* Nori Heikkinen (nori@sccs.swarthmore.edu) [030606 09:54]: > hey debian folk, > > i'd like your opinions/feedback about what kind of ergonomic setups > you use at home and in the office. as i mentioned a couple of days > ago, i've been issued a laptop at work, and i can barely use it for > the wrist strain. i can have a desktop if i want, and i think i'm > going to ask for one ... they're less convenient and less mobile, but > i'd like to keep my wrists. I hear you on that one. I've found that the best way for my wrists is to place the keyboard on my lap. Unfortunately, for a laptop, that means I'm looking almost straight down, which strains the neck. If you don't need the portability, go with a desktop. If you do want the portability but will be spending most of your time at the desk, do get a docking station. Ideally, get a good monitor at a good eye-level, and get a big-enough keyboard (the little laptop keyboards make me bend my hands in fnuny ways) to use on your lap. Of course, that's what's comfortable for me; it may or may not work for you. Also, the water suggestion is a good one. > do you all use some combination of careful keyboard height/placement, > a good chair, and a good keyboard? is there some other component that > you take into account? i'm interested in whatever you do to make your > work area more ergonomically sound. I'm not all that careful about keyboard placement; I just plop it down on my lap. I usually bounce my knees, too, and I've developed a strange habit of sometimes typing just by moving my fingers into the right places while bouncing they keyboard up and down on my knees. Bizarre, really. At home I use a Dell QuietKey keyboard. I like it enough. At work, I'm using a thinkpad. I dislike it for the reasons I gave above, but portability is critical on this job. I generally put it on the desk and raise my chair up too high. This can result in sore calves without frequent-enough breaks, but this is more tolerable than sore wrists, IMO. Aso for other components, depending on your workplace (and if you're taking that laptop on the plane, definitely), you might think about sound and noise. (mmm ... bose noise-canceling headphones <drool style="homer" />) good times, Vineet -- http://www.doorstop.net/ -- Microsoft has argued that open source is bad for business, but you have to ask, "Whose business? Theirs, or yours?" --Tim O'Reilly
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