insert expletives here
May. 30th, 2006 11:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
julesjonesI have a new laptop with WinXP. It does not want to play nicely with my old keyboard with the split alphanumeric pad and sundry other ergonomic features. It demonstrates this by every so often deciding that the Shift key is glued down, or developing a stammer, or thinking that the mouse has the left button held down permanently. This morning the random weirdnesses got too much for me to bear, and I swapped over to the USB keyboard that was included with my desktop purchased five years ago. Five years ago it was snarled at for not being an ergonomic keyboard and tossed into the bits cupboard, where it has been ever since. I plugged it in intending to use it as a stopgap until I can get to Fry's for some serious keyboard trialling, and to double-check that the problem is indeed the fact that the old keyboard, henceforth to be known as Preciousss, is so old that it needs an adaptor to plug into a PS/2 port, never mind a USB port. As has been noted in the past, I have RSI and Preciousss suited my hands so well that it was very definitely a case of "You will have to pry it from my cold dead hands."
I hate this keyboard. This keyboard doth suck galaxies through a straw. This isn't just "using a strange keyboard" syndrome. This is not just the keys being in the wrong place (and let us not mention the fact that it is a US keyboard, and thus does indeed have the keys in the wrong place). This is lack of the misnamed "wrist rest".
In fact, what I rest on the wrist rest is the base of my palms. Not while I'm actually typing, you understand, but in all those brief little pauses while I think about what to type next. Often for only half a second or so, but it's amazing the difference it makes. It gives the damaged tendons in my arms a brief rest from supporting the weight of my forearms, and it means that if I'm sensible I can type all day without problems. Just typing this entry without a wrist rest has been enough to give me early warning signs.
Preciousss has a built in rest wrist that was the ideal height, width and slope for me, but I can use a decent flat keyboard with the right wrist rest--that was the setup I had at work. But this is not a decent flat keyboard, because it assumes that the only possible adjustment that anyone would want to make to the slope of the keyboard is to raise the back so that it looks more like a typewriter. Bzzt. Wrong. If anything, I want it to be slightly lower at the back than at the front. That gives me less trouble. Preciousss actually had adjustable feet at front and rear, allowing either variation to be selected, and in several different height combinations.
I can't do any serious typing on this thing as is without risking losing the rest of the week to RSI. So it's probably back to random weirdness and rebooting every so often until I can get to the toyshop. :-(
I hate this keyboard. This keyboard doth suck galaxies through a straw. This isn't just "using a strange keyboard" syndrome. This is not just the keys being in the wrong place (and let us not mention the fact that it is a US keyboard, and thus does indeed have the keys in the wrong place). This is lack of the misnamed "wrist rest".
In fact, what I rest on the wrist rest is the base of my palms. Not while I'm actually typing, you understand, but in all those brief little pauses while I think about what to type next. Often for only half a second or so, but it's amazing the difference it makes. It gives the damaged tendons in my arms a brief rest from supporting the weight of my forearms, and it means that if I'm sensible I can type all day without problems. Just typing this entry without a wrist rest has been enough to give me early warning signs.
Preciousss has a built in rest wrist that was the ideal height, width and slope for me, but I can use a decent flat keyboard with the right wrist rest--that was the setup I had at work. But this is not a decent flat keyboard, because it assumes that the only possible adjustment that anyone would want to make to the slope of the keyboard is to raise the back so that it looks more like a typewriter. Bzzt. Wrong. If anything, I want it to be slightly lower at the back than at the front. That gives me less trouble. Preciousss actually had adjustable feet at front and rear, allowing either variation to be selected, and in several different height combinations.
I can't do any serious typing on this thing as is without risking losing the rest of the week to RSI. So it's probably back to random weirdness and rebooting every so often until I can get to the toyshop. :-(
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Boom!
Date: 2006-05-30 07:37 pm (UTC)Re: Boom!
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Date: 2006-05-31 04:10 pm (UTC)Part of the problem is that ergonomics in general and split keyboards in particular do take some getting used to, especially if you're a hunt and peck typist who wanders all over the keyboard with both hands. If you don't already have wrist problems, there's no incentive to tackle the learning curve. I believe they're also genuinely more expensive to manufacture, which means they're more expensive than bog-standard flats, and people are less inclined to buy them without a reason to do so. This one was $55 plus tax compared with $22 plus tax for the basic model MS ergonomic keyboard that has a curve and slight dishing but no split or palm rest, and a basic flat can be had for under a tenner. (The 4000 also has a number of fancy toys which bump up the price.)
Ergonomics ..
Date: 2006-05-31 03:06 pm (UTC)I have a MS "Natural" keyboard at home which is not perfect, but much better than a standard keyboard ... and at work I'm currently still getting buy with a Compaq keyboard ... but I have a very strange wrist rest (not what I'd wanted, but actually it works pretty darn well) which looks a lot like a long black rubber, er, "sausage" (use your imagination ... now, stop it!)
It's fairly good at sticking to the desk and I have adjusted my chair so my forearms are parallel to the desk top, the wrists sit on the rubber rest and the keyboard I move to have it at the perfect position when typing (I've been known to put something under the front edget to get the slope backwards you've mentioned!), and I have a nice black Kensington mouse pad with built in wrist rest ... and most of the problems I was having with my right wrist and forearm have faded!
Re: Ergonomics ..
Date: 2006-05-31 03:16 pm (UTC)I used to have an Exponent wrist rest at work, which I thought I'd made off with but can't find. That had a tray which the keyboard sat on, so they stayed in alignment. I prefer an ergonomic, but even a flat keyboard works pretty well when set up at the right angle and with the right size rest.
I should probably buy a sausage to keep in the laptop bag, because using a laptop keyboard is horrible... Can you remember the brand/nodel of yours, because one that stays where it's put is a definite necessity.
Not off hand (please ignore pun!)
Date: 2006-05-31 04:17 pm (UTC)It's a lot more like this though I haven't noticed any smell from mine ..
And a lot like this 3M one
Have you seen this one? A wrist rest designed to fit a natural keyboard! Not tried it so can't tell you if it works or is a disaster :-)
I think the closest I've found during my websearch so far is the Fellowes
Though mine seems to taper a bit more towards the ends ...
Before this ...
Date: 2006-05-31 04:18 pm (UTC)