Humanscale Freedom

[G Lap]

Totally off-topic .

I'm in the process of sourcing a new home office chair and am considering one of these, amongst others.

http://www.humanscale.com/products/product_detail.cfm?group=FreedomTaskChairWithHeadrest

If anyone here owns or uses one I'd be grateful for your opinions, particularly on comfort and ergonomics.....ie does it do what it says on the box?
As I'm considering this type of chair I'm obviously looking at design, but I don't want to totally sacrifice comfort for aesthetics.

 

[Christopher Barrett]

George,

I've sat in those and they're pretty good. I favor a mesh back chair over a fully upholstered because of the airflow (keeping you cooler). I actually shoot a lot of chairs for Herman Miller, Haworth and other leading manufacturers.

I got a couple Teknion Contessa's free after a shoot and those are my favorite. Next up would be the Herman Miller Aeron and Setu, Haworth's Very and Allsteel's #19.

Soooo many options out there it can be rather daunting.

 

[Justin Chin]

Love that chair. It will be my next chair since you can get them used at a good price. I also like the Herman Miller Embody.

 

[G Lap]

Thanks Chris and Justin.

Herman Miller, particularly the Aeron, is definitely the 'go to' option this side of the pond but is priced accordingly, ie very expensive with all the bells and whistles specced. Not that the Freedom or Contessa are cheap either (two free Contessa's Chris, now that's a result ).
I'm trying to avoid black and mesh although I take your point, Chris, about ventilation, an upholstered seat and mesh back could be an option though.

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Embody is my favorite right now. I'm looking for something to replace my 12-year-old Aeron. I looked at the Contessa and I think I would choose it over the Aeron if I were to pick between the two. It's similar, but I find it to be more comfortable and 'dynamic' for lack of a better term. I'm looking for something with a higher back though and better support than an Aeron/Contessa this time around. Over the past year, I have spent so much time sitting here writing code... When I code, I tend to recline back, keyboard in my lap... Unlike when I'm doing graphics, editing, coloring. For those tasks, the Aeron is great as I'm right over the keyboard/mouse and Wacom.

I probably won't get rid of my Aeron -- it needs a new seat as my webbing has stretched enough where it's no longer comfortable. And it still has the ancient-style lumbar "support", the glorified piece of foam that is falling apart. I'll probably upgrade those two pieces as the rest of the chair just keeps on going.

 

[Jake Bastian]

Whichever chair you end up going with you should check out thehumansolution.com - we just bought 7 new office chairs from them and they were great to work with. The chairs we got were the Steelcase Amias but they carry all kinds.

 

[G Lap]

I'm looking for a high-back too Jeff, hence the Freedom, but the Embody is on the list and maybe Ergohuman.

 

[jake blackstone]

I had this chair for over 20 years (I think) and it is as good today as when I bought it. Last year I had contacted them about broken arm and without any hassle I was shipped a free replacement arm the same day. A truly wonderful company with great products...