Recommend me an Office / Computer chair

[MockingJay]

I work from home and spend between 6-8 hours daily at my computer - my business is online based so needs must. I've recently started to suffer from a bit of lower back pain so I'm looking for something comfortable which will help with the pain. I'm up and down quite a bit so I'm not sitting for a solid 6 hours but it's normally an hour or two at a time and it can be quite uncomfortable.

I've looked on Amazon, Argos etc but most chairs don't have many (if any) reviews and I'm not looking for some crazy gaming seat. Budget is >£150 if possible.

Over to you, PH.

[Sixpackpert]

I have one of these, it is a gaming chair but suits me very well in my office. Has adjustable head and back supports.

Great bit of kit.

http://www.gtomegaracing.com/gt-omega-racing-gamin...

[garreth64]

Would be interested in replies to this too.

I work from home one day a week sitting at my dining table, with a bad back and really could do with a more suitable chair.

[EdT]

I've owned 2 Markus from IKEA & v happy. Not massively adjustable if thats important to you, but plenty of lumbar push & suits me well

[Nuclear Biscuit]

I bought a refurbished Herman Miller operator's chair from a second hand office furniture dealer. The best chair I've ever sat in, I can work for hours without any back issues.

[grumbledoak]

I've just bought one of these and am pretty happy with it:
http://www.staples.co.uk/executive-chairs/cbs/2000...

Check for discounts - it was definitely under your budget at the time.

[Beetnik]

I have one of these; it's the DBs, you can sit comfortably in it all day:
http://www.hermanmiller.co.uk/products/seating/per...

but you'll not get much change from a grand.

Having said that why, if you spend a third of your life in it, wouldn't you invest in one?

[mizx]

Beetnik said:

but you'll not get much change from a grand.

Having said that why, if you spend a third of your life in it, wouldn't you invest in one?

This, it's really worth not skimping if you can push to a higher budget. Refurb or 2nd hand market is an option, or one of the cheaper good makes like Ergohuman which start more around the ~£500 mark.

Sitting on a very worn out RH Logic 400 as I type, broken off arm rest covers, hole in seat fabric from transferring (I use a wheelchair), but it still does the job ergonomically . Waiting on the HÅG SoFi I ordered in fact, which should be turning up this week hopefully.

That said many people do just fine with non-ergonomic stuff, but it's not something I would have now I've used expensive chairs.

Edited by mizx on Wednesday 18th January 19:44

[Don]

Steelcase Leap

There is no substitute. Get one refurbished off eBay. I'm sitting on one now and it's really that excellent.

Some owners have them recovered in leather for a bit of luxury but they came with a hardwearing synthetic covering (car seat style).

[Who me ?]

MockingJay said:

I work from home and spend between 6-8 hours daily at my computer - my business is online based so needs must. I've recently started to suffer from a bit of lower back pain so I'm looking for something comfortable which will help with the pain. I'm up and down quite a bit so I'm not sitting for a solid 6 hours but it's normally an hour or two at a time and it can be quite uncomfortable.

I've looked on Amazon, Argos etc but most chairs don't have many (if any) reviews and I'm not looking for some crazy gaming seat. Budget is >£150 if possible.

Over to you, PH.

Midlands- might be worth a look ,as I think they stock from the lowest to ful blown gaming ,and they are in the midlands ---First Ave, Minworth, Sutton Coldfield B76 1BA, UK
https://www.box.co.uk/shop

[MockingJay]

[quote=Who me ?]

Midlands- might be worth a look ,as I think they stock from the lowest to ful blown gaming ,and they are in the midlands ---First Ave, Minworth, Sutton Coldfield B76 1BA, UK
https://www.box.co.uk/shop

[/quote]

Cheers, I had forgotten about those guys - I bought my monitor and GPU from them last year.

[Bodo]

Had it in two different companies. Lumbar support, light, rigid, easy rolling castors for carpet. Mesh rest means better ventilation in summer. Everything can be ordered in adjustable. Ergonomic design to sit on for eight h/day. Priced to equip large offices.

It's for the office worker, what an E-Class Diesel is for a taxi driver.



http://www.sedus.com/en/products/details/open-mind...

[All that jazz]

EdT said:

I've owned 2 Markus from IKEA & v happy. Not massively adjustable if thats important to you, but plenty of lumbar push & suits me well

I've said it before on other threads on this subject and I'll say it again - I strongly suggesting trying one of these before buying. I bought mine on the recommendations on this site and absolutely hated it. It's hard as nails and gives you a numb arse if you're sat on it for more than 30 mins, plus the back rest doesn't tilt in line with the seat base so if you like to sit with the back rest tilted back and your feet on the floor controlling your angle, what ends up happening is your arse falls into the gap that opens up when the back rest tilts back. It's hard to describe but try one and you'll see what I mean. Pretty much every other chair at that price point has the seat base and back rest tilt together as they are connected to each other by the chair arm rests and that is much more conventional and comfortable.

This is where I've had my others from : https://www.officefurnitureonline.co.uk/office-cha...

They come flat packed and you build them yourself. They can be a bit fiddly to put together as sometimes the screw holes are a bit out of line but their prices and range are superb.

I've had the Turin from them which was a very good chair for the money. The piston failed on it after about 4 years though and it would slowly lose "air" while sat on it so you'd be sinking down very slowly. I put up with that for 12 months before buying a new one!

I've now got the Jersey in cream (bottom left in that 3x3 grid at the top). It's superbly comfortable and I've had it about a year now. It's a lot bigger than it looks there as the arm rests are very wide. I definitely fall into the larger frame category and the arm rests are even too far apart for me without leaning to one side in the chair so then the other side doesn't get used. The seat base is also wide and also deep with good padding too, so you can tilt back and not suffer from the front of seat base digging in to the undersides of your legs. If it wasn't for the arm rests being so far apart I'd recommend it and have another, but I like my arm rests and this one annoys me because of it.

In that list if I were choosing again I would go for the Lucca (down the bottom of the page), with second choice either the Gerona, Rimini, Siena or Verona as they've all got nice thick padded arm rests and seat padding. Thick padded arm rests are a 'must have' if you spend hours sat at a desk typing and like to have the chair tilted back a bit as you type.

One thing I will caution is pay attention to the maximum and minimum seat heights in the spec. Some don't come up very high at all, and others have quite a high minimum height which could cause a problem if you sit at a fairly standard height desk.




edit; stupid typos

Edited by All that jazz on Wednesday 18th January 20:10

[K12beano]

Have a look at what's available in Costco?

I got an executive chair from them about two years ago: well made, very comfortable and imho good value.

Some thing like http://m.costco.co.uk//view/p/active-lumbar-manage...

[33q]

grumbledoak said:

I've just bought one of these and am pretty happy with it:
http://www.staples.co.uk/executive-chairs/cbs/2000...

Check for discounts - it was definitely under your budget at the time.

We have two of these in our home office. Both find them really comfortable ....they are well used but show no signs of wear after four years

Agree on the discounts...I think we paid £75 each.....initially they wouldn't budge on price but I piled up about £300 worth and they became fairly generous....or they just didn't fancy putting everything back!

[Bikerjon]

I'd get a secondhand herman miller aeron off ebay. Very popular chair so there's normally quite a few available from office clearances etc. Masses of adjustment. Steelcase also make good stuff and would be my second choice.

[maniac886]

Don said:

Steelcase Leap

There is no substitute. Get one refurbished off eBay. I'm sitting on one now and it's really that excellent.

Some owners have them recovered in leather for a bit of luxury but they came with a hardwearing synthetic covering (car seat style).

I have recently purchased the V2 of the Steelcase Leap and it's fantastic, I used to have the Ikea Markus chair but the Steelcase is in a different league. The OP should be able to get the V1 second hand within his budget.

[Murph7355]

All that jazz said:

EdT said:

I've owned 2 Markus from IKEA & v happy. Not massively adjustable if thats important to you, but plenty of lumbar push & suits me well

I've said it before on other threads on this subject and I'll say it again - I strongly suggesting trying one of these before buying. I bought mine on the recommendations on this site and absolutely hated it. ...

OP - you need to try ANY chair you are considering. I wouldn't bother internet ordering as you'll only have a ballache sending them back.

Now on the Ikea chair, I'm with EdT. I tried a lot of different chairs. From the magazines/online sites I thought two others were the obvious choices, one ANOther Ikea chair. But on trying them I found the Markus great and by far the most comfy. I also have a lot of experience in Herman Miller and other "top end" chairs as used in offices and prefer the Ikea chair (though that's not hard as I always find Herman Millers a pain to adjust properly and have yet to get one properly comfortable despite the daft cost of them).

I'm a larger athlete (6'4", long legged, 16st - though it will take nearly 19st well too...) which may make the Ikea one more comfy for me. But I like it a lot. Well worth a try.

I'd also strongly recommend a proper desk rather than a dining table etc.

[MockingJay]

Murph7355 said:

OP - you need to try ANY chair you are considering. I wouldn't bother internet ordering as you'll only have a ballache sending them back.

Now on the Ikea chair, I'm with EdT. I tried a lot of different chairs. From the magazines/online sites I thought two others were the obvious choices, one ANOther Ikea chair. But on trying them I found the Markus great and by far the most comfy. I also have a lot of experience in Herman Miller and other "top end" chairs as used in offices and prefer the Ikea chair (though that's not hard as I always find Herman Millers a pain to adjust properly and have yet to get one properly comfortable despite the daft cost of them).

I'm a larger athlete (6'4", long legged, 16st - though it will take nearly 19st well too...) which may make the Ikea one more comfy for me. But I like it a lot. Well worth a try.

I'd also strongly recommend a proper desk rather than a dining table etc.

Good point, I'll take a day out and try some chairs

I do have a proper desk, I have a home office it's just the chair was a boggo Makro offer which isn't really very comfortable.

[SlidingSideways]

EdT said:

I've owned 2 Markus from IKEA & v happy. Not massively adjustable if thats important to you, but plenty of lumbar push & suits me well

The Markus is very good for the money. I had one of their cheaper chairs initially and it was pants in comparison.

One general bit of advice - If you're at home full time and don't have aircon, avoid leather/faux/vinyl as they'll be really unpleasant during the summer months.