If you work on a computer for a significant portion of the day, having a good chair is a must. It is best not to sit in a folding chair or anything else which is not designed for office use.
For some general advice on picking out a chair, this brief article offers some tips but most of the points are fairly obvious. Back support is extremely important in a chair where you are going to be sitting for extended periods of time, so be sure to put this high on your list. Additionally, as with anything you purchase, cheap plastic is almost a guarantee that the item will not last over the long haul, so make sure whatever you get is sturdy.
Overall, a good chair is very affordable and well worth the money if you do not have one already, but if you are looking for the high end option then be sure to check out the ‘famous’ Aeron Chair line. I would love to have one of these for home and the office.
Jason Faulkner is the man who brings you our daily tips. He is based in Atlanta, Georgia.
When i worked in IT support. Everyone got a memory foam chair which has to be the best chair ive ever used whilst sitting at a computer for long periods of time. You never get that numb achey feeling at all. Also another good tip, make sure your chair is set high enough so your knees are below the base of the seat and your thighs are angled down slightly = more comfort.
As a Herman Miller employee (the makers of Aeron) and a PCMech reader, I want to thank Jason for writing about this.
It’s true that for many of us who spend so many hours at our machines we tend to not spend much time thinking about our chair.
If you can afford to look at the HMI product lines, or you have access to a used chair, there are a couple I would recommend to anyone who spends more time at their computer than in bed. Check out the HMI chair line here: http://www.hermanmiller.com/CDA/SSA/Product/Thumbnail/0,1593,a10-c440-pc1,00.html
I’ve sat in each of these chairs at some point and chose an Aeron for my desk at work but I have an Equa 2 (at a much lower price) in my home office. For IT people or programmer types, I’d highly recommend either the Embody or the Cella chairs. They do a great job of cradling your back and the seats have a way of massaging your bottom to keep blood flowing.