All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links.
Ever since the Aeron chair became a status symbol at startups, furniture makers and industrial designers have been trying to craft superior seats for the desk-bound. Today’s chairs exploit technologies that would flummox a NASA engineer: cellular suspension, back flexors, thermal comfort systems, power mechanisms, form-sensing mesh ... heck, there’s even a chair marketed as having a conscience. Though we’re not convinced that any of these progressive perches is actually sentient, each can make your workday a whole lot more comfortable, as long as you’re willing to put up with coworker envy and can figure out how to write off the expense. - Roger Thomasson
HOW WE TESTED
Multiple users Our six testers were men and women with various builds.
Comfort Padding and support were evaluated through extensive use. Our picks offer a balance of both.
Adjustability Chairs were evaluated for ease of use and the number of adjustments (such as seat height, seat depth, lumbar support, armrest position, and recline tension).
Appearance We judged each chair on aesthetics, both on its own and compared with the others. We looked for great design and color choices.
Steelcase Think
The Think was less tweakable than most models tested, but it had the remarkable ability to adjust itself to different people. Its wire back flexors provided excellent support and were very comfortable. In fact, they responded so well that the lack of lumbar support went practically unnoticed. The armrests aren’t as user-friendly - although they have a wide range of positions, they only lock in place vertically. Its design is a little austere (the back reminded one tester of an electric fence), but with comfort like this, who cares?
WIRED: Plush yet supportive seating with almost no adjusting. Compact: Doesn’t dominate your work space.
TIRED: A bit homely. Armrests collide with the chair if pushed as far back as they’ll go.
$749, www.steelcase.com
Humanscale Liberty
WIRED: Three-panel mesh back provided excellent comfort and support. Flowing lines are easy on the eyes. Recline tension magically adjusted to tester’s weight.
TIRED: Least configurable model by far. Fixed armrests presented comfort problems for some shorter testers.
$849, www.humanscale.com
Steelcase Leap
WIRED: Seat cushion slides forward as back reclines, keeping eye level constant. Handy seat-depth control. Compact footprint.
TIRED: Overloaded with features; hard to use without a tutorial or a look at the manual. Armrests tended to wiggle. It’s the most office-chairy of these office chairs.
$999, www.steelcase.com
Herman Miller Mirra
WIRED: Mesh fabric seat cradled assorted butts nicely. Supportive backrest, especially for testers who preferred to seriously recline.
TIRED: Plastic exoskeleton looks overly sci-fi. Controls are stiff and unresponsive. Armrests rotate too easily and lose their position. Lumbar support was ineffective.
$749, www.hermanmiller.com
Believe it or not, some of the world’s most lavish hotel rooms lack one amenity: wireless Internet access. But hook up one of these travel routers to the Ethernet cable and you can surf the Web from your bed. - Steve Friess
Apple Airport Express Base Station
Leave it to Apple to take a straightforward gizmo and cram it with additional features. Not only does the Airport Express easily establish a Wi-Fi hot spot with a 150-foot range, it also has ports that allow you to wirelessly stream music and even connect USB printers. All that power is packed into a half-pound, inch-thick package that’s mercifully compact, with a built-in plug so there are no power cords to futz with.
WIRED: Supereasy setup. Complete, intelligible instruction book. PC-friendly. Cool Apple aesthetic.
TIRED: Pricey. Proprietary software required for configuration. No Ethernet cable or case included.
$129, www.apple.com
Belkin Wireless G Travel Router
WIRED: Impressive range: 300 feet, which is double that of Airport Express. Sexy, futuristic design. At 2 ounces, it’s almost lighter than, um, a lighter. Lifetime warranty.
TIRED: Flimsy antenna. Tech support didn’t answer our calls. Oddly bulky case.
$60, www.belkin.com
3Com OfficeConnect Wireless 54Mbps 11g Travel Router
WIRED: Browser-based setup doesn’t require software. Supports 16 users, but hard to see much use for that on the road.
TIRED: Hideous! It could double as a doorstop. Confusing, incomplete instructions.
$90, www.3com.com
Linksys Wireless-G Travel Router
WIRED: Clever retractable plug. Cute carrying case with space for Ethernet cord.
TIRED: Software doesn’t work on Mac. In our tests, couldn’t connect to network until we rebooted our cable modem.
$99, www.linksys.com
Most digital cameras, regardless of resolution, have puny image sensors. Who cares? You should. Bigger sensors, like the DSC-R1’s, take clearer pictures, because there’s less interference between pixels. This cam takes 10.3-megapixel images that are remarkably rich and free of noise. It also has a terrific lens that’s on par with the best SLR zoom lenses. But we missed a true through-the-lens optical viewfinder when focusing manually or shooting rapidly. And although the camera offers ISO speeds of up to 3,200, shots are grainy above ISO 800.
- Dylan Tweney
Image sensor
The 0.85 x 0.57-inch CMOS sensor offers eight times the area of the chips in pocket cameras, producing noise-free shots.
Flip-up LCD
The unusually placed screen accommodates many shooting angles. Too bright to see the screen? Use the electronic viewfinder.
Manual zoom lens
The lens is bigger (24 to 120 mm) and faster (f2.8 to 4.8) than other cams in this price range. You zoom up to five times by spinning the barrel.
WIRED: Huge, detailed images. Surprisingly broad wide-angle setting.
TIRED: Permanently mounted lens means there’s no upgrade path. Inconsistent auto-focus. Bulky and heavy (2.1 pounds).
$1,000, www.sony.com
Need help filing that 1040? Whether you want step-by-step hand-holding or just the electronic forms to fill out and file yourself, these premium software packages fit the bill. (Trust me, I worked for the IRS.) - Mayumi Zelechoski
TurboTax Premier + State
WIRED: Straightforward, intuitive interface. Thorough interview. Online forums point out possible bugs and common user input errors. Discounts for Vanguard and Fidelity clients.
TIRED: Audit defense costs $40 more. Some interview questions are redundant.
$70, www.turbotax.com
H&R Block TaxCut Premium + State
WIRED: Checklists help you gather documents and tailor interview to your situation. Price includes audit support and one telephone session with a tax adviser.
TIRED: Navigating can be awkward. Crass sales pitches during interview.
$50, www.taxcut.com
2nd Story Software TaxACT Ultimate Bundle + State
WIRED: If you don’t like interviews and know your way around a 1040, this is for you. Free stripped-down version available.
TIRED: Interface has spare, DOS-like utilitarian look. Tax help reads like excerpts from IRS publications.
$20, www.taxact.com
Gauging body fat at home isn’t as accurate as having a doctor measure it. But it is the easiest way to track your composition over time. Here’s how the best scales stack up against a professional assessment - and one another. - Cathy Lu
Conair WeightWatchers Body Fat/Hydration and Memory Tracker
WIRED: Delivered readings closest to the doctor’s baseline. Quickly recalled results of the last weigh-in.
TIRED: Reports so many stats, they’re easy to mix up.
$84, www.conair.com
Soehnle Rio Body Balance
WIRED: The only scale that senses who’s weighing in (up to 8 users). Second-most-accurate readings.
TIRED: Glass platform makes display hard to read. Limited stats.
$110, www.soehnleusa.com
Tanita InnerScan BC-533
WIRED: Simple to program and use. Easy-to-press buttons. Measures the most stats of the bunch.
TIRED: Tends to underreport body fat. Some of the stats, like visceral fat, are too esoteric.
$120, www.tanita.com
My Weigh Phoenix TBF 440
WIRED: Speaks your weight and body fat - great for nearsighted users in the morning. Stores profiles for 10 users.
TIRED: Underreported body fat by the widest margin. Too ugly even to keep in the closet.
$60, www.myweigh.com
Steelcase Think
Humanscale Liberty
Steelcase Leap
Herman Miller Mirra
Apple Airport Express Base Station
Belkin Wireless G Travel Router
3Com OfficeConnect Wireless 54Mbps 11g Travel Router
Linksys Wireless-G Travel Router
DSC-R1
TurboTax Premier + State
H&R Block TaxCut Premium + State
2nd Story Software TaxACT Ultimate Bundle + State
Conair WeightWatchers Body Fat/Hydration and Memory Tracker
Soehnle Rio Body Balance
Tanita InnerScan BC-533
My Weigh Phoenix TBF 440
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