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I've had this chair for 5 years now and would buy another one in a New York Minute. http://www.humanscale.com/products/seating.cfm
I used to suffer terrible back problems while sitting in the cheapo office chairs at work and finally went shopping for my own.
This beat out the Aeron because the Aeron is not nearly as adjustable. The Freedom requires no fiddling with levers, etc. as its fully cantilevered: It adjusts based on your own body weight and position. One of the best features is that the armrest height can be adjusted instantly, so, for coding, if you feel like sucking right up under the desk, you can. Push back and grab the armrests back up, instantly. They just stay there.
You stay comfortable because the chair is always adjusted to how you feel like sitting at the time instead of some engineers idea of the Perfect Sitting Posture (TM).
10 out of 10 in my mind. But buy from an office furniture store and pay ~$700. Buy at some online places which claim to be 'for less' and it can by $999!! Buyer beware.

I recommend the Humanscale Freedom Chair with Headrest. I ahve used one for eight years following back surgery, and I love it. I prefer it to the Aeron. It comes in lots of color/fabric choices and is virtually indestructible. The only drawback is price. List is about $1,000, but you can find it for $150-200 less on the net. It also looks cool.

I agree, having someone (an ergonomics consultant) in to evaluate the ergonomic setup, symptoms and work habits of the person is much better than just throwing cool products at the problem. Having said that, and assuming that any postural, behavioral or other medical issues have been sorted out, there is room for ergonomic products. For a mouse that keeps you from gripping the sides of the mouse, check out the Whale Mouse from HumanScale. http://www.humanscale.com/products/whale_mouse.cfm Other things to try: switch mouse hands, use the elbow to move the mouse arm, not just the hand. Move the mouse closer by switching the 10-key pad to the other side (Evoluent Mouse-Friendly keyboard might work) or get rid of the 10-key but keep a fullsize keyboard (I use a Goldtouch adjustable keyboard.) Change position, take breaks, stretch frequently. But again, encourage the company to bring in a specialist before spending lots of money on products.

Maybe it's because my behind lacks the padding the average programmer has, but I really really like my Humanscale Freedom chair. I can sit in this thing for a LOT longer than I can with a cheap chair before getting uncomfortable. If you don't have such problems then you probably won't want to spend the $1K but if you do it's a godsend. (Yes, I know, get up, walk around, but...) I like it much better than the Aeron (I think I'm too skinny for those).

The rest of my furniture is cheap stuff though. A couple of folding tables work well.

I never got into the multiple monitors thing either but I really like my new Samsung 204T 20" LCD. (They were on sale, couldn't resist.) They're not that expensive, about half what the 19" LCD it replaced originally cost me, and 1600x1200 gives you almost 50% more pixels to work with than 1280x1024. Check 'em out.

Air quality is the other big thing with me. I recently figured out that paint fumes do very bad things to my head, and energy-efficient new construction seals buildings so tight that the interior doesn't "breathe" all that well. (I live on the top floor and they repaint the common hallway every other year, and the fumes have nowhere to go but the upstairs apartments, slowly, and I was told by my allergist to keep my windows closed because that's what you're supposed to do to keep out the pollen and mold that I thought was messing with my head... but now that I'm almost done with immunotherapy open windows help a LOT more than they hurt.) Do yourself a favor and buy Low or No VOC (Volitile Organic Compounds) paint the next time you do indoor painting. Make sure the powers-that-be at work know to do this too. It's a cheap way to make a BIG difference in indoor air quality. I bet that much of the "Sick Building Syndrome" thing is caused by this.

Sit in a Herman Miller, then go buy a Humanscale Freedom Chair http://www.humanscale.com/ Wired did a review of chairs and the Freedom chair came out on top. I have an Aeron at work, and a Freedom chair in the home office and would choose the Freedom chair hands err...ass down!

,dave

The best chair I've ever sat on for extended coding sessions is the "Freedom Task Chair". It costs an ass-load of money ... more than any chair should ... but I've never lusted after a piece of furniture like I have with this. I used the one with the headrest at my last consulting gig, and I've been seriously considering replacing the piece of crap I sit on at home with one of those beauties. Perfect back support. Perfect padding. Everything about that thing is the best.

Smokin Goat McGruff wrote: Yeah, don't get Aerons, get Leaps.

Nah, get Freedom chairs. They are wonderful!

I was developing numbness in my mousing hand at work, was sent to workers comp, and found out I had tendinitis (lucky it was only that). A few things I found out:

1) The computer screen should be directly in front of you, at eye level. Should be obvious, but quite a few people don't do it. If you are one of the dual-screen types (I expect there are a lot in the /. crowd), your primary one should be directly in front of you. Look on the back of your LCD screen if you have one - you will see a mounting area with 4 screws. These are all the same, and you can buy a monitor arm for them.

2) Your knees should be at a 90 degree angle. This might mean a new chair.

3) Your forearms should be parallel to the ground when typing on the keyboard. This might mean a keyboard tray, which is a wise investment.

4) Your forearms should also be parallel to the ground when using the mouse. No putting it on the top of the desk.

5) If you read from documents while you are working, you should seriously consider a copy holder that puts it near eye level (many monitor stands have this feature, or you can get a model that puts the document next to the monitor).

6) Look for ergonomic equipment. For mice, I use a Humanscale mouse, which forces my wrist to be straight when I use it. Trackballs are good for people as well. The split keyboards are very useful for some. You can actually get mice you can operate with your feet as well.

7) Learn to use the mouse with your opposite hand, and trade off.

8) Learn keyboard shortcuts.

I'm not a doctor, don't take this as medical advice, blah blah blah.

I would have to agree with you. After having used the Aeron for well over a year I didn't really think it was anything special. I do however love the Human Scale Freedom chair I've been using for the last two years. Other than needing to replace the vinyl arm rests for some cloth ones it has remained in excellent condition and is the most comfortable chair I've ever used.

my model

Get him a nice ultra-expensive chair and sit in it when he's OOO.

I'll stick with my Humanscale Freedom chair paired with two cheapo folding tables. I have an Aeron chair too (one chair for home, one for work, until I got downsized at least) but I like the Freedom chair better. I suspect Aerons work better for heavyset people rather than skinny folks like me.

Wired has an interesting superchair article that led me to the Freedom chair.

Gotta wonder what the Humanscale folks think about PCE calling their chair "Freedom" as well. Methinks somebody didn't do the obligatory Google search.

Our bodies definitely weren't designed to sit for 8 hours. But perhaps more importantly, they weren't designed to sit still for 8 hours (that's just awful for circulation). That's the design philosophy behind Humanscale's Freedom Chair. It encourages you to move around and change your position. I've had this chair for a year now, and I'm very sad when I have to sit in anything else.

I tried the Aeron, but didn't really like it. Yes, the mesh was nice in terms of support and ventilation, but it took endless tweaking to adjust, and I never could quite get it to fit me properly. (On second thought, the endless tweaking just might endear it to most /. readers...)

I also tried out the Leap (by Steelcase). The flexible back was interesting, but still too hard to adjust.

In contrast, the Freedom is incredibly simple. There are three settings to make it fit your size: seat height, seat depth, and back height. These controls are intuitively placed and easy to reach without looking while seated.

The only other two adjustable bits (back tilt and armrest height) don't have 'controls' per se. They just move with you. Push back a little bit, and the seat back tilts back until you stop pushing. When you stop pushing, it supports you. It's really uncanny. (They did some very clever counterweight thing so that this provides the proper support and control regardless of your weight.) The left and right armrests always adjust to the same height, no thought or effort required. You just pull either armrest (or both) up or down, they both move, and then they stay in position. (They also drop lower than your lap, if you want to get rid of them effectively.)

The ease of adjustability is what makes this chair encourage you to move. You don't have to think at all to change your sitting position. You just move.

I have no affiliation with Humanscale other than being very happy with my chair.

As for neck support, my old chair was an Obus Forme like the one on this page - in my opinion, the Aeron is not even remotely in the same league as this chair. My new chair (post-Aeron) is a Humanscale Freedom, and the way its headrest works (coming forward to actually support your head) provides good head and neck support.

Basically, I get the impression that the Aeron is a low-end chair masquerading as a high end chair, but I got suckered by the hype and actually bought one. My bad.

As for sitting cross-legged, it's just one of the most natural and comfortable positions for me. I'm slim and flexible, and in fact I think it's because my legs are long that it works well.

This is the best and most expensive ergonomic chair you can buy, period.

I've been searching for mouse alternatives today, due to a bout of carpal tunnel syndrome. 3m offers a money back gtd. so I will try them first and if that doesnt work, I plan on giving the whale mouse a try.

http://www.humanscale.com/products/keyboard_suppor ts/keyboard_platforms_index.html

I think they are about $150. They have different models for different situations: corner desk, handedness, etc.

Ergo fanatics should check out the chair designed by HumanScale. Not that I can afford the thing, but it seems pretty cool: It automatically adjusts to find you an optimal posture, but it does so with electronics or sensors. It does so with cantilevers, balances, and sliders that adjust to your own movement. Sometimes the most elegant solution has nothing to do with computers ...

The URL is http://www.humanscale.com/home.html . I recently visited the Boston office to try out the chair, and loved it; I ordered one for my house and got my employer to order one for work as well. A few interesting bits of information:

It's actually cheaper to order directly from Humanscale then from a reseler. The standard discount is like 30%.

The chair without the headrest but with the gel is about $750; with the headrest, it's about $950.