Good Desk Chair under $200

Acert93

Artist formerly known as Acert93
Legend
I am bed/desk/house bound for another 10 weeks and I have realized something: my $50 desk chair I bought 5 years ago is not only in bad shape it is not very comfy compared to my work chair. So I need a new chair.

I like the fact my work chair can not just raise/lower but the back tilts forward/back, the seat angle tilts up/down, the seat plate can be shifted forward and back and the back can be raised and lowered (which seems to help getting it into the right space on the back). This is the first chair I ever had that could do all these and it has allowed me to get a nice ergonomic position at work and all my back issues went away. Now that I am back home for a bit those issues are popping up.

But I suck at shopping for chairs. I went to Office Max and while I found a Serta Manager Chair but it felt cheaply made and I thought it may not be too comfy for more than a meager sitting, especially considering it was $160 before tax. I really don't want to spend that much on garbage, although it did seem to have solid adjustment options.

After a couple trips to Office Max and Costco I did some poking around at Amazon.com and found a Lorell that sounds pretty solid at $167.

Does anyone have other recommendations, possibly with good built quality at a lower price point? I know you often get what you pay for and after browsing chairs it seems a really solid chair does not come cheap.

Ps The chair would be used at a desk with a KB tray. I usually sit with my feet on the floor but I sometimes kick back in the chair (but not lean) and fold up a foot and recline in the chair upright but my real main concern is something comfortable to sit in in a good position... but doesn't force me into a stick up the rear/falling forward position.
 
Well whatever you do, don't buy a chair at IKEA. :p I've done that three times in a row now, each time spending more in an effort to get a good product and not really succeeding. My current chair has an issue with the gas cylinder where it sometimes starts loosing pressure if I sit straight in it, without leaning on either armrest or the back rest.

My previous IKEA chairs all started wobbling from side to side when shifting, making loud creaking noises in the process. The fabric also wore quite significantly, rubbing off entirely at spots under my thighs in a few years' time. This current chair has a leather cover so at least that won't happen...

Next chair I buy shall have a joint at the middle of the back rest, just being able to set the angle isn't enough to get a fully ergonomic experience. I've not had a chair with a suchly jointed back rest in many years now and I miss it a lot.
 
Let me know what you end up getting Acert93. I may be looking for another one soon. I'm going to stop buying leather office chairs. I swear the quality on all of them suck donkey balls. The last two I've had the leather surface has worn through in less than roughly 1-2 years of use. Shameful that a 99 USD faux leather (plastic leatherlike covering) chair lasted almost 10 years before falling apart (but never wore through to the underlying padding) while my last 2 real leather chairs costing 200-300 USD haven't managed to last more than 2 years.

Regards,
SB
 
Get well soon.

Thanks Mize. 5 days after surgery I was doing *awesome* but at about the 8th day I think I inadvertently overdid it and ended up with a 4 day headache that was worse than the one post-op -- every heartbeat was like a hammer in my head for most of it. The last 3 days or so though I have been doing a lot better and today I almost feel normal :) A little fatigue and the kids running around makes me retreat to the quiet bedroom but I am doing really, really good (the headache only broke through for a couple minutes all day and I am only on 500mg Tylenol every 6 hrs and will be off it completely by Friday) and I am finally mentally prepared for the next step. Thanks for all the thoughts and well wishes :)
 
I have that Serta Manager chair, and I do not recommend if it is going to be used a lot. The cushion does not hold up that well.
 
Thanks Sham for the feedback. I tried a chair at Costco the other day that was pretty solid (mesh back, thick solid seat pad, quality construction, no seat title but it did have a a back title, tension knob, elevator, etc). I am going to hit a Business Costco in the next couple days to test out one of these or these before I make a decision. The Amazon chair above, a Lorrel 86000, has some really great reviews / more user insight and is slightly more affordable. But if anyone has a better recommendation I will be checking this thread :p
 
I ended up picking up a chair at the local Business Costco. I got the Pro-Line II Mesh Desk Chair. Costco.com has it for $180; it was $150 in-store and had a $15 instant rebate bringing it down to $135. I think the Lorrel 86000 may be slightly better but it is not sold directly through Amazon. The $30 difference and the Costco warranty was enough to sway me that a comfy chair tested in person was a better gamble than hoping for something slightly better online.

The good: It is of course a swivel mesh desk chair on a 5 star roller base. It has an elevator (up/down), back tilt (forward/back), seat tilt (forward/back), a tension knob, a back height adjuster (up/down), and a seat slide (forward/back) so it pretty much has all the major adjustments. I am short (5'8") with even shorter legs; the elevator all the way down is just low enough (the other chairs went down another inch which felt better) and the seat forward/back slide could ideally go back another inch (ideally). The seat cushion is very plush which may be why it feels slightly higher and forward. The material feels fairly dense for how gushy it is and has a lot of spring back to it. The back mesh has slightly more give than I wanted although with how the cross bars how they are behind the mesh I can forsee how easy it would be to slip a rolled up towel to give a little extra lumbar support; the construction is heavier plastic for the back frame and the base is the heavy duty standard base plastic with metal. The adjustment box is mostly metal with very functional handles.

I will assemble mine soon and leave more feedback down the line. I have been to the normal Costco, Staples, and Office Max quite a few times the last year looking at chairs. This is the best chair I have seen under $150... but the real test is how it will be in 6-12 months. Not all chairs wear nicely but this one seems more solid than my current chairs.
 
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