[WEB4LIB] Re: ergonomic desk chair?

[Mary-Ellen Mort]

Jim Barrentine wrote:

> Well, if your budget will go to about $1,000 the top of the line is
> probably the Herman Miller Aeron.
>
> See http://www.hermanmiller.com/CDA/product/0,1469,c225-pss4-p8,00.html

I have spent the last five years sitting at the computer trying to avoid
injuries. A  year and a half ago I decided I DESERVED an Aeron chair (based
mostly on the buzz as opposed to personal sitting experience.)  By calling
around local (San Francisco) office furniture resale stores, I found a few
who would take my name & call me when they got a used Aeron. I got one for
$600 in good condition after only a wait of a week or two.

Report after 547.5 days of sitting in it:  It's a good chair but not the
miracle I had hoped for at that price. I think to get the benefit of the
chair's support you have to sit up rather straight.  Plus the chair is
designed so that you can't shift into odd positions easily--one leg under
you or sitting forward.  Perhaps this is all to the good as I expect those
odd positions aren't good postures anyway...  But I had HOPED the chair
would be doing most of the work in keeping me straight and comfortable.  I
know that's unreasonable but at a list price of $1,000 I thought it might
be true.

The support  mesh that makes up the chair is one of the selling
points...what makes it different from other chairs. I find this mesh very
good on the back, cool and comfortable in our low electricity use/warm
temperatures.  But the seat is less comfortable for me after a few hours
(and 547.5 days)--it seems unduly hard.  So now I am using a cushion on the
seat of my Aeron.

But the chair LOOKS very impressive...and at $600 is comparable to computer
chairs I have purchased in the past. At $1,000 I'd have been very
disappointed.

Mary-Ellen Mort
JobStar Director
http:///jobstar.org