Ask HN: Good Aeron knock-off/alternative?

I've been meaning to make an investment in a low-end Aeron (do they exist?) or an Aeron knock-off. . .I've been through 2 chairs in the past 2 years and it is seriously interfering w/ my work. I'll actually even go to my school's computer lab for extended periods of time if I have a lot of work to do since their chairs are so comfortable to sit in while working.

I know it's not just me and I'm not trying to act as if I'm a special case, but the biggest problem I see w/ office chairs is they don't support a proper posture while sitting at a computer. For instance, I often find myself slouching or trying to reconfigure my arm-chair height so I can jump from the keyboard to the mouse w/o much effort.

Again not to sound like a special case, but I have extremely long legs (high-waist line, like a woman...) and short torso, I don't know if this physical feature is affecting my posture in normal office chairs, but Aeron seems to effect my posture enough that it makes a huge difference.

If you have tried the Aeron and it is working for you then my advice is... buy an Aeron. Why are you trying to save nickels and dimes on a problem that is interfering with your work? You will spend more time searching and auditioning an alternative chair -- which will end up costing plenty, itself -- than the money you save will be worth.

My Aeron is nearly ten years old. A new Aeron costs $850 up front from Amazon; that works out to about $7 a month. It beats pain.

Recently my chair broke (the hydraulic unit sort of exploded). Fortunately Aerons have a twelve year warranty, so in about an hour a tech is scheduled to visit my home office and fix it, for free.

If you really cannot stomach spending money for a new Aeron buy a used Aeron. (But you might want to call and make sure that the sweet, sweet warranty will transfer! ;) Then, if you decide later that another chair is better, you can sell the Aeron used and not lose much money in the bargain.

>I'll actually even go to my school's computer lab for extended periods of time if I have a lot of work to do since their chairs are so comfortable to sit in while working.

So what kind of chairs do they have? School labs aren't known for having Aerons.

Purchased on the 1st of June last year - I'll keep an eye on it in the future, thanks for the warning!

After having issues multiple times with my back as a result of the way I sit (and the amount of time I sit) for work, my opinion is work standing up as much as possible.

That or get one of the exercise balls to sit on when you must sit, it forces correct posture.