Yeap… I said it! Most gaming chairs out there (you know… the ones that look like racing cars' seats) are just bad! Why would anyone think that a race car inspired seat would be a good fit for a home-office or gaming station is beyond me!
Racing cars have seats shaped like a bucket for a reason: they’re supposed to keep your body firmly in place against gravity forces when making curves that would, otherwise, throw you around inside the car like a poorly packed used eBay purchase inside a shipping box! But who’s under that kind of G-force in their home-offices???
Exactly… No one (not until someone invents a virtual reality racing kit that can emulate gravity!).
So why submit your back (and your bottom) to those hot, poorly cushioned and bucket shaped chairs, when what you really need in a home-office is a chair with a mesh back and head-rest that keeps you cool and dry while you work and play?
And then there is the cost… Despite the lack of comfort, these gaming chairs sell for VERY high prices! Now, I get it… The “racing car seat look” was a novelty for a while and we all know a lot of people go for the “cool-and-aggressive-looks” factor, instead of thinking about comfort and ergonomics. Add to that the fact that every e-Sports competition in the world has those seats (provided by smart gaming chair sponsors) and then you have a fantastic formula to sell overpriced uncomfortable chairs to unsuspected gamers. And that explains why every furniture manufacturer in the world jumped into the gaming chair bandwagon…
But not me! Ever since I used the first mesh fabric office chair (years ago) I never looked back! The problem was that, when HermanMiller first came out with that idea, chairs with that feature would easy cost upwards of 4 figures! Which is simply not reasonable for a home-office setup, of course. But that was then. Today, there are plenty of good options with meshed back rests for less than $200 on Amazon and any local office supply store.
As I was finishing setting up a second home-office area in my house (this time in the bedroom, so Mrs. I/O could also get her desktop area with proper ergonomics instead of curving her back in bed over a tiny laptop screen), Vincent Kerdom offered me the chance to try their competitively priced $190 Ergonomic Chair. And this is exactly what I’m talking about here: a reasonably priced home-office chair that is well designed, adjustable, comfortable and has cool mesh fabric for the back and head rests.
Now, most sub $200 office chairs usually come with the same boring black or grey color schemes, but I was surprised to find out they had a white & black version that, honestly, looks way cooler than any gaming chair I have ever seen so far!
I was able to put it together alone (although having a small coffee table where you can lay the chair over will be very helpful!) in just a few minutes and the end result was incredible! I know sub $200 office chairs are well into “budget” office furniture territory, but here I got the basic adjustments well covered: gas operated height adjustment, 30 degrees inclination (and “rocking”), head rest height, lumbar support, AND, one of the most interesting ones to me, the ability to retract the arm-rests (for when you want to sit crossing your legs for example).
Besides the mesh fabric in the back and head rest, it comes with buttery smooth casters, that won’t damage laminated floors, and high-density foam with breathable fabric, that supports my weight while also keeping me cool. Overall, a fantastic budget chair for my new secondary home-office!
And to top it all off, the nice folks at Vincent Kerdom are offering a Father's Day special deal: if you order this chair and use the Amazon Coupon Code “202QFACI” until June 19th 2022, you can get a 20% discount. Which means this chair could
end up at a super competitive $128.99 (plus taxes) if you have free Amazon Prime shipping, which is an awesome deal!
But regardless if you get this or any other chair for your home-office or gaming den, please do yourself a favor and get a proper ergonomic and comfortable office chair instead of the overpriced “race car” bucket seats… Your back (and your bottom) will thank you later!
* Disclaimer: products linked in this article are affiliated links and will result in a small commission (paid by the retailer in question) to this website's owner.
