Does anyone own an Embody, can they compare it to the Aeron or Mirra

Question

Ok, ok, I know that isn't technically a programming question, but I saw an ad today for the new Herman Miller Embody and I started thinking about how my chair at work is pretty terrible and I need a new one. I know this isn't what StackOverflow is really for, but if there is community of people out there who might actually have one, and can make an honest comparison, this would be it.

Answer 1

Try this question: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/51835/difference-between-herman-miller-chairs

Answer 2

I never understood what people want with high-tech chairs. To sit all day fixed in a perfect position is deadly for your body. You need to keep your body parts moving instead of the chair. To keep your eyes all day fixed to a 'perfect' viewing distance kills your eyesight. Your eyes need movement, too, they need to look at stuff nearby and far away.

For your health it is way better to have an old fashioned rocking chair: you'd keep your body parts moving, so the fluid systems in your body can work as they are designed for (there are more fluids in your body than just blood, and the move around by you moving your body parts. No body parts moving, no fluids moving).
On a rocking chair the distance between eyes and monitor vary, so your eyes have something to work on.

Fixing yourself in a perfect chair is like moving around in a wheelchair - it's like thinking using a wheelchair to move around instead of walking would be good for your legs, since it saves your legs from the effort.
It's like only eating fluids to safe your teeth from chewing.

No wonder people in computer business all have back problems - they keep their backs in a fixed position where nature needs the back to move. And not just the lower back, all of it.

Answer 3

I own this chair for a month now and it's not that great. It's very firm on the lumbar and the 'flexors' actually poke and prod. It's actually uncomfortable. I can't understand why everyone thinks it is so great - it's not that great.

Answer 4

I had been using an Aeron for about 7 years, before switching to an Embody about 6 months back. My immediate reaction was similar to Mark's - it felt very firm on the lumbars and felt like it was 'poking' me.

However, I would now say that I prefer it to the Aeron. The first issue was that the back support is adjustable to be a lot move 'giving' than the Aeron is and I had set it to recline back with very little pressure on my part. This felt very comfortable at first, but I later realized that I was tensing my back subconsciously to avoid leaning back too far. After making that adjustment a lot stiffer, I found the chair more comfortable.

The second is that the curvature of the back is adjustable, unlike in the Aeron. It takes some tweaking to find out what works well. I actually tried using it for several days ratcheting the adjustment a bit each day until I have found a setting that is very comfortable.

The huge advantage over my previous Aeron (size B) is that the seat depth is adjustable. I can now sit without the chair lip biting into the back of my leg (just below the knee) and this makes a big change.

I had a period of about a month or two when I was not convinced this was the better chair, but when I have to use the Aeron now, I can see that it is distinctly less comfortable than the Embody. I would not go back.