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Office Chair Recommendations?

fischgeek on October 10, 2022

I'm looking to purchase a new office chair. Curious if any of you other work-from-homers have any good recommendations you might want to share.

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Anna Rankin

I swear by the Herman Miller Aeron chair - they're exorbitantly expensive new, but you can get a used one for probably $200-600. I got mine shipped from a second-hand office supply store, cost about $300 and has alleviated so much of my back pain!

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Nick Taylor • Edited

I bought a refurbished Aeron from the classifieds for 300 compared to the couple of thousand new. No regrets, amazing chair.

One additional thing I’d mention is, whatever chair you buy, replace the wheels with rollerblade office chair wheels. You can see the ones I got on my uses page.

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Felipe Gasper

You can’t go wrong with an Aeron. I didn’t try 100s of others, so I’ve no doubt there’s some worthy alternative out there, but Aeron (for me, at least) is the gold standard.

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Mike Talbot ⭐ • Edited

Tried dozens of chairs before buying an Aeron B refurbished. Spent a fortune (and saved a fortune!), but its revolutionary as far as I'm concerned.

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Drew Knab

I bought a Secret Labs chair two years ago, still a big fan of it.

YMMV

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OssiDev • Edited

Got a noblechair myself. I love gaming chairs. Good ones atleast.

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cubiclesocial

I recommend visiting your local Office Depot/OfficeMax. They have an entire section of office chairs that you can sit in to try out. They also tend to have regular sales around this time of year. Trying out 50 different chairs at an Office Depot/OfficeMax will at least give you an idea of what you like and don't like. If you plan on sitting in the same chair for hours and hours on end, it really needs to be comfortable to sit in. There are certain purchases that really should be done in person. Other local area furniture stores will also carry office chairs but probably won't offer as much variety, won't be lined up in neat rows for you to quickly evaluate all of them, and will probably cost more (but probably be of higher quality and last a bit longer).

I prefer something in leather but, for me, any chair I sit in must have a high back for correct head and neck support. If I don't have proper head and neck support, the chair will give me a migraine every single day (been there, done that - migraines are not fun). Faux leather is less expensive but the downside to faux leather is that after a few years, the top layer starts to peel off of the sprayed rubber/glue and cloth layers underneath.

When trying out chairs, be sure you pull out the bar underneath that keeps the chair from leaning back when it is in the locked position. It's perhaps personal preference but I am much more comfortable sitting in a chair that can be casually leaned back a bit. I think the office supply stores push in the lean bars on the cheaper chairs so customers think they are less comfortable than the more expensive chairs, which tend to have the lean bars pulled out.

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fischgeek

Not sure about your Office Depots, but mine here is garbage. Everything is way overpriced and their selection of chairs is very minuscule and really really... abstract? They have but one "normal" office chair. Everything else is like they're trying to sell to kids and not office professionals.

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cubiclesocial

Bummer. Other than this:

google.com/maps/search/fargo+nd+of...

I don't have any other recommendations.

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Ben Halpern

I have a Steelcase Gesture and absolutely love it!

I bought it used with some minor upholstery damage and got if for well under half-price. I don't regret buying used (and there seem to be plenty of good options for the used route). It's a great chair, in great quality.

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fischgeek

Also, do you know if the arms are removable on this chair?

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fischgeek

This one looks really promising. Provided I can find it used as well, because wow $!

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fischgeek profile image
fischgeek • Edited

Thanks for all the suggestions and replies! I bought a chair a while ago and went through the same old song and dance many of you mentioned here.

My current chair looked promising but because of all the "features". But the big problem is the back is wobbly side to side and I had to take off the base and add some lifters to get it higher off the ground. Most office chairs are too short for my desk height/posture.

I have at least 7 tabs open right now with your suggestions so I guess I know what I'm doing this morning. :)

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Kacper Turowski

The one you can afford. Honestly, I paid maybe $50 for my chair and it's not perfect but fitted with mountable lower back rest, it doesn't cause any issues for me. If I had to pick one now, I'd make sure it has netting on the backrest so I don't sweat so much during summer. None of that "pr0gamer" synthetic leather bullpoop.

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Alexander K. J. Schmidt • Edited

HAG Caspisco 8106 - Expensive but worth every penny.

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Michael Tharrington

Awesome! I also got a HAG Capisco, but mine is the Puls so a little bit lower tier. Never-the-less, I dig it!

I bought it off of Fully here. While I'm a big fan and generally think the quality is high, the fabric on my seat is coming apart. Luckily, it's covered under warranty... I contacted Fully, and I should be getting a replacement seat in the near future!

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fischgeek

Wait. Are you sitting in this thing for hours in a day?

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Michael Tharrington

I switch back and forth between sitting and standing, but pretty much! I realize it doesn't have arm rests which def isn't ideal.

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fischgeek

No no. I take the arm rests off my chairs. Encourages bad posture. However, this doesn't look like it has much in the back support area.

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Michael Tharrington

You know, it's actually quite comfortable to me!

I realize that the back of the chair is oddly shaped and doesn't have loads of surface area, but it's way more supportive than it looks. I particularly like the shape of the seat in this regard — because my legs can go back further, it allows me to push my lower back all the way up against the back of the chair.

But, as they say, YMMV!

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Salganaza • Edited

I think you should choose something based on your individual needs. First, the chair should be comfortable, and the backrest and seat set should be convenient. Please pay attention to the shape of the backrest. The backrest, which is as close to the user's back as possible and has the maximum number of contact points, is considered the most ergonomic. Our company buys office chairs on eurekaergonomic.com, and I know they have high-quality products. But you have to choose the chair that will be the most ergonomic for you.

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Josh Corbett

Staples Hyken is both incredibly cheap at $199 and shockingly premium, with comparable comfort to chairs costing 5x as much.

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fischgeek

Curious. At that price, are the joints solid? I mean, with my current chair the back moves side to side and that's what really annoys me right now. I'm hesitant to get another mesh chair that looks so similar to my own.

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Josh Corbett

I don't have a ton of office chair expertise, but it's fairly rigid. You could probably waltz down to a Staples store and try before you buy.

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Logan Harris

"Ergo-Order" is your premier source for ergonomic office furniture and accessories. With a focus on quality and comfort, we offer a range of products including the Ergo Footrest, Pelican Drawer, Anti Fatigue Mat, and Electric Sit-Stand Desk. Elevate your workspace with our innovative solutions designed to enhance your productivity and well-being. Experience the difference with Ergo-Order today.

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Jan Küster

I'm sitting on Ikea Markus and it's totally comfortable. Besides that I have to admit that I only sit half the time, since I switch between sitting and standing every hour.