12191 When you suffer from typing pain, or are concerned about aggravating an injury, choosing the right ergonomic Keyboard and mouse for you can be a confusing, frustrating challenge. There are no one-size-fits all solutions, so a degree of experimentation may be necessary in order to determine what sort of input hardware will put the least amount of stress on painful nerves, muscles, tendons and ligaments.

Just because a keyboard, mouse, or other input device is marketed as "ergonomic" doesn't ensure that it will be a better solution in particular instances than some not specifically ergonomic" input devices. Indeed, ergonomics will (or should) play a role in the design of any keyboard or mouse. Nobody designs these products to be "un-ergonomic." On the other hand, the engineering focus applied to development of specifically ergonomic computer/human interface peripherals can render devices that work well in minimizing the effects of repetitive stress.

Reader Mei Lin Fung of the Customer Think blog ( http://www.customerthink.com/user/mei_lin_fung) and Customer Connections Eclectic Selections ( http://www.meilinfung.blogspot.com/ ) found herself on the horns of the choosing ergonomic input devices dilemma. She writes:

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Dear Charles Moore;

I found your 2002 article on what was available in ergonomic keyboards and mice then.

I am trying to buy the right thing to avoid RSI and have already suffered shoulder rotator cuff injury and am in physical therapy.

I am in the market for the right ergonomic Keyboard and mouse for using on both PC laptop and iMac desktop.

I wonder if you can point me in the right direction, or if you do individual consultation, I would be interested to get your help. Thank you

Mei Lin Fung

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Dealing with rotator cuff injuries can be a frustrating challenge. My wife has been struggling with that (in her case not computer-related) for the past year, and found physiotherapy helped quite a bit, but she hasn't regained full motion in the shoulder and still has some pain. She's been referred to a specialist for evaluation with an eye to surgery.

While one can make general observations based on personal experience and product evaluation, I'm not a doctor or medical professional of any sort, so am nor qualified to make clinical judgments or specific recommendations, but my own battles with typing and mousing pain have impelled me to do a fair bit of research and experimentation on the issue. Typing and mousing pain seems to be quite idiosyncratic in terms of what sort of hardware works best for particular individuals. And of course there are different types (no pun intended) of repetitive stess or other injuries that cause typing/mousing pain, such as Mei Lin's rotator cuff issue and m own chronic peripheral neuritis and fibromyalgia problems.

Currently, my personal favorite freestanding keyboard is the Kensington SlimType, which has been my main workstation keyboard for about five years now. It's not marketed as an "ergonomic keyboard" per se, but find that I can type on it for longer periods of time than most other keyboards without pain and fatigue developing.

Oddly, it's not a 'board that strikes you as super-comfortable when you first try it out, but it sticks with me and for some reason it's positive but light key action and moderate travel don't fatigue the nerves in my hands, wrists, and arms the way many keyboards do -- including ones that feel more comfortable initially, but can stir up trouble for me after only a few minutes' use.

I do try to minimize typing by using MacSpeech's excellent Dictate software, especially for longer typing sessions like entering long-form articles, but I can actually go a fairly long time on the Slimtype if I need to without ending up with burning, numb hands, wrists, and arms.

More info on the Kensington SlimType can be found here:
http://us.kensington.com/html/5463.html

Another 'board I think highly of is the radical form-factor Kinesis Advantage, which is a very low-stress and comfortable keyboard if one has the resolve to adapt to its unorthodox layout, and can handle the relatively high price. At least the SlimType is a relatively inexpensive keyboard, which makes experimenting with it easier on the wallet.

More info here:
http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/advantage.htm

You can find my most recent review here:
http://lowendmac.com/misc/05/0418.html

Mac and PC keymapped versions of both the Slimtype and the Kinesis are available.

In mice, I find my Logitech V550 Nano Cordless Laser Mouse gives me little to complain about in terms of comfort and causing minimal stress, thanks to its shape (not too flat and low-profile a la Apple's Magic Mouse and others that make me flatten my hand too much), its silky-smooth and light button action, and the weighted scroll wheel with its detent-less, freewheeling mode that lets you whip through an entire long document with a single flick. It's marketed specifically as a "notebook mouse" but don't let that deter you if you're a desktop user. The V550 makes a superb desktop mouse.

For more information, visit:
http://www.logitech.com/en-us/mice-pointers/mice/devices/4611

My review here:
http://www.pbcentral.com/columns/hildreth_moore/v550.shtml

I also use a couple of gaming mice that have a very smooth and low-stress action along with very high-precision tracking (especially when in hard wired mode) - the Razer Orochi Laptop Gaming Mouse, and the SteelSeries Ikari Laser gaming mouse.

Serious gamers prefer hard-wired connectivity because they won't put up with the latency lag typical of wireless connections. I'm generally of that opinion too, but I have to concede that the Logitech V550 is a wireless-only mouse, and provides very positive tracking. As a general observation, I find RF frequency wireless mice like the V550 have less latency than Bluetooth mice, and dispense with the tedium of Bluetooth pairing, but the downside is that you need a receiver dongle occupying a USB port.

For more information, visit:

http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-mice/razer-orochi
and
http://www.steelseries.com/int/products/surfaces/qck_mass/information

Recent reviews here:
http://www.pbcentral.com/columns/hildreth_moore/orochi.shtml
and here:
http://www.pbcentral.com/columns/hildreth_moore/ikari.shtml

For a more radical mousing solution Mei Lin could consider the Dutch Hippus HandShoe Mouse

For more thoughts on the Hippus ans other specifically ergonomic mice, see:
http://bit.ly/6Bsy60

Another alternative is the Contour RollerMouse Free roller bar. My most recent reviews are here:
http://www.pbcentral.com/columns/hildreth_moore/rmfree.shtml
and here:
http://www.applelinks.com/index.php/2009/more/14158/

I forwarded this information to Mei Lin Fung, hoping she would find it helpful, and received this reply:

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Hi Charles

I am typing this with my new set up. I went to Ergoworks in Palo Alto, was able to try out a ton of stuff and ended up with a Kensington Comfort Type keyboard for $18.95 (I tried that strange Kinesis one and it was not for me), plus the RollerMouse Pro. I also got the Goldtouch Laptop Stand for $49.95 plus CA tax.

Ergoworks link:
http://www.askergoworks.com/

More on that GoldTouch laptop stand here:
http://www.ergonomicssimplified.com/store/accessories/goldtouch_go_laptop_stand

I had been looking for an office table for a while - and I saw that table which goes up and down allowing you to stand and sit (I am 5 feet tall, so nothing has fitted me all life long) - finally a table that could adjust to my height, so I ordered one of those too.

Thank you so much for all your help...

With appreciation
Mei Lin

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I was delighted to hear that Mei Lin found a satisfactory input and laptop support setup.

Proper screen elevation is key to comfortable, minimized-stress computing, and too often overlooked, especially when using laptops for desktop substitute duty. Laptop ergonomics are terrible for extended periods at the keyboard. If the laptop is positioned low enough for low stress typing, the displ;ay is so low you have to sharply crank your neck and hunch your shoulders in order to see the screen. Conversely, if the screen is placed at a comfortable veiwint height, your wrists will be angled awkwardly (and stressfully) to reach the keyboard. You need a laptop stand used in conjunction with an external keyboard and pointing device to get that display up to eye level, while keeping the input interface down low with your elbows at +/- 90° angles and your wrists flat.

The Comfort Type 'board looks like a good solution. I haven't used it, but based on my excellent experience with their Slimtype keyboards I'm a Kensington fan.

More info. here:
http://us.kensington.com/html/14939.html

I was interested to hear how Mei Lin found the Comfort Type worked with her iMac. Amazon.com says it supports the Mac - Kensington says it doesn't, although that probably simply means they don't offer a version with Mac keymapping. Any USB PC 'board should work with a Mac if you can live without Apple-specific key labeling.

I think Mei Lin will like the RollerMouse. I use one (along with the conventional mice I mentioned above) at my office workstation connected to my MacBook, and it's great, although I still prefer a mouse for precision work or when I'm in a particular hurry.

Keyboard height (and a proper chair) are crucial. I find 25 inches is ideal for me, but I'm 5' 10" so adjustibility if key (no pun intended redux)

Mei Lin got back to me again to say:

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I am now typing this on the Mac - no problem - plugged it in, it asked me to type in the key next to left and right of the shift key and it identified the keyboard

I don't do anything much using shortcut keys and I have my Apple keyboard in front to use those short cut keys if I need one

Now I'm going to get a USB hub so that I don't have so many wires snaking all over my desk.

Mei Lin

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That's pretty much what I expected. I find little difficulty using Windows-mapped keyboards with Macs, and just make a mental adjustment about key labeling. Keyboard identification is often necessary even when connecting non-Apple Mac-mapped 'boards.

A USB hub is a great convenience, especially with Macs since Apple tends to be stingy with I/O ports, particularly on laptops. I have three four-port hubs connected to my MacBook when it's at my office desktop workstation.

Finding the right combination of input devices and workstation configuration will likely require some experimentation and thoughtful consideration if typing pain is a present or potential issue for you, and the products mentioned in this article are just a small sampling of what's available. However, the effort to think it through and equip yourself with the optimum hardware for your particular needs will pay dividends in greater comfort (or at least less discomfort) and productivity.


Charles W. Moore

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