Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
This forum is in permanent archive mode. Our new active community can be found here.
Aeron Chair
I can't believe that two 20-somethings bought a chair like this for their residence. I guess P.T. Barnum was right. You mean to tell me that you couldn't find a comfortable chair for a fraction of the price? Or are you guys so fragile that you make the "Princess and the Pea" look tame?
For guys who usually have a good attitude about unnecessary consumerism, you fell right into a trap here.
For guys who usually have a good attitude about unnecessary consumerism, you fell right into a trap here.
Comments
At work I also have a sub-standard office chair. It's also a piece of shit. If I sit up, the back of the chair exerts no pressure on my back. As I lean back, the back of the chair leans away from my back. Unless I fully recline the chair, the backrest might as well not even be there. Thus, I end up hooking the arm rest over the top of my desk to lock the chair into a full recline. Oh, and don't get me started about those arm rests, they are entirely useless. I end up putting my arms on my desk.
There is a racket going on where a few companies have designed and patented task chairs that actually do not suck. They are actually extremely comfortable in a variety of positions for a very long period of time. I have a very hard time sleeping while in any position other than prone, but I could probably comfortably sleep in the Freedom chair.
These companies probably make tons of these chairs, so supply is no problem. However, there are very few retail outlets selling these things. Also, because the lifetime warranties are non-transferable, the used chair market is not so hot. Also, as time goes on, demand for these chairs continues to rise. More people are working more jobs where they have to sit at a desk for hours on end. Thus, due to the small number of retail venues, the prices on these chairs is actually going up. The original Aeron chair sold for like, $600-$800. Now it sells for almost $1000.
To summarize. There are very few office chairs that do not suck. Until you sit in these at a computer for 4 hours, you won't really know the difference. There is somewhat of a racket going on that keeps the prices on these chairs ludicrously high. However, the chairs are as high quality as their price demands. The chair I just canned lasted not even a decade. These chairs last forever. The cushions might wear out in 25 years, but they are individually replaceable. For a piece of furniture I use more than any other it's worth it to pay for the best. Every day I delay the purchase means the price will increase and that will be one more day of my life I sit uncomfortably.
Now, "afford" means something very specific to me. It means opportunity cost. If the opportunity cost of something optimal is affordable, I will pay it. In the case of the Aeron chair, the opportunity cost was insignificant.
The new chair solves several problems and inconveniences I've previously had to just deal with. For one, it comfortably allows me to switch between a forward-tilted position (useful for speaking into a microphone), a seated position (typing and computer work), and a reclined position (reading), far better than any other office chair I've ever used.
Second, it's made of a mesh. I tend to get hot and/or sweat when doing the show or playing FPSs (my body temperature rises whenever I'm engaged in anything, even German board games). The mesh is MUCH more comfortable in this situation than any other possible surface. It keeps me cool and allows my posterier to breath. There are indeed other products that have a similar mesh, but these are very poor, and tend to deform rapidly in actual use.
Third, this chair has a stupidly long warranty covering all parts and labour. It's expected to last at minimum 15 years in original working condition. My previous chair, despite being a rather nice $400 one, started to fall apart in five and actually broke at seven. I've now opted for a durable and likely more cost effective (in the long run) solution.
Fourth, the chair is VERY comfortable. Well worth the small opportunity cost.
I'm glad you found a comfortable chair, but you can't tell me that there aren't tons of comfortable chairs for less money.
EDIT: Here are the Top 10 Task Chairs at Staples. I've sat in most of these. They are all shit. Worse than my current crap chair at work.
To be sure, there were a number of much-more-expensive options that weren't as comfortable either.
I love you guys, but hearing you talk like old ladies on this issue is like listening to fingernails on a chalkboard.
At my work we buy several new chairs every year for about $200 a chair. Because Aeron chairs have a lifetime warranty on them you need never buy a chair to replace it. In the end it is better to spend the extra money on a chair that lasts forever than one that will break in a year or two.
We all had Aeron Chairs on one of my stupid document reviews. They were okay, but just okay. No way were they worth more than $300.00 - at least to me.
Did they have the old lumbar support, or the new "PostureFit" thingie? The latter makes a world of difference.
I sort of see Kilarney's point, though; the Aeron chair is essentially, on a comfort scale of 0 - 100 (100 being the highest), a 100. The cost is also exorbitant; my particular chair has the gel armrests and a bunch of other shit, costing somewhere in the neighborhood of $2000. Granted, New York state taxes paid for it, but still, for a guy that sits at his desk for 30 minutes a day TOTAL most days, I don't see how that cost is worth it. The real question is, for the consumer, whether or not 100 comfort is worth an exorbitant price. If you're perfectly fine with 90 comfort, and 90 comfort is 1/4th the price of 100 comfort, do you really need to pay for 100 comfort? How much are you going to be sitting on your ass in a day?
There's no denying that the Aeron is a superior chair; the question is whether or not the diminishing return of the cost is really worth it. If I had a couple of grand spare to just drop on a chair, I'd probably do it; if not, I can live with a good $300 office chair.
EDIT: OK, so it really only cost $1311, according to the Herman Miller pricing guide. Still, that's a hell of an expensive chair.
If you're perfectly fine with 90 comfort, and 90 comfort is 1/4th the price of 100 comfort, do you really need to pay for 100 comfort?Thing is, normal office chairs are more like a 60 or, at best, 70 comfort as far as I would rate them.
Steve: Yeah, I know. That's government for ya.
The real reason we got Aeron chairs is because we needed to have comfortable office chairs that we could get nonupholstered. Fabric-covered chairs + microbiology laboratory = bad.
In any event, I do agree that most office chairs are shit. The real test of a chair, I find, comes with prolonged sitting. Most chairs are fine to sit in for an hour or two. Past that, I can see where you'd get into the more expensive ranges. Of course, I try not to be sitting for that long in a day; it's really really bad for you.
Here's my new chair.
Here's Rym's old chair.
Here's Rym's new chair
And here's a special treat. This is our new vinyl banner. Look for it at a geeky convention near you.
I like enough that I think I will not change it for at least another 5-7 years :P
Also Rym what happened do to the back of your chair?