I was browsing through Maplins at the weekend and saw a very cheap  mini keyboard that I decided to experiment with. (€16 / 10UKP)

I’ve already mentioned on my keyboards post that I want a keyboard with no keypad so this was a cheap and easy option. It’s actually being marketed as a Mini Desk-Saver Keyboard and the only reason I bought it was to save desk space, or to be more precise have a keyboard and mouse that I don’t need to reach to the side for. It seemed good at first (though I knew it couldn’t be long term) as I didn’t have to reach to either side for anything and I could actually fit a graphics tablet, keyboard and mouse comfortably in front of me.

But the size of the keyboard forced my hands really close together which put my wrists into a very unnatural angle. I didn’t realise just how much this would happen. This is called Ulnar Deviation and it’s precisely what split keyboards are designed to avoid. That’s why laptop keyboards and mini keyboards like this are terribly unergonomic. I thought I might end up with sore wrists but it was much more far-reaching than that. I was in bits for the whole evening yesterday, specially in the upper-back and shoulders and I had an ice pack on my muscles, well a bag of frozen spinach. So experiment over – avoid mini keyboards!

Other negatives

To save space, they also grouped several keys with other keys that could be accessed with the Fn key. But this was done with two keys that I use a lot; Home and End. And other keys were moved slightly; it just seems wrong to have Page Up and Page Down side-by-side rather than over-and-under.

Also, like a lot of keyboards, you can tilt the keyboard up towards you by putting little feet up at the back. This is wrong. Badly researched design that’s copied from one product to the other. So many manufacturers do this. The keyboard should tilt back away from you. Otherwise its forcing your wrist up at an angle.

I dread to think what mini laptops are going to do to a generation. I just had a quick look at the website for the Eee PC and even the image they are using is screaming No No No. If that kid keeps up that hunched posture and bent wrists he’ll be a cripple before he has acne.

For a real break from your workstation there’s nothing like a good walk. Mini stretch breaks and microbreaks are great but you really need to get away from your desk completely a few times a day.

You have to get out of that static position your body has been in all day. Repetitive strain is a whole-body injury, don’t be fooled into thinking it’s just your fingers that need a rest.

Make sure to get away from your desk for your whole lunch. If you bring in lunch then leave at least one item (crisps, banana, drink, whatever) and walk to the shops that are furthest away to buy it. Unless you’ve got somewhere really nice to walk, you have to give yourself a reason to walk. Without looking like an insane off-duty marching soldier, try to swing your arms as much as possible. If you always go for lunch with friends, they’ll probably be happy to join in, or just walk a little further every day.

Whatever you do, don’t lunch at your desk clicking through web sites. And don’t even think about playing computer games through lunch ever again.

Extra tip: Use the rest breaks on Workrave so that every time they come on, go and get a glass of water, obviously as far from your desk as possible.

When my aches and pains get a bit depressing, I have a habit of reaching for my credit card and buying some RSI related gadget to try and cheer me up and add to my arsenal of RSI weaponry. A powerball, or gyroscopic exercise tool, is a ball with another rotating ball-like rotor inside. You start it spinning, like an old lawn mower, by pulling a string and then you build up the speed slowly by moving your wrist along with the rotor.

The powerball is fun in a gadgety kind of way but it can be good for building up arm muscles. I tend to play with it for a few minutes every day at low speed, but don’t really consider it a serious part of my daily routine. Update: I’ve since decided to use it for at least 10 minutes a day, one minute on each arm. Some people have testified to it being The Cure, though I tend to think that’s a flawed way of thinking in general. It can be dangerous to get too excited about any one thing being the end all cure. I’ve often got excited about my latest workstation setup or new input device and started slacking on exercise/posture/breaks etc and found myself back to square one very quickly.

Related links

• www.powerballs.com
• An RSI thread on the powerballs forum
• Buy from Amazon: Powerball Neon White Pro Signature
• Buy from Amazon: Powerball Neon Pro
• Buy from Amazon: NSD Powerball 250 Hz Blue – Regular

If I only get to do two exercises on a day, I do arm lifts and Wall Angels.

• Lie on your side with a cushion to support your head.
• Very slowly, raise your arm up straight and then back down to touch the floor.
• As with all exercises start off at your own pace and then work up. I do three sets of ten on each arm
• When you’ve got a bit more used to that add weights. I started off with those weights that are supposed to strap onto your leg and then got slightly heaver ones.
• It’s important to go slow

Real estate

Your keyboard is one of the most important tools in your working day. There are many factors to consider. I think the most overlooked attribute is keyboard selfishness. I’ve had a few keyboards in my time and one thing I have trouble with is that the more ergonomic their design, the more selfish they tend to be with regards to desk space. Ergonomic keyboards tend to be pretty big which is fine if all you use is a keyboard but you also have to fit a mouse (or equivalent) on your desk, and this makes a lot of ergonomic keyboards very unergonomic. It hurts to constantly reach to the side that little bit more to use my mouse. If I was designing a keyboard I’d make the numerical keypad detachable, so you could put it where-ever you wanted. Or no keypad at all (you can buy them seperately). At the moment my keyboard is slightly off to the left and at a slight angle and my wrists keep ending up at slighlty bent angles. This completely defeats the purpose. So consider the ergonomic qualitys of a compact “unergonomic” keyboard.

Microsoft Ergonomic keyboard 4000

I currently have a Microsoft Ergonomic keyboard 4000. I needed a split keyboard* and just wanted something quick and relatively cheap (I sometimes think if I was rich I wouldn’t have RSI). There was a lot of thought put into the design and it will do me for now but the keys are surprisingly loud and once again it’s just too big, full reviews on everythingusb.com and cnet.

Kinesis Evolution

The best keyboard I’ve owned was a Kinesis Evolution. It was completely split so you could put each side at whatever angle and width apart suited you. It might look weird but was very natural to type on. I didn’t get the version with the touchpad but I stuck a Cirque touchpad on with blu tac. This was a great setup because all my input devices were directly in front of me without needing to stretch to either side. Unfortunately over time I developed an adversity to the abrasion of my fingertips using the touchpad (not to mention having fingers in an exact position for long periods). This developed into another painful complaint over time. To this day I can’t bear to use touchpads, not for any great lenght of time anyway. I’d strongly advise to avoid overuse of touchpads (and laptops are the work of satan).

Macros

Another great feature of the Kinesis Evolution keyboard was that it could record macros, so for example, I could log on every morning with one keystroke. And other repetitive keyboard actions could be recorded and recalled with a key combination. This extra funtionality is invaluable but this model don’t seem to be on the Kinesis site at present and the site also looks suspiciously dated – but there are other split keyboards there.

Amongst this setup, I also had a foot pedal which I used to click my mouse – but the wicked project manager wouldn’t let me take any of these with me when I left that job to go to college, even though I know for a fact they’re still in a box under her desk.

Height

Height is such an important factor to setup, not only of your keyboard but for your workstation in general. I will be doing a separate post but I’ll touch on it briefly here; a lot of ergonomic keyboards can also be fairly high unfortunately. As most of us don’t have the luxury of adjustable desks, this can cause a lot of problems. Always make sure your wrists are slightly below your elbows and are never bent up or down when typing. Adjustable keyboard trays are a good option, more to come on that. The other option is to get your seat up as high as possible, then compliment by using a footrest and adjusting monitor height.

Ideal setup?

Until hardware designers take a more holistic approach and come up with an all-in solution, I think one a good option is to think modular. Get one compact split keyboard and numerical keypad with extra functionality.

Summary

• Ergonomic split keyboard: Good but width and height important
• Separate numeric keypad: Good, gives flexibity
• Extra functionality: Hot keys are invaluable but watch out for real estate
• Flexible setup: Always good

*I’ll be making assumptions from time to time, at this stage everyone know why split keyboards are better right? Let me know if not.

UPDATE: I’ve since bought a Goldtouch Evolution Keyboard, that I’m very happy with.