

Ask HN: What's the best developer chair on a bootstrap budget? - Killah911

We&#x27;re spend a ton of time coding.  Our rigs are set up just the way we like it, we have plenty of horsepower on our dev boxes and server, but as far as furniture goes, we just get by.<p>We&#x27;re looking to get some chairs that we could sit in all day and be OK.  Ideally the herman miler aeron would fit the bill, but if we got one for every developer... that&#x27;d be quite a hit.  We&#x27;re looking at second hand aeron chairs which are a bit cheaper, but haven&#x27;t found a bunch of them (6-8 is what we need).  What&#x27;s been your experience?  Any IKEA ones or other less expensive brands worth getting?
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tagabek
I currently use the chair listed below, and they're on sale for $100 each now.
It is a very comfortable chair, and I use it many hours each day. I have never
had any problems with it.

[http://www.staples.com/Staples-Hyken-Technical-Mesh-Task-
Cha...](http://www.staples.com/Staples-Hyken-Technical-Mesh-Task-Chair-
Black/product_990119?cmArea=home_box1)

~~~
Killah911
That chair looks really sweet! Thanks! I'm going to go sit on one shortly
since staples is close by

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jasonkester
I think I'm in the minority, but I prefer to sit in a plain wooden chair, of
the standard-issue kitchen table variety.

It's essentially a hard wood platform, so I sit upright while typing and
seldom find myself slouching backward. That seems to do nice things for my
posture. Nothing ever gets tired/strained/injured, even though I've been
working this way for several years (and I'm 42, so if health problems were to
be had, I'd have them).

Back in my cubicle days, I'd spend my time slouched back in the Aeron, with
terrible posture all day. My butt would get sore because it was being used as
a scootch-guard to keep me from sliding onto the floor. That doesn't happen
anymore.

Around the same time, I started making a point of never reclining my seat on
airplanes. Long flights used to be a giant butt-ache from the 2hr mark onward.
Now, sitting upright like a human being, I'm good to go for 14hrs and beyond.
Even sleeping comfortably with everything balanced on top of my spine.

Sitting up straight. It's the way forward.

~~~
Killah911
That's really interesting... Especially in light of the article on HN which
pointed to sitting slouching back as being the "best" posture to be in (which
is my preferred posture when coding), and having a good chair where the back
tilts might actually help.

I do agree with you about the plane thing. When I'm flying redeye from SF to
FL, I try to either find an empty row and lay down or lean on the window and
sleep. I did sit in a Herman Miller chair before when working for a well
funded tech co. and I used to look forward to sitting on the chair and getting
in the zone. I was OK, even after sitting for a long period on those.

The oddest issue I had then was getting blisters on my back since the chair
wasn't a mesh back (it wasn't an aeron) and tended to heat up from me sitting
in it for a long periods of time. Although, that happened a few 16 hours day
in a row.

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mattwritescode
\+ 1 for the Ikea Markus. Have one at home and in the office. Its well built
and very comfortable with a good back rest even for someone tall.

~~~
mephju
I have this chair as well but I am not enthusiastic about it. It's cheap and
OK but nothing more. The armrests are not adjustable and the headrest is
really a pain.

Do you lower the chair so much that the armrests fit under the table or do you
just not sit that close to the table?

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natdempk
I picked up a refurbished Chadwick chair (designed by Don Chadwick, one of the
designers of the Aeron) from ebay for about $170 on ebay. Its comfortable for
being on the computer for long periods of time and was a great bargain for its
quality.

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YoAdrian
Move everyone to standing desks and cut out the costs of chairs. I'm not
joking. I've been using one for over a year and I can't bear to sit for long
periods of time at work any more.

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734497
>Move everyone to standing desks and cut out the costs of chairs. I'm not
joking. I've been using one for over a year and I can't bear to sit for long
periods of time at work any more.

Standing up for a long time is not good either. The key idea here is change.
Stand up, sit down, move around.

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mapster
I ran out and picked up 4 plastic crates, 1 for each corner if the desk.
Presto - perfect height standing desk. For a chair I use a slightly used bar
chair (the kind you use for kitchen breakfast bars) - but after 1 month I
don't feel the deep thought and focus I would get when plunked in a chair.

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mrexroad
we had shitty chairs for a good 12+ months at the first start up i joined. i
begged for a better chair, but it wasn't a priority for the founders at that
point; 8 months in, i developed a spinal disc herniation from the chair and
desk equipment. my toes were numb for 18 months and i couldn't lift my kids
for the several months it took to recover. i purchased (myself) a herman
miller embody and it was worth every single penny. fwiw: i was in my mid 20's,
maintained an ideal weight, and was pretty active.

re: standing desks -- i can take about a half day of standing, then my knee
and left foot start hurting. everyone has slight differences in their
musculoskeletal systems; don't assume what works for you will work for others.

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734497
Pretty much any chair will get uncomfortable if you sit in it long enough. I
would just get a refurbished herman miller and take a lot of frequent breaks
to stand up.

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danso
My previous office had really nice chairs (don't know if they were
Aeron)...but the chair I bought for my apartment was the $199.00 IKEA Markus

[http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00103102/](http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00103102/)

Pretty decent range of swivel, good wheels...I recommended them to my new
employer, who is on a budget, and we all use them now. Can't complain.

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Killah911
How well do they hold up over time? We got some cheaper Ikea chairs at one
time and they weren't that great after a while.

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thatthatis
Used Herman millers usually run around 3-400 in most major metro areas.

