Ask Slashdot: What Recliner For a Software Developer?

Taxilian writes We've talked about office chairs before, but I'm one of those coders who tends to relax by doing more coding. Particularly when I'm short on time for a project, I like to move my work to where I am still around my wife and children so that I can still interact with them and be with my family, but still hit my deadlines. I have used various recliners and found that programming in them (at least in evenings) can be quite comfortable, but haven't felt like I really found the 'ideal chair' for relaxing and working on my Macbook.

I have found references to failed chairs (like La-Z-Boy Explorer, the so-called "E-cliner") that were intended for tech and failed, but are there any existing and useful options? I'd really like something that provides some sort of lap desk (to keep the heat from the laptop away from me) and reasonable power arrangements while still being comfortable and not looking ridiculous in a normal family room.

Automotive bucket seat

[TWX]

Or save a whole bunch of money and go to the junkyard to get the high-backed bucket passenger front seat from a comfortable car. Build a base for it to sit on, and use that base as the means for attaching the shelf for the keyboard and pointer.

Go with the passenger seat because it's usually less worn. If you're feeling inventive you can go with a powered seat, but those are usually biased toward the driver rather than the passenger.

Re:First things first...

[cruff]

Ekornes Stressless [ekornes.com] recliners are very comfortable, and have a swiveling table (Stressless PC-table) that holds a laptop, but can be moved out of the way when you don't need to use it.

Re:First things first...

[Belial6]

In the spirit of keeping it simple... A few years ago, I took a month long road trip with my family. We rented a mini-van and she would drive during the long streatches of nothing while I worked from the back. After the first day in, it became apparent that the laptop on my lap wasn't cutting it. So, we stopped at a K-mart and I bought a big wood cutting board. It worked awesome. It was flat so It packed pretty well. It was very sturdy. It had the groove around the edge designed for catching liquids that worked very well for keeping pens and whatnot from sliding off the edge. Plus, when we would get to a stop, I could lift it up and set it on the seat next to me without having to rearrange anything. That way when we were done looking at the sights, I could get back in the car and get started back to work without any setup.

All in all, it was the best lap board I have ever used. To this day, my son still uses it when he wants to use his laptop while sitting on the couch. Storage consists of putting in the small space between the end of the couch and the wall.