Anyone have an Herman Miller Aeron Task Chair?

Not directly laser-related but I realized there is such a diverse group of folks on this forum that it’s likely some of you may have experience with the Herman Miller Aeron chairs. I’m in the market for a new chair for my home office/studio. I spend as little as 3 hours and as much as 12 hours a day sitting at a desk between my IT work, my graphic design work, and other desk duties. I have my choice narrowed down to 3 chairs. Two are around $300 and then there’s the Aeron. Is it really 3 times as good as normal office chairs? If it is, I might be able to justify the price. Thanks!

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I have sat in an Aeron for a while and didn’t find it comfortable. The seat isn’t tight enough for me to feel supported. When I was shopping for a new chair for daily use, I decided on this one:


So far the only complaint I have with it is that my jeans catch the corners of the armrests and wear the rubber. Other than that it is one of the most comfortable, supportive, and adjustable chairs I have used.
It also gives a good price/performance compromise.

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Thanks! I’ll take a closer look at that one.

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Yes, I have an Aeron. Worth it if you spend over 3 hours a day sitting in it. Other chairs are just as good (at a lot lower price) if you don’t. (Aeron just had really good marketing.) It has held up extremely well - over ten years now, but it is a monumental dust catcher and hard to clean.

Make sure you actually sit in one to get the right sized aeron for your body frame and go larger rather than smaller, or it will not be comfortable. (Hubs internet ordered one that cut into his thighs a bit - they have a hard plastic rim. He wound up taking it to the office.)

Also…not the best for really tall people…he’s 6’5". Your knees wind up bent at an uncomfortable angle. Most chairs do that to him though, so it’s something he’s used to. You just don’t want to spend that much for a chair that is uncomfortable in any way. KWIM?

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Around here with a lot of 10+ hours working in the chair we’re a big fan of http://www.thehumansolution.com/steelcase-leap-chair-plus.html
fair warning the price my make your eyes bleed.

My best advice is don’t go to an office max, staples etc. Find a place like human solution or a proper office furniture store and go in and sit on a lot of chairs. What works for one person just may not be right for your shape and comfort. Then if you can afford it try to buy from there because they did invest the time in helping you out something you won’t get with a web order.

Of course that’s just half of this household. I’ll pretty much sit, slouch, lay, or drape myself across anything till my body molds into a comfort zone of it when I’m deep in thought or working. Often with paying for it later :slight_smile:

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Thanks for this information! Yes, at that price, it better be just like sitting on a cloud. Thanks for the suggestion of going up a size. Based on their charts, I’m pretty much dead center in the Medium size. I hate chairs that have seats too deep front-to-back so I suspect I’d stick with a medium. I’m currently sitting on what was probably a $200 chair over 15 years ago and it hasn’t been working well for a couple years.

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I had one for five years and loved it. Their guarantee is very good. Durable. and any replacement parts are easy to get. That’s one aspect that the lower priced models don’t have.

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My tush is sitting on a “Steelcase Leap Chair V2”, both at home and at work. You can find one here for $449. --well worth it, IMHO. I’m regularly in one of these for 10+ hours/day.

Good luck in your quest!

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I have one at work, it’s incredibly uncomfortable. I have a cheap leather office chair at home that’s perfect.

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I have one and it’s OK. I bought it used so some of my complaints might be because it got heavy use before I got it and is worn out (I have no idea where it was before I got it). Overall, I’d recommend against buying one, especially considering the retail price. I would say it would be a damn fine chair for… oh… $250 or so, but it’s not so great at the actual price they ask.

Rap music fans might have seen Murs’ recent world record-setting rap session (over 24 hours! (with 5-minute breaks every hour or so)). Murs did a lot of that rapping while sitting in something that looked a lot like an office chair and I’m guessing it was a pretty comfortable one. I’d like to check out that chair when I replace the one I have.

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Back when I worked in an office, I sat in one for a couple years. Great chair, but I’m not going to spend that kind of money for a chair at home. I’ve been working from the home office for over 5 years now, and using this chair from Ikea: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00103102/

I find it just as comfortable, and it’s held up really well over the years.

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Bought an Aeron from sitforless about $1200, had an old computer chair from Office Depot think I paid $80 for it, it was a lot better chair.
Me I would never spend the cash again.

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Depends what you like. As people have said, you want to go sit in a bunch of chairs for a while.

I love my aeron. Comfortable, adjustable, but also durable. I used to go through regular office chairs every 2-3 years (yeah, HR didn’t love that). I’ve been sitting 4-12 hours a day in my aeron for 18 years now, and it’s still doing fine. Had to replace the casters on my spouse’s one this spring. Took a good 20 minutes.

(Of course, it also helps that we got ours on some insane dotcom-overstock deal back then.)

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I have been working from the same Aeron chair every day (give or take a few) since 1998 and I still love it! It is the best chair I have owned. Granted it is also one of the only desk chairs I have owned so not much to compare it too.

One thing I like is that I can get it repaired for a lot less then the cost of any comparably comfortable chair.

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Thanks for all the feedback everyone. I have sat in just about every office chair sold in this area. Unfortunately, I’d have to drive a couple hours to find an Aeron chair to test and even further for some of the other chairs some of you suggested. And I’d have to sit in it for 10 hours a day for a week to know if it is a really good fit.

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I sit in a Leap V2, too. I love how adjustable it is, and so easily, too! :slight_smile: But before buying one I’d have to recommend finding your nearest Steelcase dealer and sitting in all the chairs for at least five minutes each. Not everyone will find the same thing comfortable. (Otherwise we would all just buy a Chair® and this discussion wouldn’t be necessary.)

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Ditto on the Steelcase… we all have one at work. Personally I love it.

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i am perfectly comfortable all day in the office depot chair I purchased for $120 almost 9 years ago.

If i were to spend $1200 on a chair, I would expect it to have steering, brakes, a motor, and do at least 20mph.

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Here’s how I got my chair. There is a local ABB factory. Secretary’s husband worked for them. They would have these sales when they would upgrade equipement, furnishings and fixtures. Said secretary’s husband is a farmer. Half of one of his barns is filled with perfectly fine florescent fixtures all stacked up. I scored a few of them. We refurnished the church offices with cube-farm walls and desks. Very solid and serviceable stuff. One day she dragged home some Aeron chairs for free. They were broken in some way and had to be fixed. Said secretary was an amazing scrounger. Knowing of the excellent warranty/guarantee, she downloaded the parts drawing and list and identified what was missing. She contacted the company and explained how she got the chairs and what parts were missing. I got to do the reassembly after they shipped the parts that were broken. No charge, even though we weren’t original owners. Just had to give the serial numbers. My faith in commerce was greatly restored.

Now if only ABB would put some of their robots on the fire sale list.

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I have one of the Steelcase Leap V2 chairs as well, but I might be one of the few dissenters (even though I continue to use mine). I got one for my home office when I started self-contracting and working from home. At first I found all the adjustments and such to be great, but over the years I found the seat pad to be too thin/firm on my upper legs. In my old workplace I had an older Haworth chair that was decent, and about half the price of the Leap chairs.

Take a look at the Haworth HE (pillow back; $$) or Haworth Zody (mesh back; $$$$) or Haworth Very (mesh, eco recycled; $$$)

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