99 percent of "office chairs" are the same poorly constructed garbage that "gaming chairs" are. Actually good chairs are 400-1000+ which most people cannot afford unfortunately.
Any office chair in similar price range would be at least somewhat better than a gaming chair. Gaming chairs are also overpriced so there really is no reason to but one unless you prefer looks (subjective) over comfort for done reason. I was looking for some affordable refurbished ones like leap but it was either out of my price range or hard to find a good one. Ended up buying a cheap office chair, kinda regret it but ig you get what you pay for.
You can get very high end office chairs incredibly cheap if you looks used. It's not hard to all to find Steelcase Leaps and Herman Miller Aerons under $300 on Craigslist, eBay, FB Marketplace, or used office supply stores. I got my Steelcase Leap for $220 and it's been going strong for over 5 years now.
My office chair and gaming chair are both the same office chair. I swap the same monitor's connection between my work laptop and pc depending on time of day.
I'm not getting it but those gaming chairs look like racing car chairs. I didn't think those seats were particularly comfortable either because I thought they kept you in place when things you're zipping around?
I tried so many different office chairs, they all sucked. Even the more expensive ones. But the "secret labs" gaming chair was perfect. Gives whatever support my fucked up spine needs, has the right mix of cush but firm. And the little magnetic pillow is in the perfect spot. It was very expensive but worth it to me.
Find a good used office supply company. You can find top notch chairs like aerons that have a scratch or ding for half the price. They are usually good with single customers for these lightly used chair.
The better office chairs have 10+ year warranties, if you spread out the cost of buying a cheap chair (£150) every 2 years Vs a £1000 one that lasts 10 years its not such a huge difference in price whilst the benefits to your back are worth much more.
I know not everyone can afford this, but it's worth checking for interest free credit from either the manufacturer, store, or even PayPal / klarna (which is what I did).
I managed to get my whole family some really good office chairs because a local business chucked them all in a local dumpster. Most of them just needed to have the foot-rests removed to be completely perfect. I looked them up, and they are all $600+ chairs brand new. Dumpster diving has always been fun :)
Office chairs cause back pain, just like gaming chairs.
What you really want is a nice recliner and a big TV. Keyboard in lap, mouse on arm rest (or end table). I've been computing this way since 2008 and I'll never go back to a desk ever again.
If you're getting back pain from an office chair then your arse is likely too far forward when you're sitting and you're putting pressure on your spine due it being at an angle other than 90 degrees from the seat, or your table is too low, lowering your arms, so you're bending forward.
You're suppose to feel your arse pushing against the back of the chair not leaving enough of a hole between the chair and your lower back that you can fit an arm in it, and when your arms are resting on the table (which they should be pretty much all the time if your keyboard and mouse are sufficiently forward) you should feel no pressure either downwards or upwards on your shoulders
I've been coding for over 3 decades, often for massive long hours (to the point that by the age of 17 I had RSI due to how my wrists were resting at the edge of the table and some years later when already doing it professionally went to the doctor with chest pain - which I feared were due to a hearth condition - which turned out to be work posture related) and at some point in my mid 20s I moved to The Netherlands and to a company which had its own Ergonomics Consultant (this was back in the peak of the 90s Tech boom so there was lots of money sloshing around) who would come around when you joined and adjust everything for you (they even had tables with adjustable height) and explain you all about the correct work posture.
Been following that advice and haven't had posture related problems since then whilst always using pretty standard office chairs (always with adjustable height, tough).
I have however seen plenty of people doing the lazy (and stupid) posture of being all the way forward on their chair and quite a lot with arms too low or too high (which is more understandable since most cheap office tables don't have adjustable height).
I have a wooden dining table chair. It swivels, there is no cushion at all. Every time I think about replacing it, I look at what a gaming good gaming chair costs and I say "nah, I'm good".
I sit on a IKEA barstool without cushioning behind a jury rigged standing desk. Actually solved my back pain that I got from an office chair. Probably because I’m forced to sit more at the front of the chair since it’s hard to push the chair close to the desk once I’m sitting on it. I can’t lean back, so my back stays straight for longer than when I used an office chair.
I’m of the opinion that using a really good comfy chair everyday for 8 hours that relaxes your body is probably not good for you in the long run. It makes your body weak. It’s like sitting on a sofa all day.
I know people that sit on the floor all day on a sturdy cushion in a lotus position behind a coffee table they use as a desk. They never have pain in their back or anywhere else from sitting. If you can sit with your back straight and your hips are at 90+ degrees angle so your knees are below your hips you will reduce the chances of getting issues with your back significantly and it doesn’t really matter what kind of chair you use.
You can get 'em for <$500 if you look the right places. And it follows the rule of never skimping on anything between you and the earth. Shoes, Tires, etc.
Buy a phone controller (like Razer Kishi or Razer Junglecat) and use some streaming technology to play your PC games on phone. My favourite is Sunshine/Moonlight combo, but Steam Link might work as well for you.
VR desktop streamers, do the same thing but optionally in multimonitor 4k and don't have to look at our hands the whole time. Also can play on a recliner comfortably. My neck is in so much better shape since I started using my VR headset to stream instead of a phone or other handheld. Plus the screens are 20 feet away, nice on the eyes. And still take up 80 degrees of my field of view. Not sure what effective size that makes them, but it's bigger and nicer looking than a theatre screen.
Been PC gaming on the couch for years now, either using a controller, trackball and 75% keyboard or a steam controller. Mouse pads are for work only as far as I'm concerned.
Steam Input is amazing, and something that I feel doesn't get nearly as much credit as it deserves. You can literally make anything do anything. You can even create on-screen rotary menus and shit.
I can stream my PS5 to my Steam Deck, and use the gyro to aim in an first person game. Like, really fucking easily. I set it up so if I'm playing Chiaki4Deck and press one of the back buttons, it swaps between gyro on and gyro off.
I saw a comment on Lemmy a while back where someone said they hated steam input and I just didn't understand what possible issue anyone could ever have with it.
Disgusting. I have never and will never use my phone or a gaming console in the bathroom. I go to the bathroom, and then fucking leave. I'll never understand sitting there forever.
Taking 10 or 15 minutes to "shit" is a much needed break. Especially when there's another parent home (or the kids are old enough) and you can shut the door.
Then there's the old "boss makes a dollar I make a dime" adage...