I’ve used almost every kind of mouse, or alternative mouse out there. I’ve used a large touchpad, a trackball, a joystick, a graphical tablet. I have a finger mouse, and a thumb ball. I may expand on these items in another post but the only ones I have used for any length of time are the touchpad (Cirque easy cat) and a Wacom graphics tablet. I never use the Cirque touchpad anymore.  It feels horrible to use now because I overused it for months. I still use the graphics tablet on and off quite often. Not just for graphical work but as a mouse. It’s good to swap around as much as possible.  Holding a pen for eight hours a day is no more natural than holding a mouse. So I swap around input devices as much as possible to get my hand out of the same position. And obviously the graphcis tablet is more suited to certain work.

At the moment my main mouse is an Evoluent vertical mouse. I’ve wanted a vertical mouse for a while now. It makes perfect sense. A handshake position is a much more neutral position for your arm/hand to be in.  Look at your arm in a handshake position, then twist it into the position for holding a regular mouse and watch all your nerves and muscles twist across your arm near the elbow. Doing that for a whole day is not good.  I originally  wanted a zero tension mouse but had major trouble buying one from Ireland (like many ergonomic products) and eventually gave up on it.

I don’t actually find the vertical mouse that odd; it’s just like a regular mouse on its side. I had a sigh of relief when I first started using it. It does feel more natural. Of course there are quirks to get used to, as with most alternative mice. You can’t pick it up and move it as easily as a regular mouse which isn’t a big deal, but more importantly, you have to be very careful that you get the angle of your arm right by adjusting your chair height (or desk). Otherwise you force your wrist into an unnatural angle. Other than that it’s exactly like a regular mouse. I highly recommend one. Along with everything else I’ve been doing lately, the horrible pains have mostly gone from my biceps. I still have stiffness and aches and pains but the agonising muscle pains have subsided.

The Evoluent Vertical mouse also has a third button pre-programmed to double-click which is invaluable. I really miss it when I’m using another mouse/computer. I know a third button is not unique to this device but it’s still worth mentioning.

• I bought mine from PC world business for €90.00
• Keytools.co.uk are doing a pack which includes the goldtouch split keyboard,  the Evoluent mouse and other bits and pieces for £275 (€343)
• Amazon are doing a similar bundle with goldtouch keyboard and evoluent mouse for £174.00 (€217) but don’t deliver hardware to Ireland

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 9th, 2008 at 2:07 pm and is filed under Ergonomics, Hardware, Shopping list. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.