LAPTOP KEYBOARD FORUM
Nov 11th, 2009 by Kathryn Merrow
Lots of great features have been added to laptop computers since they were first introduced. However, no one has addressed the need to have ergonomic keyboards within laptops.
Do you have a complaint about today’s laptop keyboards?
- Are they too small?
- Too flat?
- Not designed well enough for you to comfortably type for hours?
We want to know YOUR honest thoughts about your laptop keyboard–pros and cons–and how it could be improved FOR YOU!
Please leave your comments below. Be as specific as you can.
Your response is confidential. This is a private page.
We appreciate you taking part in this forum. You may be shaping your future keyboard.
I don’t use the very old laptop I own. Previous experience with desktop keyboards that were ergonomically designed left me hating them. But I don’t use laptops enough for my input to be truly informed. Sorry, Kathryn.
-Steve-
Thank you for your response, Steve. Appreciated!
I haven’t haven’t had any issues with the keyboard on my personal laptop. I don’t type that much on it to have any concerns. Thanks!
Hi Kathryn
I very rarely use my laptop, which has a very cramped keyboard.
Instead I use Microsoft’s ergonomic keyboard at home with my main PC, and Goldtouch Ergonomic POSTURE Keyboard PS2 or USB WHITE at work. It splits almost entirely into two.
I’d suggest people attach an ergonomic keyboard if they are going to use a laptop for a long period of time.
Regards
Sanjeev
Thank you for your response, Sanjeev. Appreciated!
Having used computers since I was about 10yrs old (Vic-20), I started feeling my fingers feel weird by the age of 26 when I’d do hardcore bouts of programing, but I ignored it and pushed on. By 30 things got bad, my fingers would stop moving, or worse…move on their own (they trembled).
So I learned about CTS, did some physio therapy, started doing the stretching…and things got better… but I’d periodically get flare ups where I couldn’t move ‘em again.
I tried the Microsoft split natural keyboard, it elevates the bottom part of the keyboard so your wrists bend down more naturally vs. how most keyboards cause your hand to bend up.
http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouseandkeyboard/productdetails.aspx?pid=022
But it didn’t stop it, just slowed down the CTS. Part of the problem is when things are fine, I can sustain 70wpm and burst to 100wpm+, and combine that with long working days…
So a guy at work told me about the Ergo Kinesis, and that keyboard saved my life. The first two weeks were brutal because the keys are changed around a little bit that you have to train your brain again. So my 70wpm went to 10wpm for awhile. But you’ll get back up to speed, and even more, in 2-3mos.
Moving onto the laptop side of things… I struggle on that front. Using a laptop for extended periods kills my hands. Because the laptop keyboard is about 12″ from your chest, it causes your forearms to come in at an angle, and then your hand has to bend outwards to compensate.
I have this one HP laptop that has a full numeric keypad as well, and to crunch taht all in they made the shift keys small. I also have a 17″ MacBook Pro – for some reason it’s not too bad. They keys on the MacBook have very little resistance to them.
What would be great with laptops would be if the keyboards had a slight U curve to them to address how the forearms come in at an angle.
Hi Tariq, Thanks very much. Great input. Appreciated!
I have been working strictly off laptops for a few years, and my main one, a 15″ Acer, hasn’t created much of a problem for the hands, but it’s hard to get the right distance for the eyes and still keep a decent posture.
My mini laptop is more difficult and I would get wrist pains much more quickly if I used it for an extended period of time. So far I have only used it for an hour or so a day on my trips, but more than that would create a problem because it forces me to bend my right wrist in an uncomfortable way because of the return, back space, and delete key positioning.
Thank you, Helene, for your thoughtful comments. Appreciated!
I had a great deal of problems working on my laptop when it laid flat on the table. I purchased a tray for the laptop to sit on and I could angle it at different heights and that really worked. I’m excited to hear what you are working on that will help us all with our occassional hand/wrist pain. You are the best when it comes to simple pain relief and I have a lot of faith and trust in your research and discoveries. Help us Kathryn!
I use a Laptop daily on the train and at times as my main computer for daily work. I am a computer programmer.
For daily work I find the keyboard being so close to the screen results in bad posture, neck and arm ache so I always plug in a full sized USB keyboard, proper mouse and a full sized monitor at which point it’s like using a normal computer. On the train I just have to struggle as best I can but it is for a shorter period of time.
I’m not a fan of so called “ergonomic” keyboards, I don’t have hand or wrist problems and am happy with regular keyboards.
My pain areas are shoulders, arms, back and neck.
I use a normal mouse on the left hand (I’m right handed, I’ve learned to use the mouse left handed to releive strain on my right arm) and a tracker ball mouse on the right hand. Left hand does 80% of the mouse work these days.
When it comes down to it I have no complaints about actual keyboards on most Laptops I have used. My big complaint about Laptops is the “pointing device” – the mouse substitue. There are two kinds I know of:
The most common, touch pad – involves repeated swiping movements to move the pointer from one side of the screen to the other, easy to brush an accidentaly moving the pointer so yet more movements to reposition. This soon gets to be a real strain, I hate these things but I don’t hate them as much as ….
… those little finger joysticks in the middle of keyboards common on IBM now Lenovo Laptops. Not only are you holding your hand in an unnatural position, but your trying to move this tiny joystick in fine movements and it rapidly (under a minute) becomes painful for me to use even before I had RSI.
So if you really want to “fix” laptop design for me get someone to think of a better pointing device. I don’t think there is much that can be done about the keyboard and screen position unless we get radical with wearing special glasses with the screen image displayed on them so you can have your head up.
Cheers
Adrian
Adrian, thanks! Great comments. Perhaps someday we really will have our “screen” right in front of our eyes. I’m not sure how good that will be for our eyes, but it would be good for posture.
Kathryn