My parents were impressed with my computer chair when I removed the arms from it. Without the chair arms, I had easier mobility and discovered that the chair arms actually hampered my ability to ergonomically work at the computer. Since their computer chair was old, I took my parents on a journey to a local office supply store. Like Goldilocks, they sat in many chairs until one felt just right.


Description

All three of us immediately liked the look of the Global Armless Task Chair. For one thing, the blue-gray upholstery appeared durable. This Global chair fabric looks like real chair upholstery fabric with horizontal ridges in the material. However, sitting in the chair and running my hands across the material, the fabric feels textured (not noticeably ridged) and it’s soft.

The manufacturer calls the color of this fabric “royal blue”. This is not my idea of a royal blue color ... it’s not bright or bold. In a well-lighted room, the chair color is blue-gray. In a darker room, the chair could pass for a charcoal gray.

The seat and chair back have extra padding in them, and the cushions are sculpted to better conform to the body.

Looking at the chair seat, it dips downward toward the middle with extra cushioning on the sides. The shape is that of a shallow bowl. The chair back is formed in a similar manner, though the recess in the chair back is hardly noticeable. This chair is designed to offer back support. The manufacturer calls it: lateral support.

The base is constructed of black molded plastic with five wheel arms. There are heavy-duty twin-wheel casters on this chair, and the chair has pneumatic seat-height adjustment.

Once we selected and paid for this chair, it was easy to stow the large cardboard box in the trunk of my Toyota Camry.


Assembly

The overall chair measurements are: 38" high x 21" wide x 26" deep.

I remember constructing my computer chair ... I needed an assortment of tools and remember uttering a few choice words during the wrestling match.

Since I already had experience with computer chair construction, I volunteered for the task. I still can’t believe how easy it was to put this chair together. It took 20 minutes ... and no tools were needed!!

The instructions come on a single sheet of 8 1/2" x 11" white paper, writing on both sides (one side is written in English; the other side in French). Across the bottom of the pages are three line drawings of the chair with all the parts listed by number and name.

The box includes:

* 1 chair seat
* 1 chair back
* 1 base
* Five wheels
* Pneumatic cylinder with cover
* Instruction Sheet

I did not think this chair was well packaged in its cardboard carton. The two upholstered chair pieces (seat and chair back) were wrapped separately in a thin clear plastic bag. The metal piece on the chair back that slides into the seat was covered with corrugated cardboard. The chair back and seat were stacked against the black plastic base that had no protection around it. All five wheels and the pneumatic cylinder pieces were wrapped well in a thick plastic bag. This large box offered a lot of room for the pieces to shift. However, there was no damage to any of the pieces, so I guess the lack of protective packaging didn’t cause a problem. When my father saw the pieces loose in the carton, he asked me: "Is this chair directly from the factory? Are you sure it isn’t a return?"

The assembly instructions are easy to read and only include four steps.

1. Push the wheeled casters into the base.

2. Slide the cylinder cover over the pneumatic cylinder.

3. Insert the pneumatic cylinder into the base.

4. Lift the “chair assembly” onto the pneumatic cylinder.

What I initially found confusing was that nowhere in the instructions does it say to attach the chair back to the chair seat. This one unit is simply referred to as “the chair assembly”. Before doing Step # 4, attach the two upholstered chair pieces together to form the seat. This is done by screwing the chair back to the seat by turning a knob-screw to join the two pieces.

Note that the instructions mention a tension knob that controls tilt tension. This particular chair does not have that option. It only has the pneumatic height adjustment and a knob that turns to adjust the horizontal placement of the seat back.


Our Experiences

It’s an interesting experience choosing a computer chair that two very different people will use. My father is tall. My mother is petite. My father is very hard on furniture (a destroyer!). My mother is more careful. My father tends to push against a chair back. My mother needs a chair that offers back support.

With all those things in mind, they narrowed their choice to the Global Armless Task Chair. Both of my parents like the way the chair looks. So do I. This chair has the appearance of a nice piece of furniture ... if you can consider a computer chair in that manner.

When my mother first sat in the chair, she immediately felt comfortable. The chair back is molded in a way that offers the extra support she needs for her back. Meanwhile, the first thing my father wanted to know was whether the chair offered height adjustment since he has long legs and my mother has shorter legs.

The pneumatic lever is located at the right, beneath the seat. It takes a bit of reach to locate the lever, but it quickly becomes second nature once one intuitively realizes where the lever is located. The chair seat adjusts from the lowest setting of 14 1/2" from the floor, to the highest height setting of 19" from the floor.

A wide seat on this chair makes it comfortable for both of my parents. That extra cushioning in both the seat and the back place this chair above similar models I have seen that are skimpy on padding.

Another factor in this purchase was the upholstery on the chair. Many of the chairs viewed in the store had questionable fabric coverings. One had to wonder how long they would last. My parent’s old computer chair has one area on the chair back where the fabric badly shredded. We feel the upholstery on this new chair will last a long time. Since cats are in the house, it was important to find a chair that could withstand cat claws if the cats decided they wanted to visit their human servants.

This chair has five legs with sturdy casters. It is easy to roll across the hard floor. It’s proven a stable chair, too. No one has tipped in it.

My parents also love the fact that this chair has no arms. Both of them find it easier to use the mouse and are more comfortable using this computer chair compared to the old computer chair they had with arms.


Purchasing

This chair cost $79.99 at Staples. For an additional $5.00, the store personnel would have assembled the chair for us.


Summary

My parents are thoroughly enjoying this Global Armless Task Chair. It is comfortable for both of them, and fits neatly at their computer desk. I don’t think Goldilocks could have done a better job of picking out the perfect chair.

I hope you have found this review useful.

Enjoy your day,
Dawn
http://dlstewart.com


Additional Information

Chair Model #: 9326BK-LN02

Global Total Office
560 Supertest Road
Downsview, Ontario, Canada M3J 2M6

Telephone: 416-661-3660


Please read my other reviews:

Rubbermaid Chair Mat

Logitech Mouseman Dual Optical Mouse

Sony MicroVault USB 2.0 Flash Drive

Dazzle 6-in-1 Card Reader

Stanley Heavy-Duty Stapler for up to 120 sheets

Swingline 3-Hole Electric Paper Punch

HON Metal Bookcase

Ott 18-Watt True Color Flex-Arm Plus Lamp

Ott 18-Watt True Color Floor Lamp

LiteOn LVW-5005 DVD Player/Recorder

Concord Eye-Q Digital Camera

Canon PowerShot A400 Digital Camera


Copyright 2005 Dawn L. Stewart

Recommended: Yes