Ergonomic mice?

Hi everyone.

Does anyone here have any experience with the Quill ergonomic mouse" or
Quill 'Nib' clickless mouse software using them with SolidWorks. I have a
RSI problem and I need to find an alternative to the normal, run-of-the-mill
rodent. Does anyone have any suggestions or experiences they could share.

Many thanks

Bob Luck

 

Ahoy Robbie,

I've got no knowin of the mice you speak... seen my share o wharf
rats... What I be needin is a more ergonomic version of this here old
salty pegleg.

Arrrrrr

 

After decades of using mice, I've learned a few things along the way,
and many are not directly due to the mouse:

1. Arm support, shoulder-table height and wrist support may be more
important than a particular mouse (& variations of above).

2. Mouse actions that involved tensed up "hard push" actions (buttons
or mouse movement) will cause heavy strain soreness.

3. Bigger mice are not necessarily better.

4. Trackpads (or similar tablets) can be a welcome respite for some.

5. Activity every day outside of "mousing" which will keep hand,
wrists, and shoulders active make a giant difference.

So what do I use now? The RadTech BT500 wireless mouse that is so tiny
& unrestricted in positions I can hide it in the palm of my closed
hand. Initially I thought I'ld use it only for travel. Now I find I
use it everywhere, including on my leg, table top, on the corner of my
laptops, on the couch beside me.

Yup, there are super-duper 'mice', but I've learned that the ability to
think ahead and plan the best method of attack to SolidWorks
construction pays off for me (not necessarily others) far more than a
mouse with 10 buttons.

Bo

 

My solution was to learn to use the mouse with either hand. I will
switch if there is ever a hint of soreness. I have a dinovo media
desktop with a seperate numpad so I move it to the other side as well
and switch the mouse buttons so it's always an 'inside' and 'outside'
mouse button versus l & r. I use an intellimouse which is symetrical.

It was not easy to learn to use my left hand this way but it was over 8
years ago now and there is no difference for me.

Also, the dinovo media desktop keyboard is extremely low stress for
typing - like a laptop keyboard.

But as was mentioned 'other' activity is the best defense against
repair expense!

 

Robert,

I had a RSI problem in 1998 when using Solidworks for 10 to 12 hours a
day. It progressed to the point of requiring physical therapy. I tried
switching the mouse to left hand use,but this only moved the pain and
numbness to the left side. The solution for my problem was to switch to
a trackball to replace the mouse. I chose a Logitek Marble Mouse
because it could be used both right and left handed. I also chose to
use a Spaceball 3D controller to manipulate the Solidworks model
instead of using the mouse functions. By use of the Spaceball with the
left hand and the trackball to replace all mouse functions, I have had
no further RSI problems. A fellow Solidworks user had a similar problem
and solved it with just switching to a trackball.

 

I have great experiences with Wacom tablets. You don't need a big one
and you have to get used to it for a week, but after a week your are
convinced.

Regards,

JJ

 

I have found one-and-only-one mouse that works for me so I have one at
work, one at home, and have a couple of backups sitting in a drawer for
the inevitable day that one of my main-line mice dies. It's an old
Logitech Mouseman wheel mouse (I can't tell which number is the part
number...sorry). It's odd how they got the ergonomics right back in
2000 then proceeded to screw things up with later releases. I can use
this thing for 18 hours at a stretch (yup, my life sometimes sucks)
with no issues at all. Other mice get me sore in a few minutes.
I am always interested in hearing if there is a new one that might work
because the drivers for the extra buttons on the logitech are not
compatbile with later windows releases. But I would rather have to use
the keyborad for shortcuts than have to get a popping sound every time
I rotate my forearm after using one of those other mice.

Good luck with your quest-
Ed

 

Hi Bob,

I think that everyone do have another best solution:
One colleague of mine uses the Wacon tablet, another uses the standerd Dell
wireless mouse and I use the Logitech MX Laser mouse.
For me it is important to have a wireless mouse which doesn't need to have a
mousepad, so I can relocate my mouse everytime on another place on my desk
and my arm is in a different position.
So I think you have to search for a best solution for your self, not all
inventions works well for you: I got really pain in my wrist when I work
with a mousepad with a anti-RSI jel-cushion.

\/\/im

 

I learnt to mouse left handed some years ago when tendosynivitis developed
in my right hand. I followed the rules and all was well. That is until I
broke the scaphoid in my left three weeks ago. I am desperate to go back to
work and I see the adoption of an alternative point & click method for my
right hand as a possible solution. Because of tendosynivitis I find it is
the click and click'n'drag functions that play havoc with my right hand,
hence my interest in QuillNib software which according to their literature,
does away with the need to click. But I do wonder if this software would
work smoothly with SW given the amount of right clicking and multiple point
selection that I do (I am a CAM programmer using SolidCAM which runs inside
SW).

Thanks for the input

 

Thanks for that. Indeed, a trackball is one of my options and I quite like
the look of the ITAC Systems "evolution" which allows for click'n'drag to be
done without holding down a button.

 

The first thing I did to reduce rsi was switch from a mouse to a
trackball. I prefer an ambidextrous trackball because the second way I
reduce rsi is to shift from left to right hand periodically. I also use
different types of device for different operations, for example, I use a
sketch pen in my right hand to point and the select button in my left.

I stay away from "ergonomic" devices because they are designed to lock
your hand in one position.

--
J Kimmel

www.metalinnovations.com

"Cuius testiculos habes, habeas cardia et cerebellum." - When you have
their full attention in your grip, their hearts and minds will follow.

 

One other thing: similiar to a trackball - I run my mouse at max.
'speed' or motion or whatever that's called. Meaning that I only need
to move my hand side to side about 3/4 of an inch to traverse the
entire screen, this means I never have to lift my hand - to me this is
a similiar benefit to a trackball. Again, hard to get used to at
first but after 1 day it's second nature.

 

Robert, I have been using a Logitech "Marble Mouse" trackball for some
years now because of rsi problems. Being able to keep my hand immobile
and WARM makes the world of difference to me. I have four of these
devices and I won't trade them for newer trackballs. This particular
trackball is bilaterally symmetrical, which means that you can reverse
the left and mouse buttons (with the driver) and use it the same with
either hand. It's an optical device, meaning there are no internal
wheels to get gummed up. You still have to pick up and wipe off the
ball with your palm occasionally, but not every few minutes. The ball
is farthest from the wrist in the exact middle, and is thus moved with
the index and middle fingers (the thumb and third-finger or pinkie being
used to actuate the buttons). Just like any different mouse device, it
takes some getting used to, but I found it became second-nature very
quickly.

The driver includes an option to hold both buttons at the same time for
scrolling, and you CAN hold down the ALT, SHIFT or CTRL buttons while
holding both mouse buttons down to emulate the actions of the scroll
wheel in SolidWorks. I don't favor that particularly, preferring to use
an old Spaceball (3003C), but it's an option. I'm pretty sure these
devices are still available (both trackball and Spaceball).

Mark 'Sporky' Stapleton
Watermark Design, LLC
www.h2omarkdesign.com

 

My .01 Eu:
I have my mouse settings such as I do not have to move the wrist to cross
the screen, I can do so just by moving my fingers. No wrist problem so far,
but maybe I do not work hard enough ;=)))

I case it could help...

JM

 

Correction: the wrist does rotate a bit, but the forearm does not move.

 

Thanks for that Mark. I agree very much with your observations about keeping
the hand warm and immobile. I have found that the RSI wrist brace from
ThermoSkin has relieved the pain in my hand to a very great extent and would
recommend thet product unreservedly.

I have looked at the LogiTech "MarbleBall" in the flesh and I didn't like it
as I found the thumb position for controlling the ball a little
uncomfortable. The trackball I think I am going to go for is the MouseTrak
Evolution from ITAC Systems, with possibly the Expert Pro from Kensington as
second choice. What attacts me about these is the ability to prgogram an
auxilary button to do mouse things like click'n'drag, or make the ball
zoom/pan - this would relieve the strain on my tendons and I can use my palm
to direct the ball.

One thing I am curious about. Some time ago SolidWorks had a Solution
partner in Denmark called Dimentor who had a very interesting product called
"Inspector" which purported to combine a mouse and a trackball. See the link
below.
http://www.solidworks.com/pages/partners/PartnerDetails.html?ID=1176&productid=875
However, when you try the manufactures link from that page all you get is
some run of the mill internet shopping directory. Any ideas what happened to
them?

Bob

 

Just one note, Robert . . . the MarbleBall is NOT the same as the Marble
Mouse trackball. The one, as you say, is actuated with the thumb, which
I also find is very cumbersome and can quickly become even painful. The
other that I use is actuated with the index finger and middle finger.

No, I don't know anthing about the mouse/trackball combo you mention. I
see the SolidWorks blurb from the link you gave, but I also end up on an
unrelated page that indicates to me that the Dimentor link is dead or
inactive.

 

With the advent of smarter trackpad & Waom-like tablets, allowing such
things as tapping to click/dbl click & dual fingers to scroll anywhere
we are entering an advanced funtionality arena that bodes well for
complex software in MY Opinion.

The reason I think this is good is that without exception over 20
years, the larger the mice, the more likely there was hand, wrist &
finger pain, & the more I needed special positioning ti do nearly
stress free work

Bo