Investing in a Quality Programming Chair

Arm rests on a chair can be VERY important …
A few years ago, I was submitting an order for some lab equipment, and I was told I had to get a lab stool with arm rests … because the guy that was going to use the chair would sit and ponder a problem … and then forget he was on a stool, lean over to rest on the arm rests, and when he did this on stools with no arm rests, he actually fell off the stool! … The scary part is this is really true!

Bryan
http://investonlineinfo.com/

My first chair out of college in '99 was a office store special that I bought on sale along with one on their 25 off 75 coupons and thought it was a pretty good deal. The chair was never great, but it served it’s purpose… for just over a year when the plastic arms that supported that back finally gave out. By that time the seat was pretty much permanently depressed and the chair had little life left to it anyway.
After that I considered buying an Aeron, but the $600+ price tag was still hard to swallow. I spent some time looking into various chairs online, but finally happened to find a couple of Steelcase Sensor chairs in good condition at a donation/resale shop near me for $20 each. I bought them both and that was it for me looking for new chairs. I’ve gone through a few other chairs since, including a Herman Miller Equa 2 and an overly cushy Knoll, and they’ve all been finds from local thrift stores. I’m currently sitting in my 2005 Steelcase Leap chair that I bought for $25 just this past week. The base has a slight wobble if I sit forward, but I never sit forward. Other than that the chair looks almost brand new.
I just wanted to point out, good chairs aren’t cheap, but that doesn’t mean you still can’t buy them on the cheap, given some time and a little luck. While I’m not suggesting it’s common to find the high end HumanScale or Herman Miller’s, like the Aeron, I do regularly see mid-range quality chair from Steelcase and similar brands when I go looking once or twice a month.

Dan ‘penny-pincher’ M.

PS. Best time to find donated office furniture seems to be around year’s end. A combination of holiday replacements and year-end tax write offs, I imagine.

Oh the chair ! http://www.jeremyhutchings.com/2010/08/cost-of-chair.html

You should check out the Recaro office chair http://www.ergofurniture.com.au/recaro-trend.html it’s basically a motorsport bucket seat converted for office use . . . . should help you code faster!

Seriously though if cost isn’t an issue it’s a pretty cool seat and has more adjustability than you can shake a stick at (watch the video on the product page).

There’s both great and bad information in this thread I feel compelled to comment on. First of all, sitting all day IS not only bad on the back, but downright unhealthy as it does all sorts of bad things to your metabolism, blood sugar rates, circulation, etc. I can quote stats if anyone is interested. Thus I’m with you that programming is hard on the body (not that manual labor isn’t) and a good chair is a necessary investment that could impact whether or not you can work. I know because I’ve spent thousands undoing the damage of sitting in front of a computer all day.

Here’s some basic snippets that are all fact:

  1. There isn’t a perfect chair for all as bodies come in different shapes and sizes.
  2. The best chair fits you and the type of work you do.
  3. Mesh seats are not good if you sit all day as they distribute body weight poorly and yes, they are abrasive to clothing.
  4. Standing part of the day can really help your back, energy level and overall health.
  5. The best chairs are likely not ones you’ve heard of, as the ones designed by ergonomists, and not furniture marketers, have science behind them and don’t invest as heavily in marketing.
  6. Ball chairs are great for exercise or an hour or two but there are a host of reasons why they are not only a poor choice, but in some cases can be dangerous.
  7. A lower end, box office store chair is a poor choice if you value your back and you sit for more than an hour or two a day. You’ll toss it sooner and it may cause damage.

With that said, the manufacturers in your article do make good chairs, but they aren’t the only ones out there and other companies make chairs that fit more people, offer a better range of adjustments to fit bodies and work styles better, and can be quite a bit less expensive.

Some of the brands that are popular with larger corporations include Neutral Posture, Bodybilt (these two are not cheaper than the ones above), Soma Ergonomics and OfficeMaster (great value and scientifically designed for comfort). These may not be a pretty but from what I remember of human anatomy classes, our backsides don’t have eyes. :slight_smile:

I also like the Nightingale CXO Chair which looks like an Aeron but is WAY more comfortable in a number of ways. It’s not cheap but well worth its price and unlike the Aeron, you have the option of a headrest.

I do recommend doing research, but just as Consumer Reports often misses the best choices, so can any author. I also found a site that does free personal recommendations. I’ve had a number of coworkers use them. All got different recommendations and all love the chairs they eventually chose. A few minutes filling out the Chair Selector Questionnaire was worth it to me.

Best of luck to your backs and butts.

It depends though. If you can spend less than 500 that is comfortable to you and has good quality then go ahead. But I prefer to invest more where I know the chair can last for years than having to buy new chair again and again; and eventually experiencing back problems, thus costing me more in the long run for actual purchase of chairs and going for check-ups and consulting with doctors!

From the least though, I’d for either the Aeron Chair, SteelCase Leap chair and the Eurotech’s Ergohuman. I found great reviews on Comfy Office Chair.

@codinghorror Are you still using/recommending Mirra, or someting changed over years?

I still recommend the Mirra, or Mirra 2.0, as my baseline. I have an Embody now, and it’s nice, but not that much better than a Mirra!

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I just stumbled across this today. Damn, reading this really has me convinced that I should probably upgrade my chair. I’ve been using the same crappy $20 taskchair since 2007 and a piece of crap $64 desk. The main problem I get from that chair is that it gives /all/ of my legs paraesthesia. I can’t really justify purchasing a new chair because I’m currently earning mere pennies a day, but maybe I would make more if I had a comfortable chair that makes doing what I do more enjoyable. But, y’know, there’s a thing about a chicken and an egg.

I love this Steelcase Think Chair. Its green color is loveable it matches with my office room paint.It provides supports to our our back.Moreover its design is good. I always use to give preference to my body fitness and relaxation rather than money. I will definitely buy it right now ! and those who want chairs with some reasonable price then you can check http://www.dxracerchairreviews.com/

It’s been almost three years since I first read this blog post and decided to go out and buy a Steelcase Leap chair. It’s also, as I sit here typing this, the only part of my work setup that has survived that three years. I won’t make a personal recommendation for the Leap because honestly you should find the chair that works best for you but if you’ve just read this blog post and are on the fence on if spending that kind of cash on chair is a good idea, it is and you should do it.

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The chair is the most important part without a doubt. I used to use a cheap/old fashioned chair, then I started having this severe pain in my right hand shoulder. At the beginning, I didn’t realize that it was because of the chair, but when I changed it to a more decent one (around $150), shoulder pain went away. I got a very good quality chair without nick support (cheaper this way:)) then I got my self a nick support from Amazon ($16) and installed it and voila!. Of course other equipment are mandatory for programmers, but believe me, it’s all about the good quality chair.

Spending money on a quality chair is worth the price, for me. Because unlike stuff (also important) like monitors, graphic cards or CPUs a good chair will last for a very long time. Perhaps even a life time.

When I started at Bwin in 2004 all developers got Aeron chairs. And when I left the company in 2012, I still had the chair I got back then in 2004.
And as a farewell gift I was given that same chair and I am still using at my desk at home.
So, that chair is already 15 years old and in the same great condition and comforting my butt as good as at the beginning.

I didn’t count how often some other stuff got replaced and how much money those replacements costs comparing to the price of that chair. And yes, it was/is a lot of money for a chair. But really well spent money.

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