Ergonomics Specialist

[Todd W]

Has anyone had an ergonomics specialist come to their office/home and setup their work area properly?

I have mine setup as "good" as I can get myself and still suffer from wrist/arm/hand/elbow pains regularly. I do NOT sit here more than 8hrs a day either... so something is not right.

I'm wondering how you found the specialist and trusted them etc?

What i'm looking for is someone who is paid per-hour or visit and can SUGGEST items such as desks, chairs, etc.. I don't want someone who sells the stuff because then they have other reasons ($$) to sell me the stuff.

Suggestions ?


Thanks
-Todd

[KLB]

I'm assuming you use a traditional mouse? I used to suffer wrist pain and solved it completely by getting rid of my traditional mouse and switching over to an ergonomic keyboard with a built in touch pad.

Literally the mouse is the single worst ergonomic part of a computer because it causes a lot of excessive and repetitive wrist, forearm movement. Switching to a touch pad allows one to accomplish the exact same function by only moving a finger. One needs to allow two or three weeks to get used to a ergonomic keyboard touchpad combination but I'd never switch back (been using them for around eight years).

The keyboard touch pad combo I use is by Adesso you can find their offerings at: http://www.adesso.com/products.asp?categoryid=7&subcatid=56

Beyond eliminating the movement required by a mouse an ergonomic keyboard and touchpad combo has some other ergonomic advantages over a traditional keyboard and mouse. These include:

1) The line from the forearm through the wrist and into the hand remains straighter because keys are splayed out. This relives pressure on the carpal tunnels in the wrists.

2) Keyboard can be kept in lap without needing to reach for a mouse. This allows shoulders to be more relaxed and allows one to be further away from the computer monitor (being too close to a CRT screen is bad for the eyes).

3) Shorter distance to the pointing device from keyboard as the touch pad is directly below the space bar. This means much less movement to go back and forth from keyboard to pointing device.


Here are some hints to make a touchpad more effective:

1) As you get used to a touch pad speed it up to the absolute fastest you can handle and set the acceleration at maximum. Once you get used to the higher speeds and higher acceleration it will allow you accurately to move the cursor across an entire 1024x768 or larger screen with only about 1/2 inch of finger movement. Literally most of my own finger movement is within a 3/8" high by 1/2" wide box in the center of my touch pad and my computer is set to 1024 x 768.

2) To increase accuracy, as the cursor gets close to its final destination I stop sliding the finger and instead roll it slightly. After awhile this slide/roll movement becomes completely second nature and you never think about it. I even do tedious Photoshop cursor movements in this fashion.

3) Remember to ONLY move the finger; do not move the entire hand. Allow the hand to rest on the palm rest. The goal is to eliminate wrist/forearm movement AND the finger is more precise when it comes to touch pads than the arm/wrist.

4) Get used to using the touch pad with either hand. Given the touch pad position below the space bar it is very easy to use either hand to control the cursor. By getting used to using either hand you can more evenly distribute the cursor "work" between your hands. This can reduce stress on one hand if it becomes injured.

5) I personally make sure to download and use the drivers supplied by Adesso for the trackpad rather than depending on Microsoft's drivers as the Adesso driver is much better. I have a IBM Thinkpad T42 laptop and I even like the Adesso "Glide" drivers better than IBM's touch pad drivers.

Before hiring an ergonomics specialist I'd recommend seeing if changing to an ergonomic keyboard/touchpad combo resolves your issues as it would be a lot cheaper. It did resolve my wrist issues and it solved wrist issues of other people I recommended this solution to that gave it a try. Just remember if you aren't use to touch pads they take a little getting used to (especially once you push them up to their maximum speed and acceleration).

[Todd W]

KLB - Thanks for the info.

My wrist to the mouse is ----- my arm rests on my chair. I have a nice mouse pad and a VERY fast mouse. But yes you are correct my mouse hand/wrist/harm is what is bothering me.

I think 1 of my main problems is that the mouse is about 4" to the right from where it should be so my rist is kind of \ (yes angled left - my armg goes / then my wrist corrects it and goes \) all the time. Problem is the keyboard is to the left andt he mouse is as far left as it can go :-/

Whenever I use the touch pad on my laptop my wrist hurts differntly and worse. And I can NEVER use a touchpad for photoshop, coding, copying/pasting, etc. It just will NEVER replace the mose. A trackball maybe butn ot a touchpad.

Thanks for the reply.
-Todd

[Todd W]

I'm going to look for a keyboard that doesn't have the # pad on it (to the right) and that 4" should be enough to align my mouse correctly. :)

[KLB]

Based on my experience I'd wager you'll never solve your problem until you get rid of the mouse. I'll also wager that if after a couple hours of computing you will find that your mouse hand is a few degrees cooler than your other hand.

The problem is that no matter how hard you try, you are constantly flexing and tensing the wrist in ways that puts pressure on your carpel tunnel. The wrist isn't designed for this type of repetitive fine motions nor this type of constant tension. Even if you try to keep your wrist straight and move the mouse from your elbow, your wrist will still flex and the act of trying to keep it from flexing keeps it tense. Moving the position of the mouse will not help (I tried); you need to get rid of it.

Even to this day if I have to switch over to a mouse, within a week or so of using a mouse my wrist pain will return. At the same time I'm on my computer 10 - 14 hours a day working or goofing off (about 60 – 80 hours per week) without any wrist or arm pain what so ever by using a touch pad and ergonomic keyboard.

Oh if you are a big framed person (e.g. broad shoulders and chest) an ergonomic keyboard is even more important than for a small framed person as your arms are further apart to begin with and a straight keyboard forces your wrists into more extreme angle. I've known of one case where a guy was so big that he could hardly type and breath until he was given an ergonomic keyboard that allowed his hands to be further apart (sad but true).

My overall ergonomic posture would freak out any health and safety expert, yet I haven't had any "occupational" pain or discomfort in years because of my simply getting rid of the mouse. In fact, right now I'm laid out on my couch in the most god awful position with my keyboard half on my lap and half on the couch. When I do sit at a desk (which is very rare) the first thing I do is remove any arm rests or lower them as far as possible so that I can place my keyboard in my lap and type comfortably (which is usually leaned back in the chair).

If you are willing to spend a couple hundred dollars on an ergonomics specialist, first spend $80 and give a keyboard/touch pad combo a try for a month or so. If you don't like it, I'm sure you could eBay it off and recoup most of your money.

[Cutter]

Wow, great info Ken! I don't know why but the thought never even crossed my mind to try a touchpad. $79 is a walk in the park compared to some of the other ergonomic solutions out there.

I've been following OSHA's ergonomic guidelines for about two years, more or less, and things have slowly gotton worse. Of course, i'm am using the computer 80-100+ hours a week. Wearing wrist braces at night helped for about 6 months but lately its gotten worse.

[Todd W]

Cutter- I don't know how you are productive with a touch pad? I have one on my laptop and I can not select text to copy/paste worth a damn! I can do it just fine but not NEAR as fast as Ican with my mouse.

When I use the laptop my wrist hurts more and in ad ifferent area from using the touch pad. I may give the touchpad a try but the way you describe it you sound relaxed and like your browsing or doing something else than what I do.

Do you program? Constantly switch back and forth between photoshop, dreamweaver and firefox all day? I can see how a keyboard and touchpad would be fine for browsing the web or writing articles in word but for "working" I just can't see them being productive at all. Switching forums, clicking links, checking stats, etc etc, I just can't imagine a touchpad being all that productive and the whole kb on lap sounds laid back.. you say you lean back etc in your chair it sounds like you are sitting "comfy" and not "safely" myabe just me???

So I guess my question is: What kind of work do you do with your setup?

Maybe I'm looking at it wrong because the laptop touch pad is not on th edge... hrm for $80 it's worth a shot. I want a chair with arm pads too :)

[Todd W]

Wow, great info Ken! I don't know why but the thought never even crossed my mind to try a touchpad. $79 is a walk in the park compared to some of the other ergonomic solutions out there.

I've been following OSHA's ergonomic guidelines for about two years, more or less, and things have slowly gotton worse. Of course, i'm am using the computer 80-100+ hours a week. Wearing wrist braces at night helped for about 6 months but lately its gotten worse.

Just read your blog - congrats on speaking at ASW, wish I could go.

[Cutter]

Take out a loan and make it, thats what Shoemoney basically did last year and look where he is now! (although it wasn't affiliate summit, was an seo conference)

Yeah, unfortunately I probably couldn't work as fast with a touchpad... but for basic stuff no complaints. I'm more interested in those hand/arm positions at this point. I know I am at the border of having to have hand surgery. I was thinking, no big deal do it endoscopic. Then I found out small wrists make it a no-no. Saw a few pics of fileted open hands and decided may be its worth backing off even if its going to mean making substantially less money.

I have tried some wacky stuff including mousing with my feet. Yeah, it works. The downsides are slower movement and you mouse smells like your feet.

[Todd W]

Take out a loan and make it, thats what Shoemoney basically did last year and look where he is now! (although it wasn't affiliate summit, was an seo conference)

Yeah, unfortunately I probably couldn't work as fast with a touchpad... but for basic stuff no complaints. I'm more interested in those hand/arm positions at this point. I know I am at the border of having to have hand surgery. I was thinking, no big deal do it endoscopic. Then I found out small wrists make it a no-no. Saw a few pics of fileted open hands and decided may be its worth backing off even if its going to mean making substantially less money.

I have tried some wacky stuff including mousing with my feet. Yeah, it works. The downsides are slower movement and you mouse smells like your feet.

Have the $ to go just have other things going on right now.

I'll have to look at that 'small hand' thing. My hands are "medium" according to gloves but they seem on the smaller size and it would SUCK to be out for two months. My mother had the surgory done on BOTH hands at ONCE and she was unable to type w/out poking for a good 4 weeks. Probably 1 week before she could even poke around AT ALL. Not somehting I'm interested in!

-Todd

[KLB]

Cutter- I don't know how you are productive with a touch pad? I have one on my laptop and I can not select text to copy/paste worth a damn! I can do it just fine but not NEAR as fast as Ican with my mouse.

To be honest I do not like the touch pad drivers provided with my Thinkpad, but my Thinkpad's touch pad is much better with the Glidepoint drivers provided with my keyboard. The biggest problems I see with people who can't get used to or effectively use a touch pad is in the speeds they have the touch pad set at and the way they move their finger.

All motion should be driven from the finger muscles. If you are not resting your hand on the palm rest and only moving the index finger, you are losing control of the cursor. The wrist should be relaxed with the finger arched slightly and only the finger tip touching the touchpad. The hand and wrist may move slightly, but this should be driven by the finger muscles NOT the hand/wrist related muscles. There are two basic finger movements. The first is extension and flexing of the finger (call it the X-axis) and the second a side to side sweep (call it the Y-axis). With these two motions you can make all necessary macro movements of the cursor. Micro movements of the cursor should be controlled via a slight rolling of the finger.

One thing that causes most people problems with a touch pad is the drivers themselves which can only set cursor speed. The Glidepoint drivers address this issue by having a second option that controls acceleration. What acceleration does is adjust the speed and distance a cursor moves by the speed of the finger. As a result with a slow finger motion the cursor might only move a few inches with a 1/2 inch finger movement, but with a fast finger "twitch" the cursor would move all the way across the screen for the same 1/2 finger movement. This ability to adjust the acceleration of the cursor makes all the difference in the world with how controllable a touchpad is. This is why I'm still able to do Photoshop work with a touch pad.

One thing that is important to remember is that touch pads work by electrostatic contact, so one doesn't need to press hard on the touch pad -- a light touch will do just fine. Also because the touch pad requires electrostatic conductivity, extremely dry or dirty fingers sometimes don't work real well. Keeping hands washed is very helpful.


When I use the laptop my wrist hurts more and in ad ifferent area from using the touch pad. I may give the touchpad a try but the way you describe it you sound relaxed and like your browsing or doing something else than what I do.
I do lots of typing, lots of programming and a lot of data entry. This all requires constant switching between applications and lots of copy and pasting, which means a lot of cursor work. From time to time I also do a lot of Photoshop work, which required very fine control. Again the problem you are experiencing with touch pads is caused by the limited drivers and maybe finger position over the touch pad.


Do you program? Constantly switch back and forth between photoshop, dreamweaver and firefox all day?
Yes this is 90% of my computer time. I am constantly switching back and forth between Firefox, Photoshop, UltraEdit (the text editor I use for PHP/HTML development), MS-Access (database development), MySQL development tools, MS-Word (spell check all posts I make like this), FTP client, etc. On occasion I will play computer games like SimCity and "Black and White" which are 100% cursor controlled and require very fine controlled movements.


I can see how a keyboard and touchpad would be fine for browsing the web or writing articles in word but for "working" I just can't see them being productive at all.
I am a power user, not a casual surfer and I make my living from my computer. With my track pad/keyboard set up I'm way more productive than with a traditional mouse in part because I'm not forced to depend on one hand to handle the cursor, I simply switch back and forth between hands depending on which is most available.


Switching forums, clicking links, checking stats, etc etc, I just can't imagine a touchpad being all that productive and the whole kb on lap sounds laid back.. you say you lean back etc in your chair it sounds like you are sitting "comfy" and not "safely" myabe just me???
Its not you, it is the standard Microsoft drivers most laptop touch pads use. Quite frankly they suck. Again the acceleration option on the Glidepoint driver make all the difference in the world. If I had to depend on standard mouse drivers for my touch pad I'd go out of my mind.


So I guess my question is: What kind of work do you do with your setup?
Like I said above I do a lot of web site/application development including graphics work and massive amounts of data entry which requires constant copying and pasting between applications. All of this requires constant cursor operation with very fine control.


Maybe I'm looking at it wrong because the laptop touch pad is not on th edge... hrm for $80 it's worth a shot. I want a chair with arm pads too :)
Again it’s the drivers that make all the difference. If laptop manufacturers/Microsoft put the acceleration option in their mouse drivers lap top touch pads would be much better.

[chromate]

I had no idea these things were such a big problem. So glad I'm lucky enough not to have to deal with it. Perhaps because I spend most of my working time slumped on the sofa with the laptop sitting on a cushion on my lap and my mouse arm resting comfortably on the seat next to me. :)

[Cutter]

well, the adesso keyboard just came, and the damn site is down so I can't get the drivers for the touchpad :flare:

[KLB]

well, the adesso keyboard just came, and the damn site is down so I can't get the drivers for the touchpad :flare:
PM me your email address and I'll email them to you. I just downloaded the latest ones last week. I also have an earlier version of the drivers, which might work better for you.

[Todd W]

How come you got the adesso keyboard?

[Cutter]

I got the drivers now, I am going to have to e-mail them because for some reason when i open it in the control panel it says no glidepoint devices attached.

I got the adesso keyboard because thats what Ken said he used.

[KLB]

Are you using the keyboard via the PS2 port or are you using the USB adapter. PS2 to USB adapter can not be used for the track pad. This is a short coming of the USB adapter, which is really a third-party device that is really designed for traditional mice and identifies itself as a traditional mouse.

In regards to keyboards, the reason I use and mentioned Adesso is because it is the only one I have been able to find over the years that uses the Cirque Glidepoint touch pad, which I like so much. I've been using Cirque Glidepoint enabled keyboards since around 1997.

In the last few iterations of the Adesso keyboard they have made some significant improvements in the keyboard, I just wish they would switch over to a native USB adaptor instead of sticking with the PS2 adaptors. Really I can't see why Adesso couldn't embed a mini "USB hub" inside the keyboard and hardwire the keyboard and a USB enabled Glidepoint track pad (which Cirque sells) to this hub there by allowing the use of a single USB cable for the keyboard trackpad combo.

The moment I see a native USB Adesso keyboard/trackpad combo is the moment I replace my current keyboard. Hmmm... maybe it is time for me to email Adesso again and suggest my solution above. I noticed they changed the latest keyboard's power button after I complained about the old button being to easy to accidently bump turning off the computer.

[Cutter]

yeah i am using the ps2 port. I'd buy another keyboard immediately if usb was available so I could use it with my brand new laptop (which came today too.)

[KLB]

I bought a port replicator for my IBM Thinkpad so that I would have PS2 ports.

[Cutter]

Ah, didn't know they had those. I'll pick one up.

Here is a question, if I understood what you said earlier, you use the drivers for your laptop too? When I run the install on my laptop it asks me if its for ps/2 or usb. Should I be doing someting else?

[KLB]

I haven't yet played with the new drivers using my laptop's built in touch pad. I'll have to see what happens. The older drivers (which I still have the install package for) work great with the laptop's touch pad.

When installing you want to choose PS/2. I don't know what will happen if you install the USB version. At worse you can set a restore point before installing the new drivers and see what happens if you don't like the results roll back to the restore point.

Once you have installed the drivers there will be a new folder called "GuidePoint" in the start menu either under "programs" or "accessories". In this folder will be a program called "GlidePoint Control Center". You'll need to use this to tweak your trackpad settings. The most important settings are under the "motion" tab. I personally slide the "realitive motion" slider 2/3 of the way towards "fast" and the "acceleration" slider all the way to "fast". This makes for a fairly twitchy touchpad.

If your cursor starts acting really goofy and you loose control of it via the trackpad after a period of time you need to reboot your computer and then open the "mouse properties" under the control pannel and then select the "hardware" tab. On this tab look for "GlidePoint 3.3 PS/2 Touchpad" and highlight it then click "properties". Under "properties" go to the "advanced settings" tab and check your "sample rate". You might need to reduce this to 100 reports/second.

Also AND THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT: When your computer boots avoid using the mouse/touchpad at all (use keyboard navigation) until the computer has fully booted and fully started after log in. The Glidepoint drivers need to be allowed time to load once the computer has started. Typically seeing anti-virus and firewall (e.g. ZoneAlarm) icons appear in the task tray is enough time. This has been a quirk with Glidepoint drivers all the way back to the 90's and Win95, but if you use the touchpad too soon sometimes the Glidepoint drivers don't load correctly. If your system is like mine and loading a ton of stuff (Apache, MySQL, anti-virus, ZoneAlarm, syncronization, IBM utilities, yada, yada, yada....) its best to just let the computer do its own thing.

--Addition--
Make sure WinXP is allowing unsigned drivers as Cirque (the trackpad vendor) never got around to getting their GlidePoint drivers signed (something I have never understood).

[Cutter]

Sent their tech support an e-mail, its still being wierd.

Now I have been using for over 24 hours now. Initally it felt great, now that I have slept and woken up my hands are feeling sore.

The upward curve really bothers me. I prefer keyboards to slant downwards, not up. I am feeling on strain in my fingers now, but my wrists are fine. Its kind of like pinching in my finger joints.

I am liking the touchpad, haven't used the mouse since I plugged this thing in.

[KLB]

If you aren't already, try the keyboard in your lap. You may find this resolves the keyboard slant issue. If this doesn't turn out to be comfortable for you, try using a wooden ruler or something similar under the front of your keyboard to change it slant.

One important thing to remember is that ergonomically speaking, ideally your shoulders should be relaxed with your upper arms hanging relaxed. Your elbow should be bent with your fore arm going almost horizontally to the keyboard with palms resting on the palm rest and straight wrists.

[Cutter]

I'll give that a try. For the most part, all yesterday it worked great. It has definately taken the pressure away from my wrists.

Interesting, I just got a new Business 2.0 today and they had the non-touchpad Adsesso listed as theri #1 ergonomic keyboard pick.

Now if I can just get these drivers working....

[KLB]

Please tell me the following:
1) describe how the touch pad misbehaving?
2) are your fingers excessively dry, sweaty or oily (these cause problems)?
3) which drivers version did you install?
4) go to "mouse properties" --> "hardware" --> "Glidepoint....Touchpad" --> "Properties" --> "Advanced settings" and tell me what the settings are. One thing you might try is to uncheck "Fast Initialization" and reboot. This might stabilize out the drivers.

[Todd W]

What's the link to this KB you guys just got?

Thanks
-Todd

[KLB]

There are two ergonomic keyboards with built in touchpads, one is black the other is white:
http://www.adesso.com/products_detail.asp?productid=295
http://www.adesso.com/products_detail.asp?productid=296

[Todd W]

There are two ergonomic keyboards with built in touchpads, one is black the other is white:
http://www.adesso.com/products_detail.asp?productid=295
http://www.adesso.com/products_detail.asp?productid=296

PS2 Interesting.. might actualy be good for me since I am out of USB on the back of my pc ;) Thanks guys.

[KLB]

PS2 Interesting.. might actualy be good for me since I am out of USB on the back of my pc ;) Thanks guys.

Ya, don't use any PS2 to USB adapters or the touchpad will lose it's special Cirque magic.

It sounds like you need to get a USB hub.

[Todd W]

Ya, don't use any PS2 to USB adapters or the touchpad will lose it's special Cirque magic.

It sounds like you need to get a USB hub.

Yeah, or get my lazyass to hookup my front USB ports. I never use USB devices and all of a sudden fell into a bunch of them and bam all ports are used.

I recently snagged a 250gb external HD for backups... now when I go on vaca or trips for work I take the backup drive with me incase of fire/theft. I already backup onto a secondary drive but that doesn't help if my **** is stolen or burned. Oh, and I do dvd backups every once in a while and leave them at my parents and use carbonite (for not secure data) too. I like to be prepared.

[Cutter]

Please tell me the following:
1) describe how the touch pad misbehaving?
2) are your fingers excessively dry, sweaty or oily (these cause problems)?
3) which drivers version did you install?
4) go to "mouse properties" --> "hardware" --> "Glidepoint....Touchpad" --> "Properties" --> "Advanced settings" and tell me what the settings are. One thing you might try is to uncheck "Fast Initialization" and reboot. This might stabilize out the drivers.

1. Actually touchpad seems fine. Only problem is I can't get to the settings in the control panel (may be I'll be able to fix it, I have two unread email from adesso)

2. Pretty dry. I wouldn't say execively

3. Tried both latest and old drivers you e-mailed me.

I am going to try turning of fast initialization.

[Todd W]

Woke up this AM with my last 3 fingers tingling... (starting wtih pinky and going in). I was on my back and my hand was next to me, I wasn't on it either. GRRRRRRRR!

[KLB]

Woke up this AM with my last 3 fingers tingling... (starting wtih pinky and going in). I was on my back and my hand was next to me, I wasn't on it either. GRRRRRRRR!
Have you seen a doctor?

Tingling fingers so quickly is very concerning. It is sounding like you might have a pinched nerve or something in your wrist. I would have it checked out.

[Todd W]

Have you seen a doctor?

Tingling fingers so quickly is very concerning. It is sounding like you might have a pinched nerve or something in your wrist. I would have it checked out.

Making an apt. soon. It happens like 2 x a month. I wake up randomly (on my back not my arm) and slight tingle and im like WTF then go back to sleep. I needa get it all checked out.

[KLB]

They are probably going to tell you that you have to take some time off from your computer and make you wear braces to limit the motion of your wrists. If only one hand is bothering you you might be able to switch hands that move your cursor device and will have to limit your typing.

[KLB]

After playing with the new 3.0 GlidePoint driver for about a week now, I have decided to revert back to the 2.0 drivers as the new drivers are not as stable. I have been using the 2.0 drivers for a couple of years now with no problems, but the 3.0 drivers have been nothing but problems and get really flaky after my computer has been running for a day or so.

[Nick_s]

Woke up this AM with my last 3 fingers tingling... (starting wtih pinky and going in). I was on my back and my hand was next to me, I wasn't on it either. GRRRRRRRR!

I recommend a book called "Conquering Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Other Repetitive Strain Injuries", which is a book full of upper body stretches. One of the best investments I ever made. I'm no expert but from what i've read the last fingers can be affected from strain in your elbow.

[Todd W]

Ok so I got the adsesso kb and so far the kb is taking some getting used to but the touchpad in the midde seems very uncomfortable....

Am I dointhin somethin wrong or what? My wrist is def all angled inword... and its resting on the hard plastic edge not to comfy.

(One thing I note about the KB and my main thing is I norm hit the Y with my left pointer now I have to do it with my right thats about the only thing I am off on.. well and the space bar is really close and the backspace feels far away))

So whats the deal with the touchpad? Do I need software to make it work diff or what so far it seems to be working ok but hard on my hand,

[Todd W]

NOticing strain on left palm uunder thumb I think my seat may be to low.

Ill continue updating

[Todd W]

The mouse is set for as fast as possible and its to slow (pointer) for me. My usb bmouse is fine cuz it has extra drivers to make it faster but already I can tell the touchpad is slooo.

[KLB]

Todd are you referring to the Glidepoint track pad when you say your mouse is set as fast as possible? If so are you using Glidepoint's drivers (version 2 work better than version 3 for me)? If you are using Glidepoint's drivers have you used the GlidePoint Control Center to adjust the "acceleration" of your touch pad? The acceleration is where the GlidePoint touch pad starts to really shine and it is the most important feature.

Honestly the difference between the default Microsoft mouse drivers on a touch pad and the GlidePoint drivers is the difference between driving a a golf cart or driving a Formula one race car. I seriously doubt anyone can handle a GlidePoint touch pad set to its maximum speed and maximum acceleration. I personally can only handle my GlidePoint touch pad set to about 66% of maximum speed.

[Todd W]

Todd are you referring to the Glidepoint track pad when you say your mouse is set as fast as possible? If so are you using Glidepoint's drivers (version 2 work better than version 3 for me)? If you are using Glidepoint's drivers have you used the GlidePoint Control Center to adjust the "acceleration" of your touch pad? The acceleration is where the GlidePoint touch pad starts to really shine and it is the most important feature.

Honestly the difference between the default Microsoft mouse drivers on a touch pad and the GlidePoint drivers is the difference between driving a a golf cart or driving a Formula one race car. I seriously doubt anyone can handle a GlidePoint touch pad set to its maximum speed and maximum acceleration. I personally can only handle my GlidePoint touch pad set to about 66% of maximum speed.

My track pad is using MS stuff now... I guess I need to get the other drivers.

But so far it's a LOT more painful using the track pad than the mouse... I mean it's a whole 8" off center from my right wrist...

[KLB]

My track pad is using MS stuff now... I guess I need to get the other drivers.

But so far it's a LOT more painful using the track pad than the mouse... I mean it's a whole 8" off center from my right wrist...

The pain is probably coming from too much finger/wrist movement caused by a slow driver forcing you to make multiple finger strokes to get the cursor where you want it. Microsoft's default mouse driver is all but useless for touch pads. I don't know why MSFT hasn't followed GlidePoint's lead and given a broader range of cursor speed options AND added acceleration to their driver. If I had to live with MSFT's drivers for my touch pad I'd go out of my mind.:sick:

[AmbulanceBlues]

I can't believe a thread titled "Ergonomics Specialist" is so popular. I didn't even know they existed until this thread came up. If I told the people I work with that I needed an ergonomics specialist I don't think I'd soon live that down.

At home, I have used the same touch pad I got for 19.99 for about six years now. I never really considered the ergonomic implications of that. It does make the joints in my thumb and forefinger ache from moving the cursor and clicking the buttons. I still find this far less annoying than all of the problems fumbling with the mouse at work. I have to clean the thing frequently, the obligatory clutter on my desk will cause the slightest curve in my mouse pad which makes the mouse completely useless; using the mouse takes more real estate near my keyboard than I sometimes have; etc, etc, etc.

Both at home and at work I try to use the keyboard for navigation as much as possible. The whole mouse concept still isn't the most efficient way to operate anything that doesn't absolutely require it.

[Todd W]

I ditched the touchpad.

Having it centered was NOT working, a lot more uncomfortable than keeing my arm straight with the mouse. There's no way I can do a mouse centered either.. it just doesn't make sense that anyone can operate a centered device for long periods of time, talk about tweaking ur arm sideways.

So anyone want to buy a used for a couple hours adesso kb :) Great deals!

[KLB]

I ditched the touchpad.

Having it centered was NOT working, a lot more uncomfortable than keeing my arm straight with the mouse. There's no way I can do a mouse centered either.. it just doesn't make sense that anyone can operate a centered device for long periods of time, talk about tweaking ur arm sideways.
You must place your keyboard REALLY close to your body. I never have any problems and I probably spend 8-10 hours per day (60-70 hours per week) on my computer. I used to have a keyboard that placed the touch pad under the numeric keypad (near where the Adesso logo is) and while I liked the touch pad I hated the position of it. I was so excited when someone finally started placing the touch pad beneath the space bar.

For me the greatest thing about the position of the touch pad is that it is convenient to reach with either hand. Most of the time I use my left hand as I'm left handed, but sometimes I use my right hand (no rhyme or reason for my switching hands)

What I often find my self doing is using the touch pad with my left hand while using the arrow keys and/or numeric keypad with my right. When doing lots of spreadsheet work having one hand dedicated to the cursor and cutting/pasting ([ctrl]+[c]/[ctrl]+[v]) and the other dedicated to numeric data entry and cell navigation can really speed up the data entry process.


So anyone want to buy a used for a couple hours adesso kb :) Great deals!
If you still have the original box you may be able to return it.

[Cutter]

Well I've been using this keyboard for about 2 1/2 weeks now, everything is great. I have finally been able to go back to lifting weights, my wrist problems are virtually gone, absolutely no numbness in my hands when I wake up in the morning. I would have paid $50,000 for this thing. Fortunately it was under $100 ;)

[KLB]

Well it looks like we have one who likes the keyboard and one who hates it. That is the way with the keyboard. There is no middle ground, people either love it or despise it. There is no middle ground. :)

I'm glad the keyboard solve your problems Cutter. Isn't it nice to spend $100 and be able to avoid expensive medical bills and painful treatments? ;) I'm sure the keyboard has helped me avoid serious occupational injury.

[Cutter]

My finger joints were initially sore the first few days, but now everything is fine. I imagine unless someone had the wrist pain I was having they wouldn't put up with the keyboard long enough to get used to it.

[KLB]

My finger joints were initially sore the first few days, but now everything is fine. I imagine unless someone had the wrist pain I was having they wouldn't put up with the keyboard long enough to get used to it.
This is really a key point. These keyboards are so extremely different that they take two or three weeks to adjust to them. Unless you are left handed, like me, and used to everything being inconvenient (mouse at right hand, numeric key pad at right hand, emergency shut off switches on machinery at right hand, etc) adjusting to these keyboards can be a traumatic experience at first. Once one has had several weeks to adjust, these keyboards become second nature and one can't imagine life without them. The key is to stick with the keyboard through the initial "hate it" phase.