When I started studying lifehacker.com was still a good blog. Their roundups mentioned Herman Miller Aeron and Steelcase Leap. I had a normal 0815 office chair from my work at home. A PHD student I knew had the leap at home because of back problems. When he decided to move away from Germany, he sold his office Leap to his boss and asked around who wanted his home one. I paid 300€ ($336.8 currently) after trying it. Sitting on it just for a few minutes convinced me and I've never sat on a comparable chair anywhere else since then (still using it after over 5 years)