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What are some good furniture offerings for those of us that sit around all day every day? I'm interested in chairs, desks, etc... Bonus points for posting images.

P.S. Is the GeekDesk really as great as Stack Overflow would have us believe? That's a lot of cheddar for an adjustable table.

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Hum... someone downvoted this question? – Nathan Taylor Sep 17 '10 at 13:16
too small. I need at least twice that much real estate :) – jwenting Mar 31 '11 at 12:29

closed as off topic by ChrisF♦ Nov 28 '11 at 15:42

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7 Answers

up vote 12 down vote

The Aeron chair by Herman Miller. So expensive, but I'm in one now at work and it's awesome.

Aeron Chair pic

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1.144,80 EUR for a chair!?!? – Lorenzo Sep 3 '10 at 16:15
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These guys are serious about their chairs. You can download 3d Studio models of the chairs from their website. – Nathan Taylor Sep 3 '10 at 16:29
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I had a bad bout of RSI once; bad enough that I decided that I would do nearly anything to keep from going through that again. One of the things I did was buy an Aeron chair (before they were cool). Over ten years later, I still use it daily, and I think it's one of the best purchases I've ever made. It wasn't cheap, but it was worth every penny. – Dori Sep 4 '10 at 1:35
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@George: perhaps in the US, but in Italy chairs that complain to our work safety laws costs under 100 €... and the furniture in my office is 10-20 years old (with the exception of the chairs). Please note that I work for the largest Italian industrial group. So such a chair in Italy could be just a status symbol for some high level executive (but usually a leather chair would be preferred). – Lorenzo Sep 4 '10 at 23:37
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Got one - they are excellent. The key point is that it doesn't really matter who makes your chair only that its does enough and @lorenzo complying with safety laws doesn't mean that it necessarily good enough only that it complies with safety laws. – Murph Sep 16 '10 at 7:21
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up vote 8 down vote

The Mirra chair by Herman Miller.
Less expensive than Aeron, looks awesome and is available in a variety of colors to fit any decor.

alt text

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Why do I feel this chair wants to eat me? – yhw42 Sep 3 '10 at 19:44
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@yhw42 ..surely will eat your pocket – systempuntoout Sep 3 '10 at 21:26
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Cheaper than repeated visits to the chiro! Also, I find the Mirra's back just that little bit more comfy than the Aeron's, and the seat's front lip doesn't catch my leg. That the "full house" Mirra has a few more knobs doesn't hurt. – Frank Shearar Sep 14 '10 at 13:32
@Frank: the chair your employer would pay, the chiro visits come out of your pocket... – jwenting Mar 31 '11 at 12:27
@jwenting: At the time my employer was about half a planet away (literally), so the chair came out of my pocket. It was money well spent! – Frank Shearar Mar 31 '11 at 14:37
up vote 7 down vote

Only thing important for my desk is for it to be long enough so that two persons with their laptops can share it - useful for team programming or review.

I do not use chair. I just get one of those Pilates balls. It is great to sit on and it is great thing to throw during breaks. :D

I do have additional plain chair with wheels for guests.

Pilates ball

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do you find that they're high enough? I would have thought it wouldn't have the height for my desk (about 70cm) – Tom Morgan Sep 16 '10 at 8:40
@Tom - You have them in multiple sizes. I took one of 75 cm. That was largest I could find. – Josip Medved Sep 16 '10 at 22:59
up vote 4 down vote

I usually make my own desks.

It's not that hard, it's cheap and you can have it exactly the size you want with the features you want. In my house I made a 4 meters long table (lan parties!) but only 45cm wide. I think that too wide tables are only useful if you still use a CRT monitor. You can also add lot's of power sockets on the top of the table if you wish so.

Basically, all you have to do is buy some of these: alt text

install them on your wall and put a few planks to put on top.

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Do those things have a name? – AttackingHobo Sep 16 '10 at 7:08
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It's called "bracket" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bracket_(architecture) – Cesar Canassa Sep 20 '10 at 18:53
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Whoa. When did they get names? I've been calling them "shelf thingies" all these years!? – the Tin Man Nov 26 '10 at 4:43
up vote 1 down vote

I have no experience with the Geek Desk. However, I can tell you that having the ability to stand up can be quite useful. There are long-neck keyboard trays made especially for this purpose.

(I got tired of fighting with Google to try and find one. I'll have to update later.)

Since the Geek Desk allows easy adjustments and brings the viewing surface with it, I think it would be ideal for this use case. Granted, the price is a turn-off, but it is motorized.

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Motorized so that people who already exert zero physical effort can continue to do so with ease. :p – Nathan Taylor Sep 3 '10 at 19:36
@nathan Yes, my first thought was WTF? I can adjust my desk myself. Then I realized that with a typical desk, I wouldn't dare try that with monitor(s) and what not on the desk. – George Marian Sep 4 '10 at 0:56
@Nathan - erm, no. Motorized so that its trivial to change from sitting to standing and back again to help encourage you so to do regularly. I don't have one (can't get that specific version as I'm not in the US) but my back is busy telling me that I need to get an equivalent in the not too distant future. – Murph Sep 16 '10 at 7:23
@Murph that's fair. I can certainly see it being useful in an IT shop or similar where changing physical orientation is fairly common. – Nathan Taylor Sep 16 '10 at 14:34
When I ran a dev team I endeavoured to split the day up - the admin stuff could definitely have been done at least as well standing up as not. Demos probably better. Yes hacking away at the keyboard probably best done sat - and at that point I know I want the desk/chair to have a fairly specific relationship (I've been doing this for 25+ years, my body lets me know when I'm getting it wrong) - motorized with presets would make the transition a) easy and b) consistent. I will be getting myself a sit-stand desk in the future. – Murph Sep 17 '10 at 6:47
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up vote 1 down vote

I can only speak for myself, but yes, for me, the GeekDesk is great and worth every penny. Have had mine for a couple years now. The main advantage of motorized, though it sounds "lazy," is that you can change positions often and easily, so...well... you DO. I use a few different chairs (all < $275) -- a no-name adjustable office/swivel chair, a bar stool, and a kneeling (aka "balans") chair -- and change up my working position throughout the day. That helps a LOT (back / neck / shoulders, energy level, etc).

I want to get a nicer task chair eventually (preferably with headrest; no idea what brand yet), but I've got NO regrets on having upgraded the desk first. Highly recommended.

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up vote 0 down vote

A desk with a monitor shelf. I'm developing a hunch in my desk now that I don't have one anymore. Constantly looking at your screen on a downward angle kills the neck.

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If you don't want to lose the desk space to the hutch and you have VESA compatible monitors, I highly recommend one of these from Monoprice: monoprice.com/products/… (single), monoprice.com/products/… (double). I have both types set up at home and they are great for height and clearing up desk space. – Todd Williamson Sep 23 '10 at 13:31

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