6 ms·
As someone who has suffered from RSI, my advice is to not fix a problem you don't have. I've been there, and it just cost me money. In my case, I didn't need a
by fhd2 13y ago
As someone who has suffered from RSI, my advice is to not fix a problem you don't have. I've been there, and it just cost me money.
In my case, I didn't need a curved keyboard or a split keyboard, those things ended up in the cupboard. I just had to get rid of the numpad to change my position from awkward to healthy. So, for me, this keyboard is actually interesting, the variant without the numpad that is.
- stormbrew 13y agoWhy does the numpad make your position awkward by its presence? Can't you just pretend it's not there? Every keyboard I've owned since the late 80s has had a numpad and I've hardly ever used it. Oh never mind, I see your reply to the top post below now. Because it moves the mouse too far away.
- stevelosh 13y agoIt's because it takes up space and puts the mouse further to the right. Tenkeyless fans like how you can have the mouse in a more comfortable place.
- CWIZO 13y agoYou have to move your hand more if there is a numerical part. Make the keyboard narrower and you reduce hand movements by a lot. And that helps.
- fhd2 13y agoIt forced me to either move the keyboard too far to the left or the mouse too far the right, the former causing wrist pain in both hands, the latter causing pain in the right wrist. So, what fixed my pain was the smaller keyboard, not the lack of a numpad. The numpad just happends to be a big, expendable chunk :) One of the keyboards I got in order to fix this was a Microsoft ergonomic keyboard, which includes the numpad and is also wider than what I've used before. So getting an ergonomic keyboard actually made things worse in one case.
- reddit_clone 13y agoI had the same problem and solved it by switching the mouse to my left hand. It was awkward at first but then I got used to it. I move my left hand about three inches to get the mouse. With my right hand (using the old MS split keyboard) it was nearly a foot!
- anthonyb 13y agoBut then how do you cut and paste? Ctrl-Z, X, C, V are going to be hard to reach if you're mousing with your left hand.
- saraid216 13y agoContext menu select?
- anthonyb 13y agoWith a mouse in your off hand? That's got to be slower.
- lewispollard 13y agoSouthpaw here. Right thumb on left ctrl, zxcv are all right under my fingers.
- reddit_clone 13y agoThis problem never came up for me. I am an Emacs user with both keys either side of Space bar mapped to Ctrl. And I use Ctrl with either hand using my thumbs bent inwards (or sometimes with my palms). I also try to use mouse minimally.
- pornel 13y agoI've moved numpad to the left instead: http://www.a4tech.com/product.asp?cid=1&scid=1&id=54 http://www.a4tech.com/product.asp?cid=1&scid=1&id=54
- io 13y ago
- SanjayUttam 13y agoFWIW, when I used focus more on networking rather than development, I always used the numpad for typing in IP addresses. I found it was much faster to use it rather than moving horizontally across the number keys, but YMMV of course. Disclaimer: have a DAS Model S at work and home...can't really do without it (at least when the alternative is a terrible laptop keyboard)
- Mindless2112 13y agoI switched my mouse over to the left side of my keyboard (despite being decidedly right-handed) to avoid the numberpad issue. In the end I still had to ditch straight keyboards to avoid RSI. (I've since gotten a keyboard without a numberpad and switched back, but I can still use a left-handed mouse pretty well. It's one step below having a trackball as far as confusing people who try to use my computer goes. :P)
- ibrahima 13y agoI usually use a thumb trackball, but once when my wrist pain got pretty bad I started using one of the ambidextrous trackballs with my left hand for a bit, it was actually pretty nice.
- doktrin 13y agoFor a long time I used the Filco tenkeyless with Cherry MX brown key switches, together with an Evoluent vertical mouse. That particular combination was very good for my wrists. Unfortunately, the Filco tenkeyless can be a bit tricky to find (and of course are not backlit).
- jaryd 13y agoI have one of these as well (majestouch tenkeyless). My girlfriend routinely threatens to throw it out the window (which would obviously be devastating), but I am holding on to it tightly. In my excitement I bought a version without key markings. In retrospect, this was kind of silly. Theoretically it was supposed to promote touch typing, and so consequently increase my speed. In reality, I don't really notice a difference, and it mostly just serves to deter friends and family from using my computer (probably both a positive and a negative outcome).
- doktrin 13y agoI had the tenkeyless "ninja", which basically means the key markings were on the front instead of the top. It was a nice compromise. I also use the Das Keyboard "ultimate", which has blank keys. I rarely look at my keys anyhow, so it's mostly a conversation piece at the office :P
- ibrahima 13y agoThere's a newer mechanical tenkeyless keyboard that's pretty cheap, the CM Storm Quickfire Rapid: http://www.amazon.com/CM-Storm-QuickFire-Rapid-Mechanical/dp/B0068INSUM http://www.amazon.com/CM-Storm-QuickFire-Rapid-Mechanical/dp... It's a "gaming" brand keyboard I guess but it's half the cost of a Filco and comes in 4 different switch types. I just got one, seems pretty nice, although I only use it for gaming and my MS Natural 4000 for typing. Though I wish MS would make a tenkeyless version of the Natural 4000, because I do dislike the extreme width (they're making a new wireless ergonomic keyboard that's tenkeyless but it has scissor switches and I don't really like switches with little travel - almost went crazy when they gave me an Apple thin keyboard during an internship, and I quickly went to their old computer parts storage and got an older Apple keyboard to avoid losing my mind).
- CWIZO 13y agoTry this: http://www.contour-design.co.uk/products/rollermouse-red http://www.contour-design.co.uk/products/rollermouse-red I have it at the office and it's just amazing.
- luke_s 13y agoI read through that page and it doesn't seem to explain how it actually works. With only one roller how do you move the mouse up and down, left and right?
- CWIZO 13y agoYou roll the roller for up/down, move it left/right for ... wait for it ... left/right :) It's really intuitive.
- the_gipsy 13y agoWhat happens when you reach e.g. the rightmost position of the rod? A mouse has "infinite" movement, the rod only has infinite vertical movementent, unless I'm missing something.
- pkamb 13y agoThere's a "button" on the end of the rod. If you slide the pipe fully over and depress the button, your mouse will continue to travel horizontally.
- jevinskie 13y agoI was confused at first but I realized I was looking at the scroll wheel surrounded by mouse buttons. Cursor movement is done with the "bar" above the buttons/scroll wheel. Move left/right in a finite lateral motion or up/down in an infinite scroll motion.
- pkamb 13y agoImagine a long rod. Slide a shorter pipe onto it. You move on the X-axis by sliding the pipe left/right on the rod. Move on the Y-axis by rolling the pipe. Click by pushing the entire contraption down.