Recommend me an office chair

Botch

Okay, almost 16 months into retirement.  Thanks to COVID, and general laziness, I've spent an inordinate amount of time in front of a computer, and the $99 Office-Max chair I've used for years is showing her budget background.  There are two high-end office equipment stores in SLC that I plan to visit, and I keep seeing ads for the Herman Miller "Aeron" chair, which I realize has been on the market for a long time.  

Any others I should look at?  I'm 6'5", poor posture, and old.  Price (almost) no object.  Thanks!  

Note:  I'm not a gamer, so don't need anything with pedals, wheels, or a fire extinguisher.  

Gulfcoastguy

I have a straight back solid built wood chair, surplus from a church. I got tired of cheap chairs breaking. I wish I could have kept my office chair from work when I retired. I used it for about 25 years and duct tape was holding some of the stuffing together but it was better than the newer replacements available. They probably junked it after I left .

Botch

Gulfcoastguy said:

I have a straight back solid built wood chair, surplus from a church. I got tired of cheap chairs breaking. I wish I could have kept my office chair from work when I retired. I used it for about 25 years and duct tape was holding some of the stuffing together but it was better than the newer replacements available. They probably junked it after I left .

The first chair I had in my music studio, for many years, was a cheep chair that I eventually took the arms off of (easier to practice music keyboards) and I didn't really use the back (was actually working in those days, and much younger).  
I drove Saabs for 33 years, very firm seats, but I could drive 14 hours a day and it wasn't too bad.  Sometimes I think cushion is not necessarily a good thing....

nolaegghead

I have a Herman Miller, got it from a friend after it spent a few weeks under water from Katrina.  Needed some cleaning and fixing of mechanical stuff but it's a great chair, really made to last.  Also, probably the most copied design in office chairs.  They are expensive because they use the best materials.  Comfort is really subjective, but if you like it, it will stay that way and not fall apart, long before you fall apart.  I find it very comfortable.  It's not a "soft" chair.

Regarding comfort vs softness, you can contrast some of the high-end European luxury car seats with the American luxury car seats.  Comfort is subjective, but the European seats (and their subjective idea) is very firm = comfortable.  American's are about floofy seats.  I side with the Europeans on this issue.  Same can be said with beds.  I find soft mattresses to be comfortable in a quick comparison with firm, but not in the morning.

I'm looking at a chair for my office at the shop right now, might buy tomorrow.  It looks more like a gamer chair so you probably wouldn't be interested in it.

JohnInCarolina

Botch I suggest you go to an Office Depot or whatnot and just sit in some of the higher end chairs until you find one that’s comfortable.  

That’s what I did pre-covid.  I really like the chair I found but wouldn’t recommend it to anyone else, because everyone is different when it comes to what’s actually comfortable.  I think the one I bought was maybe $250 or so.  I don’t expect it to last forever but if it breaks down at some point, I’ll just buy another.

fishlessman

should never have looked up those miller chairs.  need something for this dvt blood clot in my leg and those look like they would help. i see some used ones in the 5-600 dollar range

dbCooper

I used a Aeron for about 12 years.  If you do test drives before buying, highly recommend you put them on your list.

Botch

JohnInCarolina said:

Botch I suggest you go to an Office Depot or whatnot and just sit in some of the higher end chairs until you find one that’s comfortable.  

That’s what I did pre-covid.  I really like the chair I found but wouldn’t recommend it to anyone else, because everyone is different when it comes to what’s actually comfortable.  I think the one I bought was maybe $250 or so.  I don’t expect it to last forever but if it breaks down at some point, I’ll just buy another.

That's actually what I did 20+ years ago, resulting in my $99 OfficeMax chair I have now.  The padding in the seat is gone (can't say the same for the "padding" in my ass), and today I hit OfficeMax, Staples, OfficeDepot, a large furniture store and a La-Z-Boy factory outlet, and didn't find a single chair that I liked as much as what I currently have.  Anxious to try out the Aerons at the high-end stores in SLC Monday, Herman Miller currently has a sale on their new Aerons, and I found a place online that sells refurbished for about 1/2 the cost, too.  Another alternative is to reupholster my current chair, but that'll be 'spensive and no guarantee to be "good as new".  
 
I also REALLY like that they come in 3 overall sizes, A B and C (at 6'5", 240 lbs, I believe I'm a C-cup butt).  One of my pipe dreams for retirement was to design/market a kitchen knife line that came in 3 different handle sizes, S, M and Large (and, possibly, left- and right-handed sets).  Cooks Illustrated/ATK often rate the Victorinox knives as their "Best Buy"; they're good knives (What's-her-name had them) but the handles are very puny, I didn't like using them.  The Henckels "4-Star" line fit my hand perfectly, and what I've been using for 30+ years.  But even there, why do they make the handles different sizes???  Your hand doesn't get smaller when you switch from a chef's knife to a paring knife, why does the handle get smaller?!?!?  (my current block set of Henckels have FOUR different handle sizes)  I get that you want weight balance between the handle and the blade, but you can do that without changing the size of the handle (change the material, hollow it out, apply some rule of thermodynamics, etc).  
 
When my line of knives comes out I'll be hailed as a Genius, and become very wealthy.  But I can't start designing them yet because my butt hurts on this stupid cheap office chair.     
 

Botch

fishlessman said:

should never have looked up those miller chairs.  need something for this dvt blood clot in my leg and those look like they would help. i see some used ones in the 5-600 dollar range

I've had two DVTs and two PEs (on Xarelta now permanently), and according to my doc the chair isn't as important as just getting up and walking around every couple hours or so.  I could do that when I was still working (large plant and a boss who has the same issues), but it kinda sucks now in the heat, I don't like walking 6 blocks in the afternoons when the temp is triple digits.    

fishlessman

Botch said:

fishlessman said:

should never have looked up those miller chairs.  need something for this dvt blood clot in my leg and those look like they would help. i see some used ones in the 5-600 dollar range

I've had two DVTs and two PEs (on Xarelta now permanently), and according to my doc the chair isn't as important as just getting up and walking around every couple hours or so.  I could do that when I was still working (large plant and a boss who has the same issues), but it kinda sucks now in the heat, I don't like walking 6 blocks in the afternoons when the temp is triple digits.    

been trying to walk atleast 10 minutes every hour but this mornings commute was raining so hard the 1.75 hour commute turned into 3 hours trapped in the seat. beetch getting out of the truck this morning. my office chair needs an upgrade, way to small and no way to tighten it from leaning back, the foam seat just feels like the hard plastic support. it needs replacement.

nolaegghead

fishlessman said:

Botch said:

fishlessman said:

should never have looked up those miller chairs.  need something for this dvt blood clot in my leg and those look like they would help. i see some used ones in the 5-600 dollar range

I've had two DVTs and two PEs (on Xarelta now permanently), and according to my doc the chair isn't as important as just getting up and walking around every couple hours or so.  I could do that when I was still working (large plant and a boss who has the same issues), but it kinda sucks now in the heat, I don't like walking 6 blocks in the afternoons when the temp is triple digits.    

been trying to walk atleast 10 minutes every hour but this mornings commute was raining so hard the 1.75 hour commute turned into 3 hours trapped in the seat. beetch getting out of the truck this morning. my office chair needs an upgrade, way to small and no way to tighten it from leaning back, the foam seat just feels like the hard plastic support. it needs replacement.

Dad: "What's this credit card charge for $1000 and what's a Herman Miller?"

fishlessman

nolaegghead said:

fishlessman said:

Botch said:

fishlessman said:

should never have looked up those miller chairs.  need something for this dvt blood clot in my leg and those look like they would help. i see some used ones in the 5-600 dollar range

I've had two DVTs and two PEs (on Xarelta now permanently), and according to my doc the chair isn't as important as just getting up and walking around every couple hours or so.  I could do that when I was still working (large plant and a boss who has the same issues), but it kinda sucks now in the heat, I don't like walking 6 blocks in the afternoons when the temp is triple digits.    

been trying to walk atleast 10 minutes every hour but this mornings commute was raining so hard the 1.75 hour commute turned into 3 hours trapped in the seat. beetch getting out of the truck this morning. my office chair needs an upgrade, way to small and no way to tighten it from leaning back, the foam seat just feels like the hard plastic support. it needs replacement.

Dad: "What's this credit card charge for $1000 and what's a Herman Miller?"

i would just fax over a purchase order and pick it up with a check. we dont use nor take credit cards, we did start taking wire transfers though.

nolaegghead

Just got this on sale at Sam's club for $150.

nolaegghead

nowhere near the Herman Miller quality, but not bad for the money.  All the plastic looks to be very substantial.  The vinyl is very soft which probably doesn't bode well for durability.  My only complaint is, although I can't see it, the inside frame of the seat is some wood, that's usually a failure point. 

For my shop office.  Hopefully it will last 10 years.

JohnInCarolina

nolaegghead said:

Just got this on sale at Sam's club for $150.

Botch

Thanks for all the input, guys.  I hit one of the "high-end" stores in SLC Saturday morning, decided on the Aeron, and bought a half-price reconditioned chair here:
https://officechairatwork.com/
Still a lot of money for a damn chair, but...
Shipping label was printed out on Saturday, it still hasn't shipped yet.  Buttheads.  

Botch

When I ordered my refurbished chair they recommended adding "rollerblade" wheels, giving me another 1" or so of height.  The dual, flat wheels on my old chair would "sink" or "dent" into the chair pad I had been using (Office-R-Us special, think its vinyl); I was afraid the thinner, single "rollerblade" wheels would sink even worse.  
 
Because I was looking at different chair sites, Farcebook swept aside all my friends' posts (both of them) and inundated me with office supply ads.  I did notice, glass chair mats!  
 

 
I did some more searching, they were a bit expensive and I needed the type of matt with a "tab" that fits under the desk a bit.  I did find a couple, but... >$450!!!  Then I found some made of a clear, hard plastic.  Much more reasonable ($60), the reviews were good, but couldn't find one with a tab.  I bought one, sized as my old matt, hoping I could cut a tab into it myself.  Success!
 

 
I don't know what kind of plastic it is, but it drilled/jigsawed/filed smooth very easily.  
Because wheels aren't supposed to sink into this matt, I went ahead and bought the "rollerblade" wheels, and they arrived yesterday too.  Installed.
 
Now its working nice!  That extra inch of height put my arms at the perfect height for typing, my feet are flat on the floor with my lower legs perfectly vertical, and the chair rolls around like on a wood floor.  Ima happy.