Computer Chair

[Winnow]

My several year old computer chair base broke awhile back. I researched chairs locally but couldn't find a good chair. I was willing to play 6-700.00 for a computer chair if comfortable. I couldn't find anything worth buying. I want 700.00 of ergonomics, not 700.00 of leather, etc. It looks like I'll have to mail order because the chair I ended up with is complete crap.

Things I liked about my old chair:

-highly adjustable arms, up/down, forward/back, pivot in/out

-high back: high enough to rest the back of my neck on the top to rest sometimes but not ideal

-curved back (kinda formed to hold you in the center, maybe compare it to something like a car seat)

-bad-ass oversized rubberized wheels that you'd expect to see on a top of the line skateboard rather than on the bottom of a chair. Dead silent on hardwood and one push would take me all the way across the room. Seriously, the wheels are just incredible. When I got my new (piece of shit I'm using now) chair, I noticed that most chair wheels connect to the chair the same way. I was able to use my old wheels but the added height to the chair made the chair too high so that the lowest chair setting was still too high.

Things I'd like to improve:

-better lumbar support

-better tilt/rocking ("synchro tilt" mechanism which tils the back without moving the seat for better comfort)

-better head support. I pass out in my chair a lot so wouldn't mind waking up without a sore neck. Also nice to have neck support while leaning back for watching video, etc.

-adjustable seat bottom (move forward or back for comfort)



I've been looking around the net and above is the version 2 of one of the most popular ergo chairs sold. It runs 745.00. The Version 1 is 607.00

Here's a demo video of the V1 chair: 607.00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5lbTpB-ktI

v2 chair, less fancy demo:

http://youtu.be/EMjJ0RVnFzQ?hd=1

Concern in that second video is I hear some squeaking. Don't want squeaking!

The biggest difference is the arms which pivot and adjust up/down but done adjust in/out (width) or back/forward like v2.

You also have the option of fabric or leather for the older version. I'm undecided on mesh/fabric/pleather. There's some color options as well on the older version. In fact, beyond the 5 standard colors, you can choose from about 100 fabric patterns if you give them 5 extra days to customize it.

V1:


Differences between v1 and v2:

-more arm adjustments (forward/back and in/out (width)
-5 tilt lock adjustment settings
-narrower seat. some peeps complain that if you have 35+ inch waste, it too narrow so not good for fatties.
-front of seat a little more tapered for better ergo on legs

It's a tough call. I use a mesh chair at work so I think I can deal with mesh. It's cooler solution as well. (less sweaty ass syndrome)

The differences:



Anyone else have a chair they like?

[Bubba Grizz]

I like my chairs to be On Sale for under $100.

[masteen]

I used to keep my chairs in the ~$100 neighborhood, so I didn't feel bad throwing it away every year.

I bought a Thomasville from Office Depot 4 years ago, it was $150 on sale, and also bought the store warranty. One of the wheels broke off like 3 weeks before the warranty expired (totally my fault, I'd gotten it caught on the edge of my anti-static mat) but they honored the warranty anyway, and gave me a store credit for the FULL PRICE of the chair. So I upgraded to the leather version of the exact same chair. Still going strong as of last night.

It's comfy, but doesn't have all the knobs and levers you're looking for. I don't spend more than 2-3 hours in it anymore. These old bones just can't be stationary for that length of time.

[Winnow]

The biggest problem with the mesh seat and how little fart filtering it provides. When you cut the cheese as you are invariably to do there’s no cushion to absorb it and gradually filter it back into the air. The effect is like dutch ovening yourself every time you pass the gas. I call that a major design flaw. Especially if you had Mexican for lunch

Still researching!

[pyrella]

I bought a Herman Miller Aeron a few weeks ago from amazon for 875$ish - free shipping on a 57lb chair is nice - paid the 4 bucks extra to get there overnight and arrive on a Saturday.

I was tired of buying the same types of 150-250$ chairs from office depot every 2 years. I did look at the ergo humans - but didn't seem enough bang for the buck - also I really wanted the mesh as I've used Aeron's at other companies before. No sweaty back/ass ever is very very nice.

12 Year unconditional warranty, they'll send a dude out to fix your chair. When I got it, I only needed to attach the back and the fancy little lumbar piece which took about 5 minutes. The only negative which really is a positive is it won't let me sit with one foot under the other leg, have to put it on top due to the molded plastic digging in to my ankle...but I shouldn't be sitting like that anyways as it cuts off blood flow. Lots of adjustments, which you will of course only use once - but you really can get that perfect...everything. The style is perhaps dated as it's been a standard for almost 20 years - but at the end of the day, I'm not looking at it, I'm sitting on it for 12+ hours a day.

I'm probably gonna buy a used one off a reputable dealer on Craigslist so I can have one at work as well (any major city has tons of these guys as they'll pick up a few hundred at 2-300 bucks a piece and resell them for 550ish).

Unless you're extremely small/short - get the C size - you don't have to be a fat ass, but if you're over 5'10" or 250lb you'll want the largest one. Pneumatic height being the reason for tall people, and width for fat people. It may not be the best compared to some of the newer/crazier chairs out there, but for under 2500 bucks they've been consistently rated best ergo chairs out there.

Not that I particularly give a shit, but when doing my research between the Aeron and the Ergohuman's, someone pointed out that headrests are NOT ergonomic.

My final reason for deciding to finally do it was I had thrown out my back 3 times this year, and had the weeks and weeks of subtle back pain in between - since I've had this chair my back has had no twinges or anything like that - it may just be that it healed up at the same time - I just know sitting in the old OD chair would get very uncomfortable after a few hours and I'd have to go sit/lay on the couch for a few mins to take a break...from sitting on my ass.

[Winnow]

I spent all day researching chairs.

I think I'm going with that Nightingale CXO:





It runs about 1000.00, maybe less if I can find a deal. Had memory foam seat as opposed to mesh. Reviewers seem to like it saying it's comfy although sweaty ass could be an issue. It has all the adjustments and synchro tilt that the Ergohuman has.

I know headrests aren't ergonomic but I plan to use it while watching movies, etc sometimes so the memory foam headrest is a plus for me.

some others to consider:



This one, with optional headrest and other options is about 900.00



The spine one above is about 1,200.00

The spine thing makes it look like something from the movie Aliens is clinging to your back. Here's a video of the chair:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... BGGCWQbAvY

All I can do is read opinions since I can't try these chairs out. The Nightingale received consistent positive feedback.

The Steelcase Leap chair also received a lot of good feedback:



It supposedly doesn't recline much and is hard to find with headrest.

[Winnow]

I went with the Nightingale CXO with headrest option. All black.

I was able to find it for 848.00 total with free shipping. I also found a place that shipped it via UPS instead of curbside delivery via freight.

It's got all the adjustments I wanted with the least (zero) bad reviews I could find on any chair.

Here's the adjustment manual in flash:

http://www.nightingalechairs.com/cxodem ... /index.swf

Some of the features:

Contoured mesh back comes standard in an attractive black/gray finish providing cool back support

High density, high resiliency Enersorb memory foam contours to fit your body, and it incorporates a “waterfall” design that gently slopes away from the legs, minimizing pressure on the thighs and promoting good posture

Stretch-knit fabric on seat on the CXO 6200D chair and headrest provide better air circulation

Adjustable height and depth lumbar back support with gel pad

CXO 6200D Chair includes the ratchet headrest adjustment filled with Enersorb memory foam for individual comfort.

Note: the headrest can be removed or added to the CXO 6200 at a later date

Easy to use, finger-tip height and width adjustable arms with super soft polyurethane arm pads

Synchronous knee-tilt swivel mechanism with infinite position tilt-lock, pneumatic seat height adjustment and tension control

It also has the fully adjustable arms. Forward/Back, Width, Pivot. Has seat depth slider. I like infinite position tilt so you can decide how far back you want to go if not rocking.

Lumbar support seems to rate the best on this chair as well along with the mosty comfy headrest and seat cushion.

The only thing I couldn't determine was how far back it tilted. Couldn't find a video but in this image it appears to lean back quite far:



Dude seems happy too!



I thought about the various color offerings but the back always stays black and in the end, all black seemed like the best choice although grey would have been ok too.

Mesh back for air flow but I'll deal with the non mesh seat for the Enersorb Foam (memory foam) of the seat, headrest and lumbar)

I spent a fuckton of time researching chairs. This is from a Canadian company. They seem to lounge around a lot so probably want comfy chairs.

In the 1000.00 and under range, it comes down to these chairs:

Raynor Ergohuman Chair (cheapest at 607 or 745 depending on version 1 or 2)
Humanscale Freedom Chair (Al Gore uses this chair!) Not many settings. Stylish with less knobs.
Steelcase Leap Chair ("Liveback Technology" that adjusts as you lean back or something like that)
Herman Miller Aeron Chair (The Classic. A bit dated but solid and proven chair)
Nightingale CXO Chair (The one I went with)

You probably can't go wrong with any of them although each has some things that might make it your preferred chair. It's really hard to research since I can't sit in the chairs.

Nightingale is a focused company. Their website provides a bunch of information about their company, testing, etc.



http://www.nightingalechairs.com/quality.html

I want to know why my order takes 4 weeks before it ships. It looks like they have a ton of chairs!



Here's a five minute video from a news show that demonstrates ergonomics using the CXO chair (lady has a big rack too so it's ok if you have a big rack with this chair)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFJNQzzcrKo

edit:

I also found video showing all the adjustments with a person sitting in the chair:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgRY7Mn7dKE

[Xouqoa]

I'm glad you didn't get the Ergohuman one. I had one of those a few years ago, and they are very poorly made. They are more than happy to send you replacement parts, but I was constantly replacing things on it every 6 months.

I bought a Humanscale Freedom chair (used) and it has been excellent.

I was going to caution you about getting one, but I see it wasn't necessary!

[Winnow]

I bought a Humanscale Freedom chair (used) and it has been excellent.

Ah so you went with the Al Gore chair! Yeah, I was concerned about the squeaks I heard on the Ergohuman demo video. Glad I didnt' get it. Here's the lineup:

Py = Herman Miller Aeron Chair
Xouquo = Humanscale Freedom Chair
Winnow = Nightengale CXO Chair

So now we need someone to get the Steelcase Live chair to round out the top four! Next EQ fanfaire we all bring our chairs so we can test them out!

Raynor Ergohuman Chair (cheapest at 607 or 745 depending on version 1 or 2)

Humanscale Freedom Chair (Al Gore uses this chair!) Not many settings. Stylish with less knobs.

Steelcase Leap Chair ("Liveback Technology" that adjusts as you lean back or something like that)

Herman Miller Aeron Chair (The Classic. A bit dated but solid and proven chair)

Nightingale CXO Chair (The one I went with)

Looking forward to getting my chair but it will be several weeks before that happens. In time for Skyrim and then SWTOR the month after! I will test it with a 16 hour+ gaming session.

[miir]

Got a Herman Miller Aeron at work... I don't really sit in it very often so I don't appreciate it as much as I should.

At home I have an old HM Ergon chair. It's not much to look at but it's pretty damn comfortable. I rarely sit for more than 1-2 hours at a time in it.

[Syenye]

I've been looking for a new chair for a while, and I finally pulled the trigger on an Aeron. I hadn't realized they came in different sizes, so I ordered a small.

[Winnow]

Costco had a HM Taskpointe chair for 299.00 so I sat it in it to try it out.

http://www.costco.com/Browse/ProductSet ... d=11603373

While it's a lower end HM chair, it has the separate seat and back tilt mechanism. After sitting in it, it reconfirmed how much more comfortable chairs are that have back tilt separate from the seat.

If you're not up for spending closer to 1K for a chair, this one is worth checking out but it is missing a lot of features/comfort/adjustments from the higher end chairs. Still, better than the rest of the 1-150.00 chairs you would normally buy at a store. Also, some people have issues with the build quality in the reviews.