Especially since the best Christmas gift for healthy computing (some would say) is a day away from the screen. Hard to argue there!

However, you will have to creep back sometime - and why not arrange for (or treat yourself to) a special Christmas present for healthy computing that will look after you for the rest of the year?

Invest in a quality ergonomic chair. Look for 5 feet, adjustable or preferably removable padded arms, adjustable lumbar support, well-graduated back and seat height adjustment, and seat covering in a natural 'breathing' material such as mesh fabric polyester cotton or leather, with a waterfall edge and tilt control.

You might like the appearance of button tufted computer chairs too.

Whew!

Remember that if you don't buy a good computer or office chair, you are not just getting a less comfortable product. Inferior manufacturing techniques may mean it could suddenly break or collapse, causing you - at the least, considerable embarrassment, at the worst, serious injury.

Even a caster coming off can make the chair useless or unsafe, especially if spares are hard or slow to obtain. Also while you are waiting, a broken office chair is awkward to store or return, looks horrible standing around, and is a reminder you wasted your money cutting corners!

A quality office chair will also look and feel a lot better than Brand X seating a year from now. But if you have an ergonomic brand name chair that is showing its age, why not spoil yourself and your workstation, by arranging replacement with an upgrade, or the latest model?

You can pick out a good ergonomic office chair now. Check out the best online office furniture suppliers. They can both advise on and supply almost any type or design of office chair, and fix any problems quickly.

They also offer some great discount deals on premium office chairs like Chairworks, Backsaver or even Herman Miller Aeron. The office chair suppliers' sites are usually fully illustrated, so you can see and compare what you are getting. compare several sites, and make immediate note of the Web addresses of sites offering the chairs that take your fancy.

Following this, you should sample a couple of the best office chairs in a local office furniture branch - there is no substitute for personal seating preference. Play round with them; try sliding the chairs close to a desk or ideally,a workstation or computer set-up there.

Then you can decide afterwards on the basis of appeal price and service, whether to purchase online or offline.

If the chair is not being collected, make sure you check prospective delivery dates either way!

Try and skip lounging or massaging options though. Seating like that MIGHT pamper you, but you’ll never get a proper healthy

computing position-or get much work done in one!

To further save money, you might wait for the New Year sales. Downside to this is, will the best office chair still be part of the sale?

Also, is it really a Christmas gift after Christmas? You decide...

Whatever your choice regarding an ergonomic chair as a Christmas gift, here's wishing you healthy seating and computing 2006

and beyond!