Anybody own a massage chair?

Purchasing one with the help of my tax return is an idea I've kicked around. The only ones I recall seeing locally is at Sharper Image but I have not tried them yet. I may over Christmas vacation. They have one model in which I forget the price but is considerably under a thousand dollars. I have been looking online for independent reviews of such chairs but haven't had too much luck as of yet.

My grandpa has a bad back so last time I was at their house I found that the 2 chairs that sit in front of the TV in their kitchen* had been replaced by 2 of those red leather Sharper Image masage chairs with the calf massage feature. Fantastic chairs, I whole-heartedly recommend them.

*their kitchen is a little unique but I really like it. They have this large open kitchen. Then off the kitchen (but not separated in any way) there are the 2 massaging chairs and a little table to put books and magazines on. Opposite this is a fireplace and TV. Really should get a picture of it as I'm sick of trying to describe it /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif

aw those ones in Sharper Image look so cool.

i've only sat in them. and they're very comfortable.. even when they're not on.

I don't own one but I've tried them. The nice ones are really nice. IMO they're NOT all that great to just sit on when not operating. Not terrible, but not great. Sharper Image is kind of a schlock house, so maybe you want to shop around some other dealers too.

Get a leather one if you do; I bought one that was upholstered in vinyl, and it developed splits and tears over time- it was over a thousand dollars, and in retrospect, leather would likely have been much more durable.
The one I had used an adjustable rolling massage, which I didn't particularly like because the rollers seemed too hard to be comfortable-

My uncle had one, he got rid of it cause it rubbed him the wrong way.

GregR

I tried the iJoy at a local furniture store, very good IMHO (haven't tried many others), and it was under $600. Only thing is it didn't do the calves, etc., only above the waist.

I have the Interactive Health HTT10 chair which is the leather version of the Sharper Image chair. Calf/feet message, etc.

I highly recommend it, it really helps the back. The massage is fairly intense and not everyone likes it (you can lower the intensity), so you should try it out first.