Any recommendations for a good cheap brand of office chair that doesn't scream either "I PLAY VIDEO GAMES AT MY COMPUTER" or "I FILL OUT EXCEL SHEETS FOR A LIVING"?

Synthesis: Paradox gaming chair

lol

They actually made one and it's just a regular gaming chair

I enjoy playing vidya, but why does all the stuff have to say shit like "LEGION OF GAMERS"? Ffs it's not an identity, it's barely even qualified as a hobby
- media consumption is my entire identity
- Yeah for real gaming chairs screams "dipshit" to me, plus ugly as fuck

I got a Serta chair that looks like this:

Don't remember what the chair was called, but the same basic shape is used in dozens of Serta chairs. I like it because it's the most comfortable office chair I've ever had.

Cool! How's the back support?
- Surprisingly pretty amazing. I've thought about getting two more and using them as seating in my living room, haha. They're more comfortable than my current seating situation there.
How does that not reek of excel tables smh
- Yeah I'm getting a lot of good chair recommendations with regards to comfort and back support, but what I am searching for is something that also wouldn't look out of place in a cozy living-room type situation. I guess I must have phrased the question wrong.

good

cheap

buddy this is america, here you can't buy literally anything that's good OR cheap, let alone both

Death to America

allow me to blow your mind for a moment
- I am owned
  
  Death to America
I meant good as in "good for the back" or good looking or whatever, not "super fancy high quality". Maybe a type of chair that is mass-produced and thus often easy to thrift

Find a used office supply and get a chair made for filling out excel spreadsheets for a living for like $50. It’ll be way more comfortable and last a lot longer than a cheap brand.

But I don't want to eat dinner in a chair that feels like doing taxes
- Throw a tapestry over it.
- How it looks isn't going to mean a thing to you when it cradles your ass like a cloud.

Always go used. I got 2 herman miller aerons for 300 a piece

Permanently Deleted

I was on the same hunt years ago and I ended up picking a vintage chair that I found locally, it looks a lot like this one.

Wood with wool upholstering, looks nice in my office which is mostly all wood furniture, and one of the comfiest chairs I’ve ever used for how I sit. I tend to sit cross legged in my chairs and since this is a flat cushioned bottom that works well.

It was free even, my one regret is not grabbing both of them

Edit: I looked up a city similar to my own and found a couple like what I have. https://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/fuo/d/glen-ellyn-green-executive-high-back/7788738718.html

THANK YOU! This is the kinda vibe I've been looking for! But whenever I find it, it costs 1000's
I was hoping someone could point me in the direction of a good supplier of this kind of shit. A brand to search for or something.
- I didn’t have any luck with brand new chairs, like you said they’re all $1,000+. Depending on your comfort with used furniture, local vintage might be your best bet. I dry cleaned the wool upholstery and then sanded and re-stained the wood and it looked almost new!

Look at used office stuff. Steelcase Leap chairs are fantastic

But they look like office chairs, which is the whole point of me asking about this
- I have one in an extremely bright/irritating color so I guess it’s never scanned as an “office chair” to me.
  
  I’ve seen so many gray Herman miller chairs that that was what I was trying to avoid with this.
  
  Alternatively: get one of those kneeling chairs from the 90s lol
- You want an office chair that doesn't look like an office chair? That's a hard one...

Aurora 4x: it's a tree for you to carve your own chair

Looks like a very cool game, but I don't see how fun vidya gives me a chair

If you live near a university you can check their surplus store, often they have things beyond just the standard upholstered Steelcase chair, although those are also functional.

Neat! I'll keep my eyes open

If you DO play video games at your computer, or DO fill out excel sheets for a living, an actual office task chair is completely indispensable, and I highly recommend choosing a functional seat over an appealing one.

If not, you'll have better luck searching for "poker chair", for the listed set of requirements. Actually, given the hexbearian nature, "mahjong chair". Can't say if anything isn't shitty, I haven't sat in one, but those are other tasks where someone sits for hours on end. "Sewing chair" applies too, but sewing station height is less likely to match normal desk height, and not many of the non-excel/gamer chairs will be height adjustable (and getting the height wrong will kill your wrists).

I do need an office chair for the reasons you mention, I just want one that isn't designed to fit in exclusively in an office setting, without costing $2000
I don't mind wheels or armguards or pillows, I mind the singular soulless aesthetic they all seem to have - Or if there is any difference it's that it's a gamer (tm) chair. I just want something with good ergonomics that fits in a mixed livingroom/workspace environment.
Other gear, 's buildapcsales has a very active community that rabidly hunts for this stuff.

Do the mouse and monitor need to be non-gamer-y? What are we trying to maximize for? What do you use the computer for the most?
- I¨ll look at the subreddit, thanks for the ceommendation! With the other stuff it's mainly ergonomics, price and transport. I'd like the monitor and mouse to be non-gamer but if that massively influences price, then it don't matter

I'm pretty fond of the Ikea Markus chair.

The only issue really is the arms on the side. If you are someone who leans to one side, or leans on your elbow while sitting, you'll be very uncomfortable. But you could probably just leave the arms off if you wanted. I eventually broke myself of the habit. It leans back pretty far, and as someone kind of tall, it's nice having a very high back.

I would also recommend, regardless of what you get, that you invest in some Roller Blade style replacement caster wheels. They make a huge difference when it comes to how well the chair rolls.

I've tried one of those and I really like them, I just wish they didn't scream "office chair"

The roller blades are a great idea! I could use them to convert other chairs
- Buy it, take the fabric coverings off (I think they just unzip and can be removed, but they are a pain in the ass to do once it's assembled), then bleach and/or tie-dye the fabric. That's all I got!
Yup came to post the markus, most comfortable chair I’ve had and I’ve tried all the fancy herman miller and gamer chairs. It’s especially nice if you’re tall, most chairs require me to slouch a lot for proper head/neck support but this one is perfect for me at 6’2”. I don’t think it looks particularly “office” either, it’s just a very minimalist simple mesh back in muted colors.

I had an opportunity to "borrow" a fancy office chair in 2020 (without record of it) and I regret not snagging it lol. Would have had the "down in the Excel mill" look, but would have been free and more comfy than my current one.

Those excel nerds do not fuck around when it comes to ergonomics.
- Wish they'd stop fucking around when it comes to making a chair that looks normal outside of an office setting though
yeah I've made the same mistake
I just don't want to waste money on an ugly chair, and I really want a nice one since my workspace is also my dining-space and kitchen

Had the same question few months ago. I just had to give up and buy a gaming chair instead

Get an IKEA MARKUS, best decision I ever made. Cheap and my back remains unfucked.

I've tried one of those and I really like them, I just wish they didn't scream "office chair"

piano bench

Back support goes bye bye
- It screams "brooding virtuoso" though

i am personally a fan of the ergochair pro by autonomous. probably the best chair i've ever owned. it is a bit pricey though.

Seems like a great office chair with good back support. Sadly it still seems like an office chair, which is my big hangup.

impossible

I have a Sihoo chair and its brilliant for the price. Its not perfect sometimes the screws losen and need tightening again but otherwise feels like a quality chair for the price. I wouldn't really call it cheap tho but its not a Herman Miller either but anything that isn't a gaming chair is infinitely better. The sihoo chairs come in a few colours mine is orange and actually looks quite nice visually but please for the love of all things in the universe don't get any kind of gamer chair

Keyboard - can't go wrong with keychron tbh

Mouse - i quite like the logitech mx master myself but it ain't cheap, entirely personal preference

Monitor - I'm really liking my gigabyte monitor with built in KVM which is super useful for switching between work laptop and desktop (for playing games during work hours) but in the case of your laptop it means the usb in the monitor is passed through to the usbc cable to the laptop and it also does charging (not very high wattage) so its like a usbc dock. Very very useful for just plug and go with my work laptop

I really like Logitech.

Razer has some good mice, but their software, which has to be running for the mice to not reset to factory default, is the worst, literally the worst software I have ever used. It crashes twice a day at least, without warning. I had to create a shortcut and put it in my taskbar which ended the 14 processes that needed to be ended to fully restart the software, otherwise you couldn't force quit it because the 14 identical looking processes would restart each other as you go down the list, and the software would not work until you ended them all and restarted. Keyboards also rely on the software so anything besides lighting is out of the question because if you change anything else your keyboard will constantly do shit you don't expect because it reverts to default.

Logitech's software isn't fantastic but guess what? You can load the custom sensitivity and lighting profile to the mouse and turn the fucking software off and never have to worry about it ever.

I had a Corsair mouse that I loved but the quality control was dog shit. I returned those mice literally 6 times because the buttons would stop working. One time after returning another broken one, I went straight back to the store because there was a fucking screw rattling around on the inside.

Only issue with Logitech is that they don't make fucking replacement rubber pads, so when they wear through, you gotta get some completely different grip tape solution
- There's a reason the Logitech mice sell so well. My personal annoyance with the g502 is how quickly the rubber wears down on it and becomes gooey and unpleasant.
  
  But the true winner of mice will always be the rat mmo 7. Oh madcatz and ur goofy mice. I did love that stupid thing tho
Thanks for the recommendations, you are very helpful! I'll look at the colour options for the chair

haha i had the same kind of question, unfortunately... those dont really exist, unless youre willing to go the custome made route, which is horribly expensive. I decided to give my ocd a big fuck you and ordered a german office chair, looks dumb, but my back needs it :/ Good luck on finding something to your taste! (and keep us posted on your progress im curious to see what you find)