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Poll: Best Chair For Desktop Coding?

32 points by pdx ↗ HN
I was commenting on my 3 year olds shoulders not being as straight as his sisters and my wife informed me that my own shoulders weren't as straight as they could be. Now I'm constantly trying to make myself sit straight at my desk, and I'm contemplating a move to an exercise ball. I was curious what options the group is using for their coding.

45 comments

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just_testing
I sometimes use an exercise ball, but that's a dangerous thing to use for long periods of time. Your abs will get tired and you will start to stay in worse positions than if you were on a chair.

With time, you're able to stay larger amounts of time, but caution is advised!

humbledrone
My current chair is the Humanscale Freedom:

http://humanscale.com/products/product_detail.cfm?group=Free...

The headrest is essential. The only problem I've had with this chair is that it makes it really easy to sit for a long time. Good for comfort, probably bad for health.

jameskilton
I second this chair. I've never, ever been reminded that I'm sitting in a chair. It's comfortable, forces good posture, and has a fantastic recline system that you have to feel to understand.
ktsmith
This is by far the best chair I've ever owned. After five years of daily, extended, use mine fell apart pretty significantly. I put too much weight on the left arm and it broke completely off, the lift stopped working, the armrests (the vinyl/rubber/whatever material not fabric) cracked and tore like leather where my elbows rested on it the most. Given the $800 I paid for it (ebay, with headrest) I would have liked to have it last longer however I've not hesitated to buy a new one with the fabric armrests which have managed to hold up much better than the other material. As far as the arm breaking... probably my own fault rather than any failing of the chairs design.
kenneth_reitz
Ergoman Mesh chair is a little bit cheaper than an Aeron and at least 3 times as comfortable. Best chair on earth. I'll never sit in anything else again.
sambeau
Quite an unbalanced list in terms of cost:

  Standing                       $0
  Exercise Ball                 $15
  Herman Miller Aeron Chair  $1,150
Osmose
You're forgetting the cost to change your home setup to support standing.

Of course, you can go very cheap and use cardboard boxes to hold up your monitor and keyboard.

GiraffeNecktie
I got my standing desk from Ikea (from the 'As Is" section) for about $100
patricklynch
My standing desk is a set of $60 industrial shelves from CostCo.

If all you care about about is functionality, furniture can be pretty cheap. I'm thinking of the Xooglers video where Google's massive line of desks was a series of doors on top of sawhorses.

pipeline_tux
Mine cost me nothing. I got some wood scraps from a local kitchen factory and built a couple of tables, at the right height, to stand on top of my standard desk.
sambeau
I wasn't forgetting: I was editing for effect :)

Having said that, how much are four bricks?

jquery
Depends on what you want to optimize.

Health? Standing cured all my back problems and helped me lose weight.

Comfort? Nothing beats a couch and some pillows under your back.

I stand as much as I can then retreat to a soft couch when I get tired.

charlesju
What desk do you use?
jquery
A bit late to respond, but.... I have a custom standing desk that whoever outfitted our corporate office made for me (and others in our office who stand). There's no brand markings anywhere, it's just a generic white desk with buttons on the side that raise and lower it several feet.

Before this desk I used some cardboard boxes on top of a regular sitting desk.

zerosanity
While studying drafting in school I became attached to kneeling chairs.
hugh3
Oh man, I'd forgotten about those. They were everywhere in the nineties and I haven't seen one since.
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mtgred
Ikea Markus http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00103102
citricsquid
Ha, I was just about to suggest this! It's the chair I have at the moment (6 months old) and it has "fixed" my back problems (as much as something can fix) that were caused by years of a terrible chair that caused me to lean forward all the time.

The way this chair reclines and fits my back makes it super comfortable and helps my back.

Encosia
I'm using a Herman Miller Embody. I had an Aeron before, and I personally think the Embody is absolutely worth the additional money.
stanley
Seconded. Having owned an Aeron and multiple other high-end chairs, I wholly believe that the Embody is the best option out there. Considering how many hours we spend on average in front of the computer, buying a chair that encourages a proper posture and relieves stress on joints is easily worth the money, imo.
Zev
At work, I'm on an Aeron chair. It's pretty comfortable.

At home, I like a couch. Couches let me spread out and contort myself into weird positions as I feel like it. (As an example, my roommate in college once walked in to find me laying on the ground with my MacBook Pro on my stomach and legs on our couch. I didn't even realize I had gotten into that position until he said something.)

watty
Invested in a Herman Miller Mirra and couldn't be happier.
justinchen
I have a standing desk so I try to stand most of the time, but I also invested in a pretty comfortable padded bar stool with a back as backup.
drewda
After going on workers comp. because of all the wrist problems I was having from years of hunching at a computer, I was given a Steelcase Leap. Now I'm like one of those rockstars who demands only X brand of water in their dressing rooms; just a Leap chair for me. It actually makes me want to sit back and sit up straight. Plus, it may lead to a 17.8% increase in productivity [1]. At least that's what the brochure says ;-)

[1] http://www.oneworkplace.com/images/dynamic/case_studies/leap...

frossie
I don't think any chair will give you great posture, (though the wrong one will definitely make things worse). You need actual exercise for that.

In case you don't have $$$$ to spend on a high end chair, remember that the reason chairs cost a lot of money is partly so that they can be adjustable to fit almost any one. However, the right cheap chair that fits you also works fine. In other words, go into a store with lots and lots of chairs and sit on them. I found a $150 chair that works great for me, but will undoubtedly be wrong for somebody else. Also remember that the chair is only one part of the ergonomic equation.

mike_h
I've owned a few ergo chairs and used each for long periods of time. Here's my take as a 6'2", 185lb male:

- Aeron: be wary of considering this as any ergonomic standard. The mesh is great for air and comfortable on your butt, but the back support is weak and it's not very adjustable. You do need to make sure you get the right size (A, B, C). The PostureFit adapter actually hurt my back when I had it dialed in at all. Sold my Aeron after a month.

- Steelcase Leap: This one is also popular among coders and the first version ("v1" on the net) is actually pretty awesome. I've used it days on end, and realy came to appreciate the reclining support and the many adjustments which help keep things fresh. The v2 isn't as adjustable, and the front of the seat pan dug into my thighs so I sent it back after a few weeks. I've owned two of the v1s for about 6 months and spend 10-60 hours/wk in them.

- Soma Ergo. My top pick of the three. These are so obscure that I don't know if you can even find them outside of the Bay Area; I got lucky and found them back when there was a vendor in Palo Alto (they're made to order in Berkeley, I believe). If you go into a store that sells these, they custom fit each element and you choose from various materials. It comes out to about $1000 for a best-materials seat (this includes some fancy cushion material that is the most forgiving of any I've tred after long long coding sessions). I bought mine in 2006 and it remains my favorite chair. Aeron didn't come close. After sitting on the Leaps, my body always feels relief coming back to this one.

If you're on a budget, the fully-adjustable Patriot that they sell at Office Depot is also pretty good: it's only $200 and I'd take it over an Aeron without hesitation. I used these for about 8 years. Main limitations are that the seat bottom will hurt after long hours and you'll probably want supplemental back support if you're prone to back issues.

sambeau
I tried the exercise ball and, to be blunt, they have a big disadvantage that Aeron chairs don't: Sweaty Crack Syndrome.

Sitting on a rubber ball all day is not good for one's posterior crevices.

hugh3
I sure hope that everyone voting in this poll has extensively tried working on an Ergoman Mesh, a Humanscale Freedom, an Aeron, an exercise ball, nothing, and several other options, or else how are they to know which option is the best?

Me? I have a (goes and looks) Steelcase Rapport. It's definitely better than most of the other (much cheaper) desk chairs I've had over the years, but I can't promise anything about it being the best.

phamilton
That would need to be true if the poll was "Which is best?" but in fact, the poll is "Which are you currently using?"
[dead] lbolognini
Any chair is fine, but make sure you have one of these small balls handy and sit on it often.
mhewett
I've tried many chairs but none of the expensive ones (except for briefly sitting in an Aeron, which I liked). The last chair I bought was a $99 chair from Office Max, similar to this one: http://www.officemax.com/office-furniture/chairs/product-pro...

It is the best chair I've ever used even though it is low-backed and doesn't tilt. It forces me into a good posture and is comfortable for many hours.

stevenj
I just bought Ikea's Verksam Swivel Chair a couple days ago:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S59817085

and so far I'm loving it. Significant improvement in posture. Back (especially lower back) feels great.

What I like about it is that it isn't a deep or wide chair.

While I still take breaks, I wanted a chair that I didn't want to get up out of. One that I could just get lost in sitting for long periods of time.

So far, this one has provided that.

symptic
I bought a Steelcase Think about 3 years ago. It's been amazing up until recently, where I feel I am sitting too long in the day and I feel pressure behind my knees. When I move into a new place in the coming months, I'll be using a standing desk to work.

What concerns me is when I am lounging around with my legs crossed or sitting indian-style, my legs go a little numb. I work out rigorously and play soccer often, so being healthy during long workdays isn't enough; I think standing will help with my legs and help maintain my good posture.

peterarmstrong
I have a Steelcase Leap at work and a Humanscale Freedom at home, and both are far superior to the Aeron for me. (I'm 6'3" and 225 pounds; the Aeron B and C models don't fit right: there should be a cross between a B and C. I had bought an Aeron but I sold it to buy the Humanscale Freedom.)
bigwally
A chair is a chair. Some of the best chairs I have used are the standard plastic resin chairs. Or fail that a crappy wooden dining room chair. The best way is to mix it up so your body doesn't get too used to one position.

One of my favorite chairs is a high wooden stool while working at a bench.

I'm sure if they did a study the best chair for most people it would be the one that had the biggest price sticker on it.

MrFoof
Eames molded armchair.

I've had multiple Aerons (both basic and PostureFit) but at the end of the day I tend to sit on one of my legs, where the Aeron's pellicle seat works to annoy you.

MetallicCloud
I have the habit of sitting on one of my legs too.

I've tried breaking the habit because I assume it's going to ruin my back, but I just can't seem to be comfortable sitting in the 'normal' position for too long.

mike_h
btw, pdx: don't get too neurotic about "making" yourself sit straight. Stick in any one position for too long and you're going to get stiff and cause other problems (the nice thing about finding the right chair is it will keep you in a good position while letting you relax).

frossie is right about exercise too: staying limber and energetic is at least as important as the furniture.