Are Those Gaming Chairs Any Good? (And if they are, which one should I get?)

LSlashee the Cow on 07/12/2018 - 22:35

So my current chair (a Malkolm from Ikea, yes I'm a big spender) just bit the dust. Well not entirely, but one of the armrests broke, and that piece holds up the back, so now one side of the back is tilting down to the side.

Aaaaanyway, I'm a reasonably big guy (roughly 6'5", over 90kgs) and I spend a decent amount of time in front of my computer. I've seen gaming chairs advertised for a while now but I've never bothered trying one. Are they worth it? Obviously it's a bit more of a spend than my last chair but if it's gonna be comfortable and last a while then I guess it'd be worth it. But I've never really looked into them at all so I don't know which ones are good, so can anyone give me any recommendations? I'm located in south-west Sydney so ideally something I could get (reasonably) locally because I imagine shipping might be a bitch.

Thanks

Gaming Chair Gaming Chair Office Chair

Comments

  • Cheapascents on 07/12/2018 - 23:44
    +1

    i dont personally own one, but i have sit in a gaming chair before and here is my 2 cents.
    They are quite comfortable, they make me sit in a good posture where back is straight and my head isnt tilted forward but in a neutral position. i think its good to fork out some extra money for things that we utilize a lot, its worth the value, because you're going to be using that gaming chair a lot, just go around stores and have a try to see which gaming chair provides you the most comfort.

  • bbqwer on 08/12/2018 - 00:04

    secretlab

  • follow on 08/12/2018 - 00:11
    +5

    Get an ergonomic chair instead from brands like Ergohuman, Herman Miller, Steelcase, Haworth.

    Had a look on Gumtree. Grab the Steelcase Leap. So many bargains.

    • Diji1 on 08/12/2018 - 15:24
      +1

      This ^

      If you're going to spend a lot of money these brands make more sense because you will be replacing cheaper chairs and spending more money over a decade if you use it a lot.

      I think minimum warranty is 12 years for the gas lift with Steelcase and HM with much of the chair being covered by lifetime warranty.

      They're called task/seats chairs and they're what businesses buy to cover themselves against employees suing them for back injury so they're very good for posture and existing back injuries.

      That said, some people still prefer gaming chairs which are cheaper.

      I bought a new Steelcase Leap for $1000 after some haggling, they started at $1200, but the price can go much higher if you choose fabrics and colours other than black. I was getting a sore butt in other seats which sucks.

      HM is more expensive. Many people say second hand is a good option and this is because they're made to last.

      • follow on 08/12/2018 - 15:33

        Steelcase Leap going for as low as $55 on gumtree

        • Slashee the Cow on 08/12/2018 - 15:37

          That's the sort of price where my first question is "what's wrong with it?" given how much they are new

          • follow on 08/12/2018 - 15:47

            @Slashee the Cow: Big company closed down probably. They look in decent nic.

            This one looks like it's from an individual.
            You'll be able to tell in person if there's anything wrong anyway. Highly doubt there is.

            Opt for the one with arms.

  • kokoness on 08/12/2018 - 00:44

    I'm using noblechairs epic series. It's a gaming chair and it's the best chair I've ever used.
    It's very ergonomic and you can really feel the big difference
    It's very much worth it especially if you spend most of your day on it.

  • AdamFury on 08/12/2018 - 00:53

    I picked up a DX Racer chair for Christmas 2015 I believe. I use it every day and it's held up incredibly well. Very comfortable and not a lot of visible wear and tear (in comparison to my previous Bathurst racer chair from Officeworks).

    • SydStrand on 08/12/2018 - 14:23
      +1

      Gaming chairs are gimmicks. They're based on bucket seats which are designed to hug your body through S-bends, not typing on OZB. They're also designed for an entirely different, less-upright sitting posture, so they make zero ergonomic sense. I laugh when I see 'gaming chairs' with gaps near the shoulders, as if they're designed for a racing harness.

      The best thing that happened to DXRacer was gaming YouTubers and Twitch streamers who somehow convinced people it wasn't a huge scam.

  • garetz on 08/12/2018 - 06:00
    +1

    Gaming chairs are a gimmick, they are worthless. get a good ergonomic chair, your back will thank you.

  • jimbobaus on 08/12/2018 - 06:43

    I’m a big guy and can tell you gaming chairs are hard to find that are comfortable if you are over 6ft.

    After much research and trial and error I have found the secret lab titan to be the best option around for the larger gentleman.

    Give them a try.
    Worth the money imho.

    • AlienC on 09/12/2018 - 02:28

      How much money are we talking about here? tree fiddy? $5? $1000?

  • notme53 on 08/12/2018 - 14:16

    The thing I find weird about gaming chairs is that they are copies of car bucket & racing seats designed for 'gaming' - but they're are mostly useless for car racing games because they have (non lockable) wheels. I actually think a wheeled chair would be less than ideal for any gaming.

  • Slashee the Cow on 08/12/2018 - 15:35

    Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

    I'm seriously considering a Secretlab Titan. Obviously it's probably not as good for me as a proper ergonomic chair, but it looks like it'd be fairly comfortable to spend far too many continuous hours in. Plus it's cheaper than the really good ergonomic ones. Maybe it could last at least long enough to save up the dough for one of those.

  • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 08/12/2018 - 16:06

    Ikea Markus is my favourite. Highly recommend it. I tested those gaming chairs. Wasn't a fan of the posture.

  • Slashee the Cow on 08/12/2018 - 22:23

    Okay So I did a bit more searching and I can find plenty of positive reviews of Secretlab chairs from websites I know, but I can also find this which gives somewhat the opposite impression of the company. And in my searching I also found ultimategamechair.com which looks to me like a front for Secretlab (it's whois guarded, which may or may not mean something, I mean I'm not a front for some company and my domain has it), which isn't a good sign if they thought that was necessary, although it might just as easily be someone honestly recommending them but doesn't know how not to attract the suspicion of people like me.
    But then there's the recommendations from bbqwer and jimbobaus in this thread, and I've generally found the OzB community to be reasonably trustworthy (even though I'm far more of a lurker than a contributor myself), so I'm not sure if I should know what to think or not.

    On the bright side, the Secretlab chairs don't look nearly as bucket-y as some of the stuff like this that could get from JB so I'm not too worried on that front.

    I'm not sure of a good metaphor for what's going through my head right now about chairs. Maybe that I've jumped in the deep end and I don't even know which pool I should be in or whether I should be running laps instead.

    • ult1m4tum on 06/03/2019 - 15:53

      A bit of necro-ing here, but curious what you ended up going with @OP.
      As a fellow lurker, i've been going through the same thing lately - ended up getting a cheap racing chair on ebay and regretting it so looking for something good.
      Keep leaning toward SecretLab but pretty worried about your findings here.

      What is with the racing seat craze anyway… just wish there were more comfy office chairs like there was before this craze seemed to hit…

      • Slashee the Cow on 08/03/2019 - 15:55
        +1

        I ended up getting the Titan. I still profess to be no expert in chairs but it seems to be working for me. Build quality seems pretty good, in that everything which is supposed to move does and everything which isn't, doesn't. The ordering process was easy enough and while I forget how long it took to arrive, it wasn't long (and if you have kids which love to play in boxes, they'll like this).

        I have the back almost straight up and the lumbar support almost all the way out because that's what's comfortable for me (and if I'm lucky, it's close enough to a good position for my back, but I haven't done any research in that regard). I will warn you that it's pretty firm - also the way I like it (in general, see: mattress, pillows, cushions, etc.) but if you want something cushy, probably not the chair for you.

        I don't know if you're interested in resting your head against the back of the seat but at my height it's too short for that, although it does mean the included pillow is in a pretty good place for my neck (which is great when I'm sitting with it tilted back with my feet up half paying attention to the TV and half to my computer). Other than that size wise it's pretty good - armrests go up high enough and out for me (with room to spare, even) and the size of the whole seat fits my frame pretty well, I'm not cramped up against the (what's the term, wings? for the bits which come out of the back and go up your side?)… them. I could maybe stand for the seat to go up a little higher to improve the angle my knees are at if I have my feet flat on the floor (although that's assuming my legs wouldn't get squirmed up against the underside of my desk if it did go higher), but I got one of these footrests from Ikea and with that it's pretty good.

        • ult1m4tum on 08/03/2019 - 18:52

          The Titan does look decent and hope that it works out for you.

          Personally hesitant about the firmness - tried a friends DX Racer and thought it was too firm so might shy away from this one.
          Always curious how the PU leather holds up on chairs these days since its been the cause of my previous ones death.

          Currently eyeing off noblechairs leather range but I think most are made super firm these days.

          Appreciate the response and the review :D

        • Diji on 22/04/2020 - 16:34

          Are you still using the Titan? How has it held up?

          • Slashee the Cow on 22/04/2020 - 21:15
            +1

            @Diji: Still using it!

            About the only wear and tear I can report is that the cushions on top of the arm rests have cracked a bit on the inside (i.e. the side closest to me, which doesn't really matter since I basically only rest my arms on the top. Photo - I played with the levels a bit in the photo so you can see it more clearly, it doesn't look that bad in real life (and the one on the other arm isn't that bad). If that grew too much more I might start to worry about it but I'd probably just try taping it up if it got that bad.

            Other than that, it seems about the same as the day I put it together. None of castors have broken (which for me is a minor miracle), everything still adjusts like it should and all of the upholstery on the chair (I have the PU "leather" version) is still in good condition (and pretty clean, which also counts as a miracle for me).

            • Diji on 22/04/2020 - 22:16

              @Slashee the Cow: Good to hear! That arm rest stuff happens to me on every chair I ever own, I swear, lol (currently no arms on my chair because of that very reason). I'm considering getting one of these because the back on my current chair has gotten uncomfy so thanks a heap for replying with your experience. :)

  • AlienC on 09/12/2018 - 02:29
    -2

    Honestly I know this is ozbargain but those $5 camping chairs are really cozy if you can figure out the setup and logistics for the mouse and keyboard space option and etc.

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