I badly need a new chair.
I put the thumbnail chair there just for fun. It's called the Vantum and it's ~$700. I don't need a Cadillac chair. A Honda is more than adequate. I just don't know what that'll cost.
- What's the absolute minimum you'd spend to get a Honda chair? $100? $200? More?
- What brands have the best reputations?
- What brands should be avoided?
- What questions am I forgetting to ask?
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The cough backstory
The plain-old desk chair I bought just 14 months ago already has a serious crack. I noticed it today. I don't think it can be repaired. Plus the crack will expand making the chair worthless. It's just a question of how fast. Worst of all - could the chair collapse all-of-the-sudden sending me crashing to the floor?
Before I bought it I avoided the cheapest chairs. I spent a bit more - $80 - in hopes the damn chair would last at least a couple years. So much for that!
Listen I’m not gonna judge you if you buy a $700 chair. But as an alternative to consider I bought this $100 ikea desk chair. Mine is white and they appear to not make the color option anymore which is a shame because I think it’s pretty sharp:
Mine still looks pretty good but seeing some used ones on ebay makes me think they discontinued this color because it gets gross pretty fast. Anyway I’ve had it for at least 5-6 years, maybe more. I use it every day and I work from home. Is it the comfiest chair? Nah, I’m sure some Herman miller $900 shit would be much better. But it keeps me off of the ground.
And for what it’s worth I’m somewhat older (late 30s) with a history of back and neck issues (spent my 20s working in jobs that resulted in moderate and severe back and neck injuries). Also as others have said go sit in it, this is why ikea is nice if you live near one
I eat a lot of curry at my desk, that thing would look like it went through a war.
Who doesn't like an antiqued piece of furniture?
I have this as my work chair and dislike it a lot. It sort of tilts forward so you never actually sit back on it much and my back does not love it, tbf my back is also broken, but still. Would not buy again, the cheap gaming chair I used to sit in was a lot better.
I have a very important question - can you lean back? I assume the answer is a big no. I realized I'm a hardcore leaner and I can't break the habit.
You can. you can also go up and down and push the up down handle in to make the lean stop, standard office chair stuff. I feel like it doesn’t lean as far back as some other office chairs I’ve sat in, maybe
Ah. I figured it was a binary yes/no situation. It's still in the running!
I'll consider it. I like the $100 price point and Amazon and Walmart sell tons of crap and I don't believe the ratings and reviews. The Amazon chair that I have now was ~$80. I just checked and it has 4.3 stars with ~31,000 ratings. That info has gotta be total bullshit.
That sounds great.
For anybody reading this... I spent $15 on a donut-shaped memory foam cushion. For the price - it was one of the best purchases I ever made. I have lower back issues but for anybody it makes a cheap chair much more comfortable. Plus - of course - you can still use it after you toss your chair.