[hapless]

An inexpensive standing desk is nice, but I don't think I would be any happier standing continuously than sitting continuously. Unfortunately, rapidly adjustable sit/stand desks are insanely expensive.

I think this person has found a heck of an in-between position. It's not $40, but it's a heck of a lot cheaper than a geekdesk. http://blog.melchua.com/2011/07/09/fitting-yourself-a-sit-to...

[nick_urban]

How about a high desk that you can stand at, with a stool or drafting chair for when you want to sit? A tall chair seems a lot easier / cheaper than an adjustable desk.

[hapless]

I considered it. Tall ergonomic chairs are very expensive.

A top-of-the-line aeron is about $700; the stool version is about $1200.

[forgottenpaswrd]

"Tall ergonomic chairs are very expensive."

Do you need an ergonomic chair?

In my experience ergonomic means with a too much bended back shape that will DISTORT(!) your natural spine shape. Unfortunately they use statistic to decide what is the ergonomic "best" shape, the problem is that people backs in the west have gotten less and less straight the same way they are getting more and more overweight.

Instead of buying an expensive chair, in my opinion it is a best investment to buy a good book or take some good posture lessons that teach you how to sit, stand or sleep properly.

Your back could support itself without effort if it is straight.

[goblin89]

I was of the similar opinion, but a research[0] suggests that sitting straight is not actually as healthy. I'd like to see a source which would confirm that sitting back causes distortion to spine shape.

That said, I agree with you that an ergonomic chair would make little sense for a standing desk, as one will obviously sit less (only when too tired to stand).

[0] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6187080.stm (2006)

[hapless]

I don't think it's obvious at all. I prefer to sit, but I am by nature a restless individual. A standing desk would allow me to make some of my pacing time productive.

To put it another way: every person may have a different use pattern when given the option of equal comfort at seated and standing heights.

[drhodes]

I do this. I put my chair on a riser and it works just fine.

[gecko]

I personally find that I rarely sit down at my desk, except for extremely long coding sessions. Having the ability to easily adjust my stance, wake a walk, flex my knees, and the like makes a huge difference. Your mileage may vary, obviously.

[tbrownaw]

Why not have a desk fixed at standing-height, and a stool / tall chair adjusted so that sitting in it leaves you at the same height as standing?

[tomjen3]

Because then you would be forced to sit with your legs dangeling -- and that gets pretty uncomfortable too.

[tbrownaw]

Most tall stools I've seen have something at about the right height to rest your feet on, whether just a brace between the legs of the stool or a ring that looks like it's intended as a footrest.

Even without that, a detached footrest would still be rather easy to find.

[forgottenpaswrd]

"Because then you would be forced to sit with your legs dangling"

Most stools let you adjust the height without problems, so you could put your feet on the floor. Some of them you could even attach to the floor, so you could use it as a support.

[rhizome]

You'd probably want a stepstool or applebox anyway when you're standing, just to vary your feet positions. That could be used as a footrest when sitting.

[forgottenpaswrd]

"An inexpensive standing desk is nice, but I don't think I would be any happier standing continuously than sitting continuously."

You don't need to. You could buy a stool and sit down when you need it or want to.

For me, it took 3 months to get the muscles necessary for standing up developed, and 6 to learn a correct posture good for my joints.

Today I use a wall as support for my back while standing while I use the computer attached to another wall with a mechanic arm(vesa tv mount with an imac adapter).

This is by far the best idea I could have, it feels totally different to work standing up.

[jackalope]

...I don't think I would be any happier standing continuously than sitting continuously.

I came to the same conclusion after switching to a standing desk for a few months.

Now I'm using a yoga ball and it's amazing. It's immediately intuitive: just sit on it and shift to another comfortable position if you've been in one place too long. My core is even getting stronger from balancing (although it doesn't feel like a workout). I have a 65cm one for desk-height and a 75cm one for counter-height. I highly recommend it.

[gte910h]

For everyone suggesting to you to use a stool:

I find a stool not really a valuable fatigue reducer compared to a real chair. I couldn't handle standing all day, and the stool was better, but not great. I finally bit the bullet and went fully adjustable with a real chair, and it's so worth it.

[jfoldi]

You should give it a shot for a week. I had facilities adjust one of the tables in my cube to be a standing desk and I'm very happy with the results.