Here are some random thoughts on chairs:
- I like a steno/secretary style chair, one without arm rests. I found that the arm rest get in they way of positioning the chair best for writing. And this includes many of the newer short armrest chairs.
- Ideally, you want the chair and table to be adjustable in height. Otherwise you end up with a situation like Elaina where you need something under your feet, as you do not want your feet dangling in the air. I used to use old phone books under my feet :-)
- A gas piston for height adjustment can be critical. The old screw adjustment is OK, adjust once and leave it alone. But screws are impractical, if you have to change heights often like I do; one height for writing, another height for eating. My kitchen table chair is a steno chair, as I write at the kitchen table.
- As for the HM Aeron, they have 3 pan sizes, to accommodate different thigh lengths. For me, with a short thigh, the pan length is critical, too deep and the front of the pan pushes into the back of my calf cutting off blood flow to my feet, and just plain uncomfortable to sit in.
- Adjusting the tilt of the seat pan helps for some people. It simulates sitting on the front edge of the seat, as Elizabeth said. But this adjustment on some chairs is a PiA. My home office chair is an EXPENSIVE ergo chair, but the pan tilt is so difficult to use, that once adjusted I don't change it. And some chairs do not have this adjustment.
- I HIGHLY recommend a chair with at least 5 arms on the pedistal. It is more stable than a 4 arm pedistal. And even many of the lower priced chairs now have 5 arm pedistals.
- Match the casters to your floor; soft surface/carpet = hard caster, hard surface/wood/chair mat = soft rubber caster. Hard floor and hard caster = a chair that moves too easily, and could roll out from under you before you sit, causing you to fall onto the floor and injure yourself (seen that happen once too many times).
- When you go into the store to try a chair, do it at one of their desks. It is quite different to just sit in a chair, vs. sitting in a chair in the position of doing work/writing. The difference in position and posture makes a difference, a chair that feels good to sit in may not feel good to work in. When I sit, I use the backrest; when I am working/writing, I sit upright and forward and do not use the backrest.
- The backrest of some so called ergo chairs can be PAINFUL. It is how the backrest fits to YOUR back. Example, I have a lower bad back, and chairs with a pronounced lumbar curves HURT my back, I need a chair with little to no lumbar curve.
- If you get a chair with armrest, get one that has adjustable height arm rests. If the armrest is the wrong height, it can do more harm then no armrest at all. I have a chair that I had to raise the arm rest with pieces of wood, to get the arm rest to the proper height, for ME.
- Finally, most furniture salesmen and many so called ergo consultants do not know what they are really talking about. They learn one thing from going to a short class, and that is it, and now they are "experts." I've had many of those so called ergro consultants constantly recommending chairs with a pronounced lumbar curve to me, when I know from experience that those chairs end up hurting my back. But no, they insist that I need a chair with a lumbar curve, because that is what they learned.