Although my wife would most likely argue against this, we as gamers don’t always spend all of our time at our PCs. The market for console gaming is huge and DXRacer recognized that and has jumped into the market with chair designed specifically for it. Their new TV Lounge Chair shares a few features with their office chairs but the overall design is drastically different and focused specifically on living room gaming. I took the opportunity to bust out the PlayStation again and put in a little game time in the living room.

Product Name: DXRacer TV Lounge Chair

Review Sample Provided by: DXRacer

Written by: Wes

Pictures by: Wes

 

Specifications

Category

F-Series

Model

FS/FA96/NO

Total Size

Width: 27.56”

Length: 27.56”
Height: 39.76”

Size of armrest

3.93” x 10.62”

Size of seat

Width: 13.78”
Depth: 19.29”
Thickness: 10.62”

Color

Black and Orange

Cover

PU Leather

Armrest

Unadjustable

Base

Nylon

Accessories

Headrest cushion and lumbar cushion

Gross Weight

57 lbs

Warranty

Lifetime on frame 2 years on parts

Features

Padded head rest

Heavy-duty padded backrest

Resilient armrest surface

All steel framework inside

150 degree limitless angle adjuster

Multi-directional ergonomic design

Support your spine and offer superb comfort

New base helps to rest your feet comfortably

 


Packaging

Much like our previous DXRacer chair, when the box was delivered I felt really bad for the delivery guy. This time around the guy actually brought it all the way in when it required a signature, that is putting a lot of faith in me not staying up playing video games all night and sleeping through the door bell. ANYHOW as you can see below with a cat for reference the chair comes in a large box. When you open it up there is a layer of foam over the top and then you get right into the chair itself. There is a three sided foam tray under the chair once you pull the main portion out. Everything piece is wrapped up in plastic as well to keep it safe from any rubbing when being shipped.

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Assembly

To prep myself for assembly I pulled everything out, removed the plastic, and made sure I didn’t have any missing pieces. All of the small pieces and parts went on a small table to make assembly easier as well.

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DXRacers instructions actually suggest starting by putting together the main portion of the chair first but for me starting with putting the base together was more logical. Not only did it help me clear out off my table to give me more room to work, but it also means I have the base ready to drop the main chair onto when I’m ready. Anyhow base assembly was the same as with the M-Series office chair except for the chair base being nylon rather than metal, the nylon base still has a metal ring inside to keep a good hold on the chair still.

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I started by putting all five of the orange foot rests on the top. They each snap into place, so it is very easy. Installing the feat isn’t much harder. They install just like office chair feet but rather than being wheels they are shorter pads that spin but don’t allow you to roll. The last part of base assembly is sitting the Cylinder inside of the base, the Cylinder is just like the hydraulic cylinder that the office chair used but it doesn’t lower or rise.

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Next, we have to install both of the arms onto the main chair. Each used four bolts and each bolt are actually preinstalled in the chair already. You will have to pull the bolts, washers, and lock washers off the chair and start the process of putting it all back together. It’s easiest with an extra set of hands to hold the armrest in place while you do it, but you can still do it yourself if you are patient. DXRacer provides a combination allen wrench and phillips screw driver that you can use for the arm rest bolts.

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Once I finished installing the arm rests I needed to actually bolt the back of the chair to the base of the chair. This was a major difference between this chair and the office chair. Not only did the office chair come together, the actual base is a completely different design. This design uses a round bar that is mounted half way up the sides of the back of the chair and at the front of the bottom of the seat. The Cylinder that we put in the seat is shorter than normal because this design is a few inches away from the bottom of your seat where the office chair design bolts directly to the seat bottom. Bolting the two mounting points together was difficult by myself, you have to use the allen wrench and the provided wrench to bolt everything together while also holding the back of the seat and the base of the seat in perfect position.

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With the chair bolted together, all that was left to do was tie up a few loose ends. First I put this small plastic wheel on the sliding adjustment bar that locks the TV Chair into a reline position. Next I popped the two plastic end caps onto the end of the support bars that bolt to the side of the chair back. Then all that was left to do was put the chair on top of the base that I already put together. The cylinder fits in the hold on the bottom of the chair and is locked into place by sitting in the chair. After putting it all together, that is a task I could get behind. Overall putting it all together took me about 25 minutes, with an extra set of hands that would have saved me a lot of time as well. It is a little more work than some office chairs, but not my much.

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Photos and Features

Now that we have the TV Chair all together we can actually see what it’s all about and what sets it apart from the DXRacer Office Chairs. Because we are LanOC we went with the orange and black model. DXRacer currently has this and a red/black model available but there will also be a white/black model and a blue/black. The orange model is not only brighter than the other models, the accent color covers a larger portion of the chair as well. This isn’t the style you want to get if you want to keep things subtle. Honestly I really should have gone with the red that was also in stock but I couldn’t pass up on the orange (I have a problem).

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The TV Chair comes with the same head and back pillows that their F-Series Office Chair comes with. The head pillow mounts in two different ways depending on if you want it down by your neck or up higher. To get it down by your neck you use the plastic clip that DXRacer provided and run the strap through the fake seatbelt holes in the chair. To put it higher up you just wrap the elastic strap around from the top. The lower back pillow installs a little differently than on the M-Series chair. You run the straps through the bottom of the chair and up through the seatbelt holes and clip it together on the back. Once strapped in you can slide it up and down to find where it fits you best.

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As I mentioned in the assembly section, the base of the TV Chair is similar to what you will find on office chairs. They did drop the wheels though and replaced them with feet. I think they could also get away with the same wheels that the M-Series has with locks on them if they wanted to make it easier to move around. With this being more a piece of furniture than your office chair it’s not a big surprise that they don’t care about moving it around too much.

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The bottom pad for the seat is actually removable meaning if you wear it out after years of use you might be able to replace it. This is actually the opposite of the M-Series office chair I reviewed. The back pad was replaceable on it and the bottom was one solid piece.

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The arm rests on the TV Chair are completely solid and non-adjustable. The only option you have with them is the option to be able to remove and replace them should you damage them.

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The overall seat design is to mimic a car racing seat. Those seats are designed to keep you in place when going around corners so the TV Chair does have side bolstering both on the back and bottom of the seat. This side view of the chair gives you an idea of just how much there is , especially on the back.

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The biggest thing that makes the TV Chair unique is its reclining mechanism. The rest of DXRacer’s chairs are office focused, so they have more of a standard design where they raise and lower with a hydraulic cylinder, recline via the assembly mounted on the bottom of the chair, and they also have reclining chair backs to match the car seats they are designed after. This chair is completely different. The bottom mount mounts to the front of the bottom of the chair and half way up the sides of the chair backs and there isn’t the ability to raise or lower the chair. Reclining acts more like a Lazyboy where the back of the chair tilts back when you push the front of the chair forward. This is controlled with a small lock on the front of the underside of the chair. You can lock it in any position you would like by tightening the lock down. 

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Performance

So in my testing both my wife and I spent time using the chair. I did this because it wouldn’t be fair for me to judge the TV Chair on how well it fits me when frankly it was never designed for someone my size. Because of that I can say that the fit was a little tighter than I would prefer but honestly I could sit in the chair for extended periods of time without any discomfort or issues, I just didn’t have extra room to move around. For Alex, the seat was extremely comfortable and fit her perfectly. The back of the chair has enough padding to keep you comfortable and the base of the chair is soft enough to be comfortable while still being supportive, even at my weight.

The fake leather material that DXRacer used is the same that was on the M-Series chair as well. After spending more time with the M-Series I can confirm that it holds up extremely well and it has the added benefit of not absorbing spilled drinks. Being in the living room with kids this might be a big selling point. Not being able to breath is a downside though, if you don’t keep you’re A/C on it could get a little sticky on hot days.

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The new reclining mechanism is still a little weird to me, for most of our testing I found it easier to lock it into place on a setting in between fully reclined and all the way up. Having to reach in between your legs and find the lock is kind of a pain. With that said the chair is extremely comfortable when you have it kicked all the way back. This is great for kicking back on a late night gaming or watching TV.

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I mentioned before how you can move the head/neck and back pillows around for best comfort. Even on my wife the head pillow in the lower position is down on her neck. If you are taller the higher position will be the only option. Both she and I preferred the seat without both of the pillows, especially the back pillow. But with that being a preference, it’s good that DXRacer gives you the option to use them if you would like as well as position them where they work best for you. It just so happened they worked best for me positioned off the chair entirely.

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So without any adjustment in the armrests I was a little worried about how they would fit various people. For my wife this wasn’t an issue at all as they seemed to be well placed. Due to my size, I would have preferred them to be a little wider, but I’m not the target audience. The target audience for a chair like this is a slightly younger crowd and obviously a little smaller than me. Even so I hope that DXRacer expands this lineup to include chairs for bigger and heavier guys like me, lets me honest playing video games tends to take away from healthier activities and because of that there should still be a good sized market for larger sized gamers.  

The real problem I had with the armrests was actually with the mold design. I know that might sound a little funny, but there was a dip in the underside of the armrests that faces forward on both our sample and the chairs pictures on their website. I have a feeling the original idea was for this to face the rear of the chair where it would never be a problem. Anyhow, when I put my hands on the armrests the rough texture and sharp edges was a bit distracting. Lucky for me the removable armrests actually made it easy to flip them around, all you have to do is remove the two screws and flip it around. Once flipped I no longer had any issues.

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Overall and Final Verdict

I’ll get right to the point, the TV Chair from DXRacer is console gaming in style. If I was a kid with a couple of these and a big screen I would have been the coolest kid on the block. Hell, I’m over 30 and only have one and I feel like the coolest kid on the block right now. They accomplished this by taking the racing styling that DXRacer is known for and adapting it to the requirements that gaming in the living room has. That means that the chair may sit considerably lower than an office chair, but it is the exact height needed to put you right in front of the television. This isn’t just a rebadged office chair. Both my wife and I found the chair to be comfortable, even when sitting in it for long periods of time.

The PU Leather does have the potential to get a little sticky on hot days if you don’t have the A/C on. But it is also easy to keep clean and won’t soak anything up if spilt on it, so it is kids safe. If DXRacer works on future TV Chair models beyond the F-Series I hope they consider making a larger model for larger adults like myself. I would also love to see them consider a different lock for its relining functionality, it is a little hard to reach.

With a price of just under $300 throwing down for a couple chairs for your kids or for your game room isn’t going to be cheap. But it will be what sets your game room apart from the rest. Considering they include free shipping, it does take the sting off things slightly. In fact, I took a look at shipping costs. To ship across the country via FedEx like they do, the standard rate would be a whopping $76.82. Even shipping to our offices (that are within a few hour drive of the DXRacer offices) it’s still over $32. With that in mind, I think the TV Chair is in line with where it should be price wise. Now I just need to setup our new game room to really put it to use!

fv3recomended

Author Bio
garfi3ld
Author: garfi3ldWebsite: http://lanoc.org
Editor-in-chief
You might call him obsessed or just a hardcore geek. Wes's obsession with gaming hardware and gadgets isn't anything new, he could be found taking things apart even as a child. When not poking around in PC's he can be found playing League of Legends, Awesomenauts, or Civilization 5 or watching a wide variety of TV shows and Movies. A car guy at heart, the same things that draw him into tweaking cars apply when building good looking fast computers. If you are interested in writing for Wes here at LanOC you can reach out to him directly using our contact form.

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garfi3ld's Avatar
garfi3ld replied the topic: #35102 27 Jun 2014 14:31
We have seen DXRacer seats for the office, now I take a look at one for the living room.

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