Vertagear SL5000 Unboxing & Build

Riccochet

Fully [H]
Joined
Apr 11, 2007
Messages
29,846
Received the Vertagear SL5000 in Back/Red today. Thought I'd share the unboxing, build and initial quality review.

To preface, when the big brown truck arrived and mister delivery man wheeled it up to my garage I was a bit apprehensive to sign for it. The box was in not that good of a condition. It looked to have been kicked around, beat up, crushed and re-taped. I signed, he left, I have my receipt if I need it (ba-dum-tss).

Here is how the box looked unopened.

IMG_20180821_164753.jpg

IMG_20180821_164801.jpg


IMG_20180821_164809.jpg


IMG_20180821_164819.jpg


Well, it's in the house. Lets open it up and see what we see.

IMG_20180821_165130.jpg


Ok, so far so good. One thing to note here is that there was a considerable amount of extra room in the box. Enough for things to slide around in there. My thoughts on this is that for this kind of money they could have done a better job packing the chair. Even so far as maybe a little thicker cardboard, or double boxed. There were just some sheets of foam, as pictured, between the layers of parts. In the end everything was undamaged. So, there's that.

IMG_20180821_170455.jpg


The chair back rest and seat base were wrapped in plastic. The arm rests were wrapped in more foam sheet and bubble wrap.

IMG_20180821_170629.jpg


Here we have the gas cylinder, casters, tool/screws, head rest, lumbar cushion and tilt mechanism. Everything seemed to be in order.

IMG_20180821_170702.jpg


A closer look at the casters. These are 75mm casters with rubber wrapped wheels. A nice touch with the 5-Star pattern and Vertagear symbol in the center. They feel well made to the touch. I tried flexing them a bit. They're pretty solid.

IMG_20180821_170722.jpg


The head rest cushion is nice and soft, with a memory foam feel. I'm not sure if it is memory foam, but it does retain form for a bit when pushed on. The lumbar cushion is also nice and soft, but definitely fiber filled. They are well constructed and I could not find anything wrong with either.

IMG_20180821_170730.jpg


The tilt mechanism. It's a tilt mechanism. The handle controls the gas cylinder as well as slides in and out to lock the tilt.

IMG_20180821_170753.jpg


Here we have the 5-Star base. It's cast metal construction and feels quite solid. There is a nice coating of grease in the hole where the gas cylinder goes. Keep your fingers out of there, unlike me.

IMG_20180821_170827.jpg


The instruction manual is well written, in multiple languages with excellent color photographs to accompany the instructions.

IMG_20180821_170837.jpg


As you can see, it's very easy to follow.

IMG_20180821_171018.jpg


One thing I noticed during assembly is that the casters do not lock in to the base. They are simply held in by tension via the little clip pictured. I found that odd, but at the same time I don't plan on picking the chair up and dancing around my office attempting to make them fall out either.

IMG_20180821_171332.jpg


The tool and screws are of nice quality. Actually, that tool will be going in to my tool box in the garage. It's that nice.

IMG_20180821_172510.jpg
IMG_20180821_172527.jpg
IMG_20180821_172547.jpg
IMG_20180821_172603.jpg


Build time was around 20 minutes. It could have been less had I not been taking pictures and thoroughly inspecting everything. There are only 8 screws that need attention. Everything else is pushed together. First time sitting in it I thought "man, this chair is hard". Now, to be fair it is new. I'm only 175 lbs and I suspect it will take a few weeks to properly break in. Working from home that will happen in short order. The casters roll extremely well and are quiet. The arm rests are 4 way adjustable. One thing I do not like about the arm rests is that they jiggle. I suppose that is a caveat of being adjustable. This is my first chair with adjustable arm rests, so I have nothing to compare them to. This chair reclines all the way back level with the floor. One must exercise caution when doing this and remember to lock the tilt mechanism before reclining like that. Yes, I went feet up and slammed the floor. The wife was laughing at my misfortune. The PU leather is nice and soft with the seat base being perforated for ventilation.

Overall, I am quite pleased with the chair. Time will tell whether it holds up to my 10-15 hour a day use.

I bought this chair from Office Depot online while it was on sale for $315, plus an additional 25% off coupon and free shipping for a total of $252 shipped. Not bad considering the competition in that price range.
 
Just thought I would give an update to this. The chair itself is holding up quite well. No squeaks, rattles, loose bits or anything. The seat foam is not degraded or flattened one bit. The only gripe I have with this chair were the casters. Eventually the wheels started tilting inward at the top and dragging on the middle part of the of the caster. I kind of expected that given that they were all plastic construction. I've replaced them with some Amazon special rollarblade style casters and all is good.
 
I bought a set of rollerblade wheels for my Aeron. I think they were OWL branded and were $3 shipped, promo price for using them and writing a review on amazon.
They roll almost too easily on my carpeted area, I put a tiny bit of pressure on the ground with my feet and I start to roll backwards.
 
Back
Top