I seem to be spending more and more time at the desk in front of the computer/laptop and I'm not sitting comfortably. This is home use for a retired man.
Elsewhere I'm being pointed to Herman Miller Aeron eg
Out of stock but if you can find one of these,
I'm sitting on an Ikea Markus chair. £150
One of those things you wouldn't find out without sitting in one for many minutes. Otherwise comfortable enough.
I've had a 'Markus' from Ikea
I think this is the same manufacturer and a similar chair. I'm after a new chair, i'll be having a punt at this.
Ouch, there's you get what you pay for but that seems a bit exccessive. Have look at what the office supplies places have, preferably one with a store (if it's open!) so you can try out what they have. I have a fabric covered chair with arms that came from Staples I think for somewhere between £100 and £200.
Maybe use what people like dentists use -
The first test you should make in any chair that you are considering buying is does the seat base rock *at all* relative to the base unit (legs / pillar). My wife got an office chair from Ikea, ages ago. It had two settings: one allows the base to lean back, acting against a spring, and the other locks it "solid". Except it's not really solid. There is a small amount of movement, which is no bad thing, but it has very hard end-stops, and it's no fun when you hit the end stop. It feels as if there's a metal locking peg inserted through a hole in the seat base and leg/pillar unit, with a little bit of play in it. Over the years, the amount of play has increased, which means that as you lean forwards or backwards slightly, the seat moves and then hits the "brick wall" end-stop which jars the whole body. A bit of rubber padding would have helped so much... My chair, also from Ikea, is slightly lower-spec in terms of the amount of adjustments. Although it too has a bit of play and a hard end-stop, this is cushioned slightly by springiness in the backrest support (and maybe the seat) so the end-stop isn't so severe.
Just read the 1 and 2 star reviews.
One thing to watch even on the most expensive chairs is how the seat is joined to the the raising/lowering mechanism. After looking at the underside of a few chairs you will soon note that the one spot weld or the 4 screws into a thin bit plywood is not something of quality despite what may be a high price. When I was looking around decent seats seemed to be in the £100 to £200 range - NOT £1k+.
Search for "second hand" office chairs. There are quite a few places which sell them, and if there is one near you (and it's open!), it might be worth going there to see what they have and try it out. For example, see here:
This place may help you to refurb your chair:
If you have to ask, you can't afford it.
I think it is if you want the chair to last - and even for retired people that's often a long time these days. IMHO chairs should be looked at like mattresses.
Beyond that I'd only caution about buying a chair that you find comfortable when you sit down. I am sitting now in a HAG Credo chair bought for me at work in 1987 from a firm that fitted chairs to you* after I had back pain from a soft "executive chair". I've never sat down on it and thought "this is comfortable". But I've also never thought it uncomfortable or had problems with back, beck, arms, legs etc
- and at times that was after working absolutely insane hours in it.
In the midst of the dot.com bubble once you had floated your company the first purchase was a wagon load of Herman Miller chairs. They were THE status symbol Your first test of a new office chair is its weight. Good chairs are substantial, but for heavens sake don't buy from a picture. You're going to need to try out any chair before buying it. Herman Millar chairs are made for very high usage. Prior to the pandemic most home office chairs had little use compared to a chair used in an office for 8 hours +per day, 5 days per week Herman Millar chairs can be repaired. In fact servicing can be organised for them. Spare parts are available, unlike the cheap chairs sold by the warehouses where if it breaks throw it away. Unless you are going to have a heavy usage, or even if you are very heavy. for whom bariatric chairs are available, a Herman Millar chair is probably overkill. You get what you pay for. Any good quality chair is going to run £300 upwards. You're paying for good quality components and good quality material. A good one will outlast you.
A few years ago I experienced minor backache, which I assumed was the result of lounging on the sofa. Then one day I realised that I no longer had the backache, but I still lounged on the sofa. The only thing that had changed was that I had got rid of the office chair sold to me by a neighbour, and bought a new one from Office World, as was. Then I remembered that that had been a little uncomfotable when I first got it. Still have it, looking a little worn now. Cost about £250 I think.
Cheers!
That one doesn't look all that comfortable to me for ££££.
Mine cost almost an order of magnitude less (but a long time ago now) and is a classic 5 castor air suspension office chair and fully adjustable design. Arms are polymer rubber over steel. Base and back are foam covered in black cloth.
A chair that you are going to use a lot is worth trying out for comfort before you buy. What fits me perfectly with a long back and legs would be uncomfortable for someone whose feet didn't even touch the ground.
A friend has cheaper one from Ikea which isn't too bad but is falling apart and creaking slightly after less than a decade. Mine has been in daily use now for more than two decades and is still going strong.
I have always preferred to compute from a deep armchair with my feet up on a footstool.
Nope.
have a look at
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