As you mention, this is a very personal thing. There isn’t a chair that will make everyone happy. I have the humanscale freedom in leather and I love it. I hate Aerons… I have tried many chairs, the freedom works for me. Good luck in finding your chair.

Hmm. I just discovered your site, and if you’re still searching for a more comfortable Freedom chair, it sounds like the stores you’ve checked out might have a pretty limited selection of fabrics. I’m not sure, but I do know there are a couple different “collections” of them… this site seems to have 4 different groups of fabric, not even counting the leather. Good luck! (Though I can’t argue that the Aeron is an amazing chair.)

The best thing about the Freedom chairs is that you basically build your own. You can customize every option… arm rests, foot rests, fabrics. There’s more choice than the Aeron offers.

Update: This chair is actually getting more and more comfortable. I now *almost* like it. Soon I think I will. Keeping it for now.

I have a Freedom and love it. I was interested in leather but the sales rep at ErgoDepot.com (where I ended up purchasing my chair)turned me on to the Gel seat, which is not available with leather. I tested out a couple models at a local retailer but even they admit that they cannot touch the prices of online retailers. I ended up buying from ErgoDepot because I thought it was really cool that they recommended a cheaper model so I could get the Gel seat rather than trying to sell me the $1500 leather chair.

Anyway, I asked about the waaaay lower prices at ShopSeating.com and the rep said he could not offer an opinion but referred me directly to Humanscale customer service. Seemed odd so I pursued it a little. Turns out that ShopSeating is not an authorized Humanscale dealer and sells refurbished chairs w/o serial numbers and some other things that the Humanscale folks were telling me. Apparently they are very displeased with these this site and are adamant to not purchase from them and to find an authorized dealer.

As you can see, I really researched this chair and where to buy. Spending $1000ish on a chair is a pretty serious purchase to me. I would recommend purchasing this chair with one of the fabrics where you can also get the Gel seat. I am in love with my chair. You gotta love the local guys for trying, but their prices are pretty high. All of the online guys offer good pricing. I chose ErgoDepot because I liked their service over the phone. One other strong opinion is to not buy from ShopSeating or any other place selling really cheap refurbished chairs. Humanscale will not stand behind these products if they are not purchased from an authorized dealer.

Hi Ray

I don’t know about you, but the serial number of my chair has zero impact on my life or comfort. If the chair is a fake, thats one thing, but I can say with certainty that if this chair IS fake its a damn great one because its friggin’ comfortable, has eliminated my back problems and is a perfect down-to-the-atom clone of the Humanscale chair for $1,200 in the Humanscale showroom in NYC. Also, this chair was brand spanking new when I bought it. New leather smell and everything! The whole “authorized dealer” thing is a scam, a racket, IMO. If you feel more comfortable paying the mafia tax to buy from an Authorized Dealer, go ahead, I understand. On the other hand, I am pretty happy to go to a warehouse showroom, gauge the authenticity and engineering quality of this chair myself, take some risk and pay 40% less than the prices you are talking about above. It’s not a heart surgery device, it’s a chair, and mine is working out pretty well for me.

To be clear, I take back my remarks about comfort above, this chair is excellent.

Hey, these chairs are far too expensive to not use an authorized dealer. From what Humanscale told me, they DO NOT WARRANTY chairs except to the original purchaser and it MUST be bought through an authorized dealer. They track the purchaser through the serial number. Since these chairs are normally built to order, they know where they shipped it so that serial number dictates whether or not you have warranty support.

If you buy it from an authorized dealer new, you get a lifetime warranty, versus no warranty or a few months elsewhere that is dependent on the retailer not going under.

Also look carefully, the two biggest unauthorized dealers - shopseating.com and trendychair.com are selling USED CHAIRS. Refurbished, like new - these terms mean USED.

So is it really worth a couple of hundred to have an unknown history on your chair and no warranty?

Most dealers will negotiate lower than their web prices if you call them. I figured this out and got a great deal at http://www.TheHumanSolution.com. I got an extra $200 off their advertised price by calling them.

I got the standard padding and a suede chair. Absolutely love it!

I worked the 3rd shift and only two things kept me from blowing my brains out. One was my satellite radio and the other was a freedom chair. You can not appreciate this chair until you have kicked your feet up and slept like a baby in it. Now that I am working regular hours I need one for my home. I want the leather but I am not sure if it will be as comfortable as the standard model. Any suggestions?

Hey Tim

This chair is actually the best chair I have ever had. BUT: I haven’t tried it in fabric yet, only leather. Depending on the price difference you may like to stick with what you know…

Hey Guys,

Good Information !!! I had purchased ergonomic chairs for my office 3 years back. For me comfort, look & price was very important.I came across this site on Google http://www.ergo4me.com I got all my needs fulfilled.

Cheers.