mousing alternatives

[stormy]

I'm at work right now and my wrists/hands/fingers are killing me. I need to invest in a new input method before i develop some serious carpal tunnel. I've been browsing over some interesting looking mice and trackballs today, which I will post once i get home for opinions. Does anyone use a trackball or know of any good low impact input devices? I'm thinking a Wii controller would work pretty sweet. Maybe a tablet? Or are those only good for drawing?

I am also going to buy a wrist brace tonight. By the time i get home in the evening i can barely hold my mouse anymore. My wrists burn, my fingers are arthritic at 26, when i palm my mouse the tendons in my hand ache, and my finger tips sometimes feel like they're almost worn through. I need help.

[Grave]

I had an old Logitech TrackMan, the kind where the trackball sits under your thumb and the buttons are under your fingers. Your hand rests comfortably across the base, it's pretty great for basic computer usage, but I ditched it when I got into FPSes years ago. Thinking about it now, I don't think I'd mind to grab another one.

However, if even resting your hand on your mouse creates trouble, I don't know if that'd even help at all. A low-end tablet might be worth a try, if holding a pen isn't a problem. I think the Graphire line is pretty cheap, and hey, if you like to draw in your spare time, I have a 9x12 Intuos 2 I'm looking to unload!

[kedawa]

You should check out the Trackman Wheel. It's one of the best trackballs out there, and not terribly expensive.




You could alco try one of those vertical mice, or just use a gamepad, although analog sticks are pretty clumsy for general use.

[YellerDog]

Tablets are pretty good for navigation, though you'll have to futz around with the settings quite a bit to get it to your liking IMO.

[stormy]

You should check out the Trackman Wheel. It's one of the best trackballs out there, and not terribly expensive.




You could alco try one of those vertical mice, or just use a gamepad, although analog sticks are pretty clumsy for general use.

I looked at that and tried it in the store, but since it holds just like a mouse I don't think it will really help. I think right now i'm leaning towards one of these two, the Evoluent vertical mouse, or a Kensington trackball. I wish i could try them out somewhere.

[Cowdisease]

stormy, have you ever used wrist rests before? I've been using them for a decade and I've never had any problems.

[Diff-chan]

My left hand bothers me sometimes. I realized I was using my left hand a lot more than my right when I type, I hit the keys way too hard, and just not good mechanics in general. I never learned to type properly. Working on that has helped. Maybe you should look at your basic mechanics to see if anything can help you.

[stormy]

i have just gotten a wrist pad for the keyboard and am paying more attention to mechanics now too. I recommend everyone do it before problems start to develop. It's something i had never thought about before but have to catch up on now. Prevention is the best medicine.

My wrist gaurd is working great so far, even though it makes me look like a retard. I've also narrowed down my search to a few trackballs and changed my mind about that logitech Kedawa posted. I think it's between that and the next logitech model up from that. The main difference is how you move the ball, thumb vs. fingers. I've read conflicting reports, some saying that using the thumb will cause RSI on the thumb joint and wreck your hand, others just saying how much that trackball helped them. I have no thumb pain but do have some finger issues already. I'm leaning thumb ball, but I don't want to create more problems at that joint.

[Josh]

Get a tablet. Wacom has one for under $100 and once you get used to it you'll love it.

[stormy]

Get a tablet. Wacom has one for under $100 and once you get used to it you'll love it.

If i don't feel like the trackball is helping after a couple weeks i'll return it for a tablet. All this looking really has me thinking that there has to be a better way to manipulate a pointer on screen, but i guess no one has thought of it yet.