A bit off-topic, but for those thinking about buying this chair - its awesome! I've been using it for the past ~4 years and its still very reliable and comfortable. I was moving to another country few years ago and I couldn't bare to get rid of it like rest of my furniture. I ended up driving 1000km with it in the back of my car. It was a hassle but I don't regret it, my back is very happy :)
I've had one for 5 years, and I'd like to offer a different opinion:
I find the foam seat too soft and that my bony ass ends up supported primarily by whatever the bottom of the seat is made of. This isn't terrible, but it isn't great. I weigh about 80kb/175lbs, for whatever that's worth.
I also find that the curve on the back protrudes too far forward at the lower back. If I spend a couple hours in the chair, my back inevitably ends up sore. This is the major problem I have with the chair.
I will say that the chair is sound without the arm rests, so if you aren't an arm rest person (I'm not) you don't need to attach them.
As with many things in life YMMV. Unfortunately, this is a hard one to try out long enough without buying to know whether or not this chair is comfy for you.
ETA: I'm about 182cm/6'1" if anybody is curious. I'm mostly tall in the legs.
I've had one for 4.5 years, and about 2 months ago this problem got bad enough that it started to really bother me, and I looked into what was actually causing it. Turns out the foam is pretty worn out so sitting for a small amount of time compresses it completely. I bought a new chair (lightly used for cheap on craigslist) and I'm back to comfort. I think the is probably the result of any chair with a foam seat, but at the annual price it's hard to beat this chair for value and comfort.
Interesting. I'm about the same weight but slightly shorter, at 177cm. Thats probably why the back curve fits perfectly for me. No issues with the seat either, I always found it pretty firm.
Interesting, I've had many, many chairs in my career and this one, while being very affordable is at the same time one of the worst ones I've had. There is only one I'd say is worse, Herman Miller's Aeron, because it is extremely expensive so it's quality/ergonomics compared to price is just awful. But IKEA's Markus is the second worst in my opinion. The absolute best chair ever is RH Logic.
I second this. Some scandinavian seating brands are IMHO much better than Herman Miller's offerings, which are always recommended in tech circles.
RH is one example. I'm particularly fond of Opsvik's designs, which are sold by Varier and Håg. I think active seating is the way to go, and both the Gravity Balans and the Capisco are masterpieces of this approach.
I've had this chair for the better half of a decade, and I can attest to its reliability.
I don't like everything about the chair, though. The hand rests prevent you from having the keyboard up close in most settings (if you like that), but the worst thing for me is the slight slack that the base has had from the beginning (the whole chair tilts a bit over the base). It almost made me return the chair in the first place, but as the sample model at the local IKEA had the same feature I accepted this as a necessary evil in the price point.
I probably won't buy another one, though – I much prefer firm chairs.
As a tall guy I've used this chair (and it's wider predecessor) for over a decade now and been really happy with it. I've opted for selling it and rebuying a new one when moving countries so I can't speak for longevity though.
Agreed, I've heard pretty horrible things from people (especially as you can't change the armrests) - but I'm 1,90m and the armrests are the perfect height for me.
I just recently got a new chair, but I can still say only good things about IKEA Markus.
I have a different opinion and can't recommend it for the typical HN user. Like a lot of people here, I am a heavier individual, and the chair is only rated for up to 242.5 lbs. While it may support me, I wouldn't risk a hip injury as a result of a failing frame.
Just to add to this: been using it for 6 years. Also no problems. In fact, my cats have scratched it all up, but it still works. I've removed the arm rests as they did not fit under the desk at the height I wanted the chair at.
