Ergonomic Mouse

[Paul Whybrow]

We've discussed ergonomic designs of mouse before, but that was four years ago and things have moved on.

https://colony.litopia.com/threads/finger-trick.1066/#post-14477

As I've just bought a new laptop, I wondered about getting an ergonomic mouse. For the last few years, I've been using a wired optical mouse. A small travel-sized mouse came with my old laptop, and I was pleased that it caused less cramping than a conventional mouse. Made in China, they don't last long, about two years of clicking, scrolling and sliding.

My laptop is on an over-chair table, my right hand and forearm resting flat on the mouse mat. I haven't developed carpal tunnel syndrome yet, but pressing the median nerve against the edge of the table for 16 hours daily sometimes makes my fingers tingle; I give up then.

The best-known makers of ergonomic mouses are Logitech and Kensington and they're pricey, but no-name vertical designs that are supposedly better for the hand start at £5.50:

On eBay, Kensington Orbit Elite models are available from £20 - £50

Microsoft sell a similar trackball model for about £100:

Then there are various designs of finger-mounted mouse!

Finger-Mounted Mouse for Conducting Computers in Mid-Air

Many sellers fib, calling their mouse ergonomic, simply because it has a swoopy design, even though the controls are conventionally located.


Do any of you use an ergonomic mouse?

 

[CageSage]

I've learned to do a lot of keyboard functions to avoid using the mouse too much. And occasionally, I swap sides and use the mouse with my off-hand.
What value are the mouse-mat?

 

[E G Logan]

I have a mouse mat with an attached wrist rest. I think it's excellent. Otherwise my wrist would contact -- painfully -- the edge of my desk.

It is possible there is something odd in the way I hold the mouse, but I believe for the GBP12.99, or something of that order, it was a purchase worth making.

 

[E G Logan]

The make is Allsop, it's firm and supportive, plain black and I got it from Curry's PC World in London.
I got an earlier one from Amazon, but there wasn't enough wrist rest to give much support. Besides being rather a loud all-over pattern.

 

[Nikky Lee]

I don't, but my colleague does. He was suffering from RSI in his wrist until he switched over to it.

 

[Paul Whybrow]

I bought one of the no-name vertical mouse designs for £5.54 on eBay, which fits my hand well and is easy to use. After a few hours of use, it's less tendon cramping than a conventional mouse.

Looking it over last night, to find where it was made (China, of course) it struck me how upside-down it resembled an old girlfriend's black high heel shoe, which she trapped in a platform grill at a London underground station. Getting it free required muscle and lots of wiggling, which snapped off the rubber pad on the end of the heel and left the rest so wonky that she binned both shoes, making it to her office in bare and dirty feet.


5D USB Wired Ergonomic Design Vertical Optical Mouse Mice For Computer PC ONZJO | eBay