairs being camera-equipped, up-skirt photos or any other "embarrassing/compromising" instances simply cannot be generated or stolen. (And NO ... This chair does NOT make your butt look big!)

These chairs are guaranteed to have been built from the mat up with Data Security and User Safety as co-equal #1 priorities. Hence the host of features like Collision Avoidance Systems, (noted above), Anti-Tip Controls, 5 Point Harness, and Air Bag Arrays ... (just in case The Impossible should come to pass).

Plus you can count on receiving regularly scheduled, long-term Software Upgrades and, of course, those ever important Security Vulnerability Patches. You have our word!

(Seriously, they promise, like, really, Really, VERY sincerely. Yah, you bet 'cha, you can count on it, because they're trustworthy ... Safety & Security are # 1! And YOU; You're # 1 too! Sure, they absolutely love their spouses & kids & SOs, but honestly, they're a distant 2nd compared to YOU ... and Safety & Security ... honest ...)

So yeah, Level 4 & 5 Autonomous Office Chairs look to be the next new hotness. The Autonomous Office Furniture & Equipment Manufacturers Association is really making some big noise about their big promises, & they've even adopted an official motto: The A.O.F.E.M.A. will Cover Your Ass like no one else can!

Wow ... insert face-palm here!

(That wound up going on a lot longer than I realized. I thought I'd dash off like a 3 or 4 line quick gag & it just kept going, kinda stream-of-consciousness style. Sorry but man, I had that all typed out & just couldn't see burning it down ... Thanks for your patience!)

I'll pass and simply get a standard office chair with no sensors or internet connection. Just like I'll refused to get a smart TV or any other smart appliance. As mentioned in another thread, This IoTs crap has gotten out of hand and we need to slow down and rethink it over.

whm1974 wrote:

I'll pass and simply get a standard office chair with no sensors or internet connection. Just like I'll refused to get a smart TV or any other smart appliance. As mentioned in another thread, This IoTs crap has gotten out of hand and we need to slow down and rethink it over.

I agree that the IoT thing is way overdone & I suspect a lot of it exists simply "because we can" & not because it's a really great idea. The ridiculous will die down & fade out with time: Like, how desperately do we need a Toothbrush Game Controller http://tech.eu/brief/playbrush-500000/?

But FWIW I was attempting (and pretty much failed) to be funny in my earlier post. I'd just finished reading about the current state of driverless vehicles (where Level 5 autonomy will signify the "wake me up when we get there" stage of development) & going through the thread you'd started, it hit me that somebody's bound to trick out office chairs in kind of the same way.

I can honestly imagine that there will be (or maybe there already are) certain very useful implementations of a customized, uber-smart, internet connected chair, but those are bound to be pretty few in number.

Inside my head can be a dangerous place to be & I just got caught up with the whole thing. Seriously, before I realized it ... what started as a quick couple of gag lines about "Toddler Collision Avoidance Systems", "up-skirt chair selfies" & MIA cell phone OS upgrades that are "promised next quarter for sure" ... well it got away from me & turned into a feature film pitch. And I didn't include the [sarcasm] [/sarcasm] bracketing.

Like I said at the start, I honestly am a fan of good chairs & messenger bags ... the rest of it wound up way over the top (kind of like the way "reality" seems to be turning out ...)

Bobs_Your_Uncle wrote:

Like I said at the start, I honestly am a fan of good chairs & messenger bags ... the rest of it wound up way over the top (kind of like the way "reality" seems to be turning out ...)

The Imp of the Perverse (I'll let you dig that one out) is what keeps all of us upright and taking nourishment. It's the literary version of "hold my beer & watch this".

I don't do messenger bags, but I love a good chair. I'm not happy AT ALL with the recent TV room refurnishing over which I had but one responsibility. Pay the bill. Perfectly good & comfortable furniture shipped off to friends and replaced by hard & uncomfortable (but eminently stylish, according to every XX chromosome who steps foot in there) crap that will die within 5 years.

Captain Ned wrote:

Bobs_Your_Uncle wrote:

Like I said at the start, I honestly am a fan of good chairs & messenger bags ... the rest of it wound up way over the top (kind of like the way "reality" seems to be turning out ...)

The Imp of the Perverse (I'll let you dig that one out) is what keeps all of us upright and taking nourishment. It's the literary version of "hold my beer & watch this".

I don't do messenger bags, but I love a good chair. I'm not happy AT ALL with the recent TV room refurnishing over which I had but one responsibility. Pay the bill. Perfectly good & comfortable furniture shipped off to friends and replaced by hard & uncomfortable (but eminently stylish, according to every XX chromosome who steps foot in there) crap that will die within 5 years.

Yeah I think that comfort, durability, and price are the three main things to look for when buying new furniture. As far as I'm concerned, I could care less about what my furniture looks like.

I have a fairly cheap, armless office chair at work with light padding. Cost the company about $50 (maybe less). Meanwhile, my coworkers all selected the same executive chair at about $130 each. My chair is much more comfortable. It's the best thing ever as the arms don't get in the way of my arms, and it's super easy to get in and out of.

At home, I have a wooden desk chair that belonged to my great-grandfather. It's even more comfortable than my work chair.

Duct Tape Dude wrote:

Kretschmer wrote:

I just ordered this to replace my grungy 10-year-old chair. Thanks for the tip!

Yay! Hope you like it. This chair is my daily driver and I like it--it's even stood up to moderate cat clawing.
The best part is if it doesn't work out, any Staples accepts online returns.

I finally assembled this a few days ago, and - unfortunately - it kills my back! I'm 6' and both the headrest and back support were placed too low for me. The headrest is disposable, but the lack of back support means I wake up with back pain!

Duct Tape Dude wrote:

Kretschmer wrote:

I just ordered this to replace my grungy 10-year-old chair. Thanks for the tip!

Yay! Hope you like it. This chair is my daily driver and I like it--it's even stood up to moderate cat clawing.
The best part is if it doesn't work out, any Staples accepts online returns.

I finally assembled this a few days ago, and - unfortunately - it kills my back! I'm 6' and both the headrest and back support were placed too low for me. The headrest is disposable, but the lack of back support means I wake up with back pain! I'm now past the official return window and am crossing my fingers.

Kretschmer wrote:

Duct Tape Dude wrote:

Kretschmer wrote:

I just ordered this to replace my grungy 10-year-old chair. Thanks for the tip!

Yay! Hope you like it. This chair is my daily driver and I like it--it's even stood up to moderate cat clawing.
The best part is if it doesn't work out, any Staples accepts online returns.

I finally assembled this a few days ago, and - unfortunately - it kills my back! I'm 6' and both the headrest and back support were placed too low for me. The headrest is disposable, but the lack of back support means I wake up with back pain! I'm now past the official return window and am crossing my fingers.

Oh no! The back support is adjustable up and down, maybe that would help?

Just a heads up, the chair I use is on sale this month at Costco. Nice mesh bottom and back, I've been using mine for 3-4 years now and it's basically in the same condition as it was new. If you're a member it's at least worth checking out, they should have one assembled since it's on sale.

https://www.costco.com/CatalogSearch?keyword=chair0323

I got this chair back in 2015.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00 ... UTF8&psc=1

I love it. Comfy, lots of adjustments, and the mesh makes long gaming sessions during the summer bearable. The only thing I had to do after initial assembly was spray some silicone in the wheels. They were very stiff. Loosened them up with the spray.

Did you use bungee chair

Walk into a Sam's Club and try out the Lazyboy office chair there, it's better than the Staples one already mentioned - and it's *very* comfortable for a range of sizes (..even though it's listed for "Big and Tall"). It's also a very solid design.

https://www.samsclub.com/sams/big-and-t ... 4510224.ip