Monday, May 27, 2013

Evoluent Mouse-Friendly Keyboard

I was having some mousing-related ergonomic issues, so I went and bought the Evoluent Mouse-Friendly Keyboard.

Ergonomically, it does the job fantastically.  I started using it in mid-March (and started working at home in April) and haven't had any ergonomic owies whatsoever!

My only complaint is I really wish the spacebar extended about a centimetre further to the right.  In the existing configuration, the right edge of the space bar lines up with the space between the J and K keys, which means that my right thumb lands right on the very end of the spacebar.  (Unfortunately, my Grade 9 typing class, which I took for an easy A as I already knew how to type, drilled into me the habit of using only my right thumb for the spacebar, so using my left thumb greatly slows me down and creates hilarious typos.)  I understand that the abbreviated spacebar is a result of trying to cram all the assorted crt-alt-delete-insert-windows keys into the bottom row so the keyboard doesn't need extra columns for all those keys like you have in a standard keyboard

One thing that hasn't caused any problems but seems a bit worrisome is that the keys are very shallow and the mechanisms seem kind of delicate.  This means that if a crumb gets into the keyboard, you can feel it under the key right away and it's more likely than with a standard keyboard to interfere with typing.  This is good in some ways, because you can detect and remove crumbs immediately rather than having them accumulated like they do in deeper keyboards, but it always seems like the keys are so delicate that something might snap when I'm prying them off.  Nothing has snapped yet, so I have no empirical evidence supporting this claim, but it is a general feeling I get. I will update this if anything actually goes wrong, so if I haven't updated it's just me being paranoid so far.

However, it does have a one-year warranty, and it seems to have completely eliminated the sporadic ergonomic issues I was previously experiencing, so even if it turns out it is more fragile than other keyboards, I'd say it's still worthwhile overall.  (Although I'd still very much prefer that it be made to last.)

5 comments:

CQ said...

I still swear by my used 1987 IBM 101 keyboard! It weighs a proverbial ton, clacks, provides a firm typing response, offers a two-tone of white with grey keys, and measures 17 inches across from key edge to key edge (19in overall).
All of its black character letterings are as readable as if it was brand new. (The two Alt keys are lettered in green.)
I feel like I'm at a battle control centre whenever I am using this keyboard.

A recently updated freeware program called Numpad Transformer almost gets it right for using the keypad and its adjoining operator keys as a mouse substitute.
Another small freeware called KeyTweak v2.3 lets me remap any of the keys. With this I can also include a missing 'Windows' key.

laura k said...

I get mouse-related stress, too. I wonder if I should consider your new keyboard. My fear is that, because I'm prone to RSI's, whatever I buy, I'll end up with some new RSI from that.

Is this the wavy/curvy keyboard, or something new and different? How much did you pay for it, if you don't mind me asking?

I'm glad it's working for you, ergo-wise.

impudent strumpet said...

@CQ: I remember that keyboard! I'm pretty sure that's what I learned to type on.

@laura: It's not the wavy keyboard. It's the one with the number pad on the left side, so you don't have to reach over the number pad for your mouse every time. There's a link in the first sentence which includes a picture. I don't remember exactly what I paid - probably somewhere between $60 and $70. I got it on Amazon.

Re: the possibility of getting an RSI from the new thing, a few years back, due to combination of circumstances, I ended up using a non-standard mouse at home and a standard mouse at work. Before that I had occasional (but inconsistent) mouse hand owies. After I started using the two mice, no more mouse hand owies, at all, ever. Until I took a week off work, then started getting mouse hand owies with my special mouse I was using a home. So I came to the conclusion that what was helpful is not any specific mouse design, but rather the fact that I'm alternating between two, so my hand isn't in the same position for as much time.

However, I've also learned that what works for one person ergonomically doesn't work for everyone. One of my coworkers got an professionally prescribed extra-large mouse. I thought "I want one! My hands are way bigger than a standard mouse, so I should have one of those." So I asked him if I could try it one day when he wasn't at work. And it made my shoulder completely freak out, and this even though our hands are very close to the same size.

CQ said...

For wrist injury prevention, I also like to perform a few general arm movements with weights, every few months or so. I'm not a doctor - I just feel that by maintaining or lightly strengthening my overall arm muscle tone, the wrists might then take on less strain.

laura k said...

Changing positions (which means resting the muscles and joints) is so important. Getting up and stretching at regular intervals is super important, too - also easy to forget when you're concentrating.

And yeah, what's gold for one person is crazy for another. I use a wrist support struo and a completely flat keyboard (no tilt) and a mouse pad with a wrist support. I can't work without them. But when other people use my computer, they generally throw my equipment aside and tilt the keyboard up.

Thanks for the link/picture, I couldn't see that on my phone. (I was at the airport.)

That does seem like a really good idea, less reaching over the number pad. I wonder if there's a way to try before buy.