
Ask HN: Are Aeron chairs worth it? - michaelfairley
For those of us who spend a huge portion of our waking hours sitting in front of a desk, are Aerons worth the 3x-4x cost compared to an Office Depot/Ikea chair?
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apowell
If you're past the point of wondering how you're going to buy your next meal
and make rent, then yes, it is absolutely worth it.

I use a Steelcase Leap (I tried the Aeron, but prefer the Leap, go sit in a
bunch and see what you like) and it's been worth every penny compared to the
Office Depot chair I has previously. I don't sit in it and think "wow, this is
a comfortable chair" -- that's not the point. It just becomes an extension of
your body and you forget it's there at all. I can sit in it for hours without
becoming tired or uncomfortable.

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apex32
NO, not the Aeron; but others with more adjustment are worth the price.

I do a lot of CAD/CAM work, and have spent significant effort attempting to
optimize a new workstation setup for long hours at the screen. I set the
budget for the first chair setup to over $1000 specifically to be able to
include the Aeron in consideration. I then started seeking chairs that would
sufficiently adjust to fit _MY_ body, and support it in a number of optimal
positions for using the inputs and viewing the screen -- the only criteria
that anyone should ever apply to a chair.

I was astonished when I actually checked out an Aeron in detail, to find that
it is actually very mediocre, and the adjustment controls are basically crap.
Yes, the web back is nice and cool, but even that doesn't actually conform to
the body as well as better designed seats and backs. I guess it would be
mandatory if you had a hot office and no air conditioning.

I would up with a very adjustable Steelcase chair for way less than half of
the price, and I reversed one of the forearm rests (sorry, I forget the model
right now, and I'm typing this at a different office). It works more than
adequately. My next iteration of the setup will involve something fully
recline-able with adjustable support for all 4 limbs -- much like the seating
setup for an open-wheel formula car.

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frossie
They are better than a bad chair, but there are definitely decent chairs for
less. Also, somebody at my shop had an Aeron (after suffering a lot of
ergonomic-induced damage - folks, never work through the pain) and the webbing
actually "wore out" (as in, developed a hole) after only a couple of years. We
did get it replaced without charge after a short argument but when you pay
that kind of money for a chair you don't expect that to happen.

If I were thinking of dropping a grand on a chair, I'd be looking at the
humanscale chairs. Admittedly that is partly because I prefer their
aesthetics.

Anyway in my experience the number one criterion for a hacker chair is
adjustable armrests - adjustable both in height and in width. You can get one
of those for a lot less money. The rest of the notable improvements come from
other ergonomic changes depending on the problem - for example in my case, my
most important mod is to use a very small keyboard in order to minimise the
reach to the mouse.

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trafficlight
I used to have one at my old employer and I did not like it at all. No matter
what I did, I couldn't keep the plastic seat edge from cutting into my leg
just above the knee. I'm 6'2" and one of my coworkers was 6'4" and he had
similar complaints.

Definitely try it out first before you buy one.

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mhd
I think it depends on how you sit and your general health. I've got a pretty
bad back, but I tend to change seating positions a lot. So generally I'm not
that dependent on a chair, unless we're talking about very cheap chairs. I
regularly switched between Teknion Contessas at work (comparable to Aerons)
and an IKEA chair at home, and found no real difference.

But if we're talking about companies, I'd definitely recommend a higher-priced
alternative. While there might be a few people where it wouldn't make a
difference, on average there are a few where it's a matter of severe back pain
or not. And why risk it? (Never mind that depending on laws or union
regulations you'd have problems being an Office Depot cheapskate)

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kylecordes
At the risk of sounding trendy: Mostly stand, then it hardly matters what kind
of chair you have; and (at least in my case) the result is improved
productivity and feeling better. <http://kylecordes.com/2010/standing-desk>

More on-topic: I sat on an Aeron a few jobs ago, and really liked it. I've
compared an Aeron side-by-side with several "clones" and found the real thing
is a lot better. If you are going to sit all day, an Aeron is a good default
choice. As other posted pointed out, over the life of the chair the cost is
really low.

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andymoe
They are nice if you have the extra cash (or want a nice write-off) but I am
not sure a $800-1000k Aeron's marginal utility over a $300-400 chair is really
worth the extra cost.

Also, if you tend not to sit still and must wear dress pants at the office
then expect your belt loops to get worn off. It Used to happen to me all the
time. Thankfully I no longer work somewhere with that kind of dress code. The
downside I guess is I don't have a Aeron chair anymore either.

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fleitz
"So the bottom line is that an Aeron only really costs $500 more over ten
years, or $50 a year. One dollar per week per programmer.

A nice roll of toilet paper runs about a buck. Your programmers are probably
using about one roll a week, each."

[http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/FieldGuidetoDeveloper...](http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/FieldGuidetoDevelopers.html)

~~~
wan23
And the one week where you're $10000 short of making payroll, I'm sure
everyone will appreciate having the nicer chairs. I can't believe so many
people are saying this is a good idea! Yeah they're nice, but I'd wager that
most of the companies HN readers will be starting/working for can't afford it.

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staunch
I'm not sure why but my body can't tell the difference between my $1000 chair
and my $100 chair.

The money isn't the issue to me. Even at $1k that's nothing compared to 5
years of comfort. I just don't notice the damn difference.

[http://www.staples.com/Global-Leather-Executive-Chair-
Black/...](http://www.staples.com/Global-Leather-Executive-Chair-
Black/product_816801)

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dazzla
I highly recommend this chair ($129)
<http://www.officedepot.com/catalog/catalogSku.do?id=0363871>.

I'm not at the point where a $500 chair is not a big deal. I did a lot of
searching before I found this one. Many people reviewed it as being the only
sub $500 chair worth having.

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aaroneous
It's hard to notice any immediate benefit from a few minutes of sitting in an
Aeron-class chair, but I'll tell you that after I got my Embody (upgraded
version of the Aeron) every other chair I sit in feels woefully inadequate.
Knowing what I know now I wish I had made the investment earlier.

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adrianwaj
There's an Aeron-like chair from China that is more comfortable. I use one.
[http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/510830/Realspace-
PRO-Q...](http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/510830/Realspace-PRO-Quantum-
Recycled-Mesh-Mid/)

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martinc
I have an Aeron. I bought it from a now-defunct company for 20% of the
original price. There should be plenty on eBay for less than retail.

