My mini-review:
Ok. Chair arrived this morning. I was immediately impressed by its heft – particularly the base that the wheels fit into. The chair itself is also not light, which speaks to it being built in a more sturdier fashion than anticipated.
Straight off the bat, I'm very comfy on the mesh – and considering this will end up in a part of the house that can get quite warm (read: bloody hot) in summer, pleased I went with it. That said, I'm not exactly "dainty", so hope it manages to hold up in the long run, which presumably would have been less of a risk for the solid/foam/padded seat. So, time will tell...
Regarding the rest:
I am clearly stupid. Can someone give me a pointer on the left lock button, and the right hand "wheel"?
1.) I gather the left is to "lock" the back of the seat in position? So once engaged, is it not supposed to recline at all, or only recline to the point where it was when the lock was engaged?
2.) The wheel/rotator settitng >> based on the German video on YouTube I found (and no, I don't speak German) – I gather it is supposed to make the reclining "effort" less or more? In other words, slight backward pressure to recline, or a more concentrated effort, correct?
So far, spinning it clockwise or counterclockwise doesn't appear to be making much of a difference to either...
Anyone got any suggestions in that regard?
@Firestorm ??
Which way does what?
3.) Headrest:
Still going to have to play around with the headrest height.
Currently, I don't really see it coming into play much since my "default" position appears to have my head tilted slightly forward, to the point where my head isn't touching the headrest in any event...
Not sure if that says something (presumably negative) about my overall ergonomic setup, or whether it's nothing major...
4.) Height of actual backrest:
I have adjusted this a few times, but to be honest, not really sure which of the positions I prefer. To be clear, I'm not uncomfortable or anything, it's just that I don't really notice that much of a difference with it moved more up or down... Guess time will tell, still nice and easy to adjust, which is good. One minor (and obvious) point – adjusting the backrest also requires adjusting the headrest position again – so that's more of a PITA... 1st-world problems, indeed.
5.) Lumbar support:
I always had one of those lumbar cushions that strapped onto my old chair in place. Annoyingly, it would always shift downwards during the course of the day, which had me always readjusting it. Not anymore, really like how easy it is to adjust, and it makes an immediate difference.
6.) Arm rest adjustment:
I
think that the fact that I can adjust my arm-rests as much as I can now, has meant I can actually sit a bit lower than I was, which now sees me being able to keep my feet flat on the floor without a footrest, which is apparently a good thing.
Also means that I have nice support for my arms, that is now in-line with my keyboard, which is very comfortable.
Read some reviews that complained about the material getting sticky after long use, but since I have jerseys/tops on in winter, or mostly wear long-sleeve office shirts, hoping this won't be much of an issue.
7.) Reclining feature.
Never had a chair that could do this – as in, properly pivot the backrest and seat together – as opposed to simply having the backrest drop away... Didn't think I would ever use it, but could honestly see myself taking the occasional lunchtime powernap quite comfortably in the chair, which is good to know...
8.) "Waterfall"/drop-off seat.
The seat is quite short, and slopes away, hence the "waterfall" feature name. Read on their site this is to alleviate pressure on the underside of the thighs, behind the knees. Read at least one review complaining about this – which granted, might(??) be an issue for taller persons. I don't find it to be problematic at all – and if anything, means that less of the legs can get hot/sticky during summer... Granted, it does occasionally feel "odd", as in, noticeable – but will most likely get used to that soon.
Overall impressions (after a whopping hour or two of use):
I'm very pleased with this purchase – and just hope it lasts several years!
Given that this is easily the most expensive chair I have ever owned, I guess there is some to-be-expected bias involved.
That said, think this has far more features than the stock standard "gaming chairs" (and bonus >> without the gaudy colours
), and is far above what one would most likely find in a Game/Waltons...
At this price-point, I am very happy that I paid what I did, but cannot help feeling I would maybe have been a bit less enthused had this cost me R6.5k/R7k/R7.5k...
However, I also think that from here on up, there probably isn't much more available in terms of all these ergonomic options, until you start hitting the Herman Miller space (or its equivalents), and then one quickly gets into "stupid-amounts-of-money"...
So all in all, really think the Merryfair WAU is a fantastic option for the price.
www.ixaxaoffice.co.za
