Mouse advice needed

[Olli96]

For some days now i have some pain in my hand and lower arm and it seems that i developed a RSI-Syndrom and i would need some advice ona new mouse. Right now i took a logitech trackman from a coworker but it doesnt have a scrolling wheel which i constantly use to zoom in and out and right now i am looking for a better solution. Anyone here who also has problems in his hands and switched from a "normal" mouse to something like a trackball mouse or something similar which you could recommend? Money doesnt matter, my boss is willing to pay for it as long as it helps.
thanks in advance
Olli

[plastic_]

I had the same problem i switched to Wacom tablets, it takes a while to get used to it, but i'm not looking back.
I recommend A6 size (the smallest), otherwise the moving distances are too long for the hand.

For 3dsmax I'd recommend the Intuos 4, not the bamboo pen&touch line because you can't programm the express keys on them for seperate applications, and you cant scroll. The touch thing isn't really useable and no replacement for the scroll wheel.

Also it's important to keep the distance between keyboard shift-ctrl-alt and wacom/scrollwheel short, to be able to navigate in the viewports. The Apple keyboards are perfect for that, because they don't have that huge hand rest thing, as logitech keyboards.

[pskdude]

yes i bought one to, but it does take some time to get used to...

[3DMK]

This is from a previous post about mice.

I switched over to a mouse called 'Evoluent' about a year ago & now this is the only mouse I will ever own. It's an upright mouse which stops you twisting your wrist/arm.

http://www.evoluent.com/

Below is a piece from their website.

Approved ergonomic mouse of University of California at Berkeley
The Evoluent VerticalMouse 2 was evaluated in 2007 by a team at the health services clinic in UC Berkeley, including medical doctors, physical therapists, ergonomists, and administrators. It was found to be comfortable, easily adapted to, and promote a neutral wrist and forearm posture. It is the only vertical type mouse approved for staff use within UC Berkeley and for sale in the campus store.

Hope this helps.

PS.I don't forget to take a break & stretch occasionally.

Last edited by 3DMK; 10-04-2009 at 07:45 AM. Reason: Weblink

I also just did this post yesterday on a similar RSI problem/solution

http://www.chaosgroup.com/forums/vbu...357#post421357

[Olli96]

Thanks for the advice guys, the Evoluent mouse looks good, i guess i will try this one first.

[tammo]

I had the exact same problem and solved it by moving to a wacom tablet.
I can work much faster in max than with a mouse because of "absolute positioning".
Don't know if thats the right word.
Best way to describe it is if you move from a gamepad to a mouse in a FPS.
It's much faster and more precise.

[Olli96]

A wacom would be nice, will ask my boss....
By the way 3dmk, are you on a 64Bit system? I read that there are no drivers for this mouse for a 64Bit OS, the mouse will work but jumps around the screen and stuff like this - is that still valid/true?

EDIT: Boss is fine with buying a wacom and the mouse. will a wacom work fine with a dual monitor setup and widescreen monitors?

[3DMK]

Your right about the 64 bit drivers...they don't make one but they give you a link to a free mouse driver which seems to work ok....although it is not as stable as it could be.
Maybe they just need to know that 64 bit drivers are just as important as 32bit!

[rmejia]

I bought this one for someone here complaining about wrist pain:
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/mi...s/166&cl=us,en

She says it's great and likes using it. I have not tried them for long so don't know.

[flino2004]

I bought this one for someone here complaining about wrist pain:
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/mi...s/166&cl=us,en

She says it's great and likes using it. I have not tried them for long so don't know.

I had one of those and i don't think is the right one for our type of work....it's very difficult to get precision with speed.

[werticus]

http://www.tennis-elbow-treatments.c...w_exercise.php

[3DMK]

I just emailed the People at Evoluent to ask about ETA of 64bit Drivers....I'll keep you informed of developments......

[pskdude]

oh wow. Thanks, I almost bought the evoluent mouse. Didnt know about the 64 bit issue.

[3DMK]

Just got an email back from Evoluent.....apparently the 64bit drivers are 2 months away yet.

[HAWF]

I'm very happy with my Logitech G7, it works in any place (you wont need mouse pad), has good precision and some extra buttons that u can program tasks.