Mobile Computing: Safer Pointing Devices

Avoid hand and neck injuries with good ergonomics.

James A. Martin

Feature: Pointing Devices and Ergonomics

Notebooks feature built-in keyboards and trackpads or eraser-type pointing devices (or both). But you may be better off not using them.

Why? Because, ergonomically speaking, they can be bad news. Typing on a notebook for long periods of time can put your hands, arms, neck, and shoulders in awkward positions.

"You can never get positioned properly when typing on a notebook," says Deborah Quilter, coauthor of The Repetitive Strain Injury Recovery Book (Walker and Company, 1998, 212/727-8300). "When you have the notebook in the proper position for your hands, you have to look down too far to see the screen and that strains your neck. If you have the notebook in the proper position for viewing the screen, you risk straining your arms and hands to reach the keyboard."

Fear of Mice

Obviously, there will be times when you'll need to use your notebook's built-in input device, such as when you're checking e-mail wirelessly while waiting to board a plane.

But you should use computer mice and other input devices sparingly, as each can be used improperly and, over time, strain your hands and arms. Instead, rely on keyboard shortcuts whenever you can, Quilter recommends.

Another important step toward reducing your risk for repetitive strain injury is to attach an external keyboard and input device to your notebook, particularly for prolonged work sessions. (This may be tricky on cross-country flights in coach.) External devices allow you to position the notebook properly for comfortable typing and screen viewing.

All external input devices can lead to RSI if improperly used, Quilter says. But without a doubt, the worst offender is the mouse.

The computer mouse "is a disaster," Quilter says. "Mice inherently strain the hand by forcing repetitive use of one digit, and they are awkward to hold. Some of the most serious injuries I have seen come from mouse use."

Try a Trackpad or Trackball

For herself, Quilter finds that a small external trackpad--similar to the kind built into many notebooks today--is the least uncomfortable input device. Quilter places the trackpad between the two pieces of her split keyboard, which prevents her from having to reach for the side, where most people keep their pointing device.

Some trackballs are preferable to mice, as they don't encourage the kind of gripping that mice do, Quilter says.

With a trackball, you move the cursor by rolling the ball with your thumb or index finger. Many models, particularly those from Kensington, provide multiple programmable buttons. Each button can be programmed to, say, launch a particular application, perform a double click, and so on. This reduces the amount of clicks you must make. And fewer clicks means less strain on your hands.

Another advantage: Trackballs require less space than mice. A mouse needs to be moved around, while a trackball sits in a holder.

The only disadvantage: Dust and grime can accumulate in the trackball chamber (the area the ball sits in). When that happens, simply take the ball out, blow or wipe out the dust, and get right back to work.

Staying Productive

Many people use notebooks and other portable devices to stay productive on the road. But if you don't pay attention to ergonomics when using these devices, you can hurt yourself--and getting injured is a sure-fire way to kill productivity.

"Portable computing isn't necessarily a great thing," Quilter says. "It causes people to work more, and to carry more on a trip, and that can lead to injury."

Resources

• Quilter's book is available at Amazon.com
• For external trackballs and trackpads, go to the Safe Computing Web site.
• For more on notebook ergonomics, read "Mobile Computing: Pain-Free Portable Computing."

NOTEBOOKS

News: Dell's New Ultraportables

Dell has two new notebooks, the Inspiron 300m and Latitude X300, that weigh less than 3 pounds. Both models use Intel's Centrino chip set architecture and start at $1599. The basic Latitude X300 features 128MB of DDR SDRAM, a 20GB hard drive, a CD-ROM drive, and a 12.1-inch display. The low-end Inspiron 300m comes with 256MB of DDR SDRAM, a 30GB hard drive, a DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive, and a 12.1-inch display.

News: First Wide Screen to Crack PC World Top 15

The EMachines M5305 (about $1250) is the first wide-screen notebook to land on our Top 15 Notebook PCs chart, thanks to its fairly low price and solid performance. Wide-screen notebooks provide more room for viewing documents like Excel spreadsheets and watching letterboxed DVD movies.

News: Flexing Your Thumb Drive

A new device from Ideative called FlexUSB adds a flexible extension to thumb-drive USB storage devices--which can be cumbersome to use otherwise, as they have to be plugged into your notebook's USB drive. The FlexUSB ($13) works with both USB 2.0 and 1.1 devices.

HANDHELDS

Review: Hitachi's New PDA-Phone-Camera

It's hefty, but the Hitachi G1000 Pocket PC-phone-digital camera combo is also versatile, offers good sound quality, and is easy to operate, says PCWorld.com reviewer Yardena Adar, based on an evaluation of a preproduction unit. A big caveat, though, is the device's $650 price. At the moment, Sprint PCS Vision is the only wireless carrier offering service for the Hitachi G1000.

Review: Go To Your PC From a Pocket PC

Expertcity's GoToMyPC 4--a no-cost, automatic upgrade for current GoToMyPC users--includes better security and other enhancements designed to appeal to large organizations and Pocket PC users. The remote-control service, which costs $20 a month, turns any browser-equipped PC into a clone of your office computer. Enterprises can now configure the Corporate Edition to require a password to initiate each user session, and they can employ RSA SecurID technology for robust authentication.

PocketView, an included program for remotely controlling an office PC from a Pocket PC, performed briskly in PCWorld.com tests. Though PocketView provides panning and reduce-to-fit modes, remotely controlling your PC desktop on a typical Pocket PC screen can be a challenge.

News: 4GB CompactFlash Card Too Big for Your PDA?

There's good news and bad news about Lexar's new 4GB CompactFlash Card. The good news: It's the largest-capacity flash memory card of any format currently available. The bad: Because it's a Type II Compact Flash card and therefore slightly thicker than standard Type I cards, the Lexar card may not fit your PDA's CompactFlash card slot. Be sure to check if your device supports Type II cards before you buy one. Also, the card's list price is about $1500; at press time, I found it for $1352 with the PCWorld.com Product Finder.

WIRELESS

News: Getting the 411 on Hot Spots

The recently launched hot spot directory WiFi411 claims to be the largest online global Wi-Fi directory, with over 8900 locations from some 136 network providers listed. You can search for locations by country, state, city, type of establishment (such as coffee shop or hotel) or service provider (such as T-Mobile). You can't search by zip code, however.

Suggestion Box

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