My new home office: Update 2

Martin Rowe, Senior Technical Editor- August 2, 2012

In Update 1, I installed a keyboard tray for my office computer last week. Placing the left-handed trackball works very well. No more wrist strain.

The other day, I installed an identical keyboard tray for my personal computer, the one with the usual right-handed mouse (see photo). That also relieved any strain on my right wrist. Which set up do I prefer? The left-handed trackball. Why? If you look at the photo in Update 1, you see that on the left, the trackball is much closer to the keys than on the right. The numeric keypad gets in the way on the right.


That nasty numeric keypad gets in the way.

I’m thinking about getting a keyboard either without a numeric keypad or with a separate one. Because I mostly write prose, I never use the keypad. They are a throwback to a day when people entered large amounts of numbers into spreadsheets. Maybe people still do.

Then there’s the extreme, cutting off the numeric keypad. Interesting, but you need a lot of time and the right equipment. Take a look at this.

Another option would be to get a second trackball for the personal computer. That would surely prevent anyone in my family from using it. Hmmm….

I also need a new chair, one with arms that don’t interfere with the keyboard trays.