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Go vertical, kids. For keyboard, I have used a Kinesis Freestyle w/ the Ascent explicitly designed for this purpose but now I just use the Matias Ergo Pro with
by chx 10y ago
Go vertical, kids. For keyboard, I have used a Kinesis Freestyle w/ the Ascent explicitly designed for this purpose but now I just use the Matias Ergo Pro with some tripod parts to keep it vertical https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=79810.0 https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=79810.0 (since the pic I have changed a bit but nothing significant, I have these four parts now forming an adjustible, 12" long column: 1/4" to 3/8" male-male spigot, Manfrotto adjustible column, Triopo Short Column, 3/8" female to 1/4" male adapter). The huge advantage of this vs the Kinesis is the super light weight so you can travel with this setup easily. And despite the end result is quite wide it actually collapses into smaller parts so I can just pack them in the same padded tablet bag as the keyboard. Alas, the same bag is now out of production and I honestly have no idea what to recommend. In the same forum you can find other solutions to keep it vertical.
For mouse, Evoulent is good and I have used many generations of it and I can tell you the difference is negligible so you can just go on eBay and buy an older generation for cheap. It is a b!tch to travel with as it is really oddly shaped. Oh well, nothing is perfect.
- sova 10y agoNever even considered going "vertical" for a keyboard. I wonder if a future laptop utilizing this would have a screen hugged by two keyboard-buns? Future tech sandwich.
- chx 10y agoI wish! But aside from the butterfly ThinkPad I am unaware of any laptop with moving parts keyboards.
- 0xfeba 10y agoI've always wondered why they don't make keyboard halves that attach to arm rests on the typical office chair. So your arms are lowered for more blood flow, and the wrists and elbows in a more natural/neutral position. I'd buy it. In the meantime, I have a MS "natural" keyboard, and a vertical mouse as well. Those have solved all my RSI/wrist pains. Going back to flat or compact keyboards and horizontal mice is extremely annoying. Not just the muscle memory gap, but the positioning just feels wrong.
- spacehacker 10y agoMy experience is that vertical keyboards only alleviate some problems and even cause new ones. They do relieve pressure from the ulna and radius being in a twisted position and they obviously relieve pressure from the side of the hands. On the downside, they put strain on the shoulders and neck since the arm is held freely in the air for prolonged time. Vertical keyboards also don't help with issues due to spreading ones pinkies too far for reaching control, shift and enter. For me the Kinesis Advantage was overall a far better relief. None of the measures I tried were however more effective than stretching and upper body strength training.
- chx 10y agoGet a better chair with adjustible armrests lifted to desk height so your elbow is always supported.
- spacehacker 10y agoI had the problem despite of arm rests. Keeping the hands in a lifted position was the problem, moreover even a slightly bad pose caused my hands to bend downwards to reach the keys, which is also suboptimal. Armrests themselves are not optimal for supporting the arm because the surface area is small and hence the pressure is high.