I have a Moonlander with the tenting kit, and the Apple Magic Trackpad. I also have a writing pad to scribble things down durPreformatted texting meetings and such. My issue is that when I spread all of that out horizontally on my desk, it’s a bit of a stretch to get to my notebook.
I could theoretically try to put the trackpad between the halves of the Moonlander, but that spaces them out more than I’d like. I could also put the trackpad on top of the notebook and move it if I need to write something, but that’s just a bit annoying.
I could also try to teach myself to “mouse” left-handed, but that seems a tad extreme.
Does anybody else have a good solution to this problem?
My keyboard and trackball sit on a pull-out under-the-desk tray. This solution will not be possible when your desk has a drawer under the location where you sit to type.
I could also try to teach myself to “mouse” left-handed, but that seems a tad extreme.
No of course not — just learn to write left-handed in the notebook instead!
My second suggestion would be to think vertically — a drawer/pullout, as DrJJWMac mentioned, would be one route. Another I’ve seen is a sort of plastic table that fits over the top of your keyboard/mouse area as a document holder + writing surface.
As mentioned in my other reply above, my keyboard likely sits way too tall for that - but I might be able to come up with something like that for over my trackpad area.
Looking at the problem in another way, consider a desk (or desk system) that is L-shaped (or maybe even U-shaped). This gives far more desk space in front of you for “stuff” especially if you sit in a swiveling office chair. It’s worked for me for decades.
I learned to do it assisting “southpaw” Windows users many years ago. It was easier than rearranging their desk for a short assist. Later when I started having elbow pain on long days I would switch to my left and keep working.
With the trackpad, it doesn’t take much time to get use to doing it lefty. I started a while back when my right wrist was bugging me and have stuck with it ever since.
I’ve found that a thumb trackball (specifically Elecom EX-G) has helped me to be able to do things with my left hand. I suspect it’s helping to keep RSI and carpal tunnel at bay
I used to use the Logitech thumb ball, and I liked it. I got rid of it when I moved to Magic Trackpad. Have you had the Elecom for quite awhile? Does it seem pretty solid/durable?
Put it this way: if they release a higher end left handed model I’d be very keen on using it, but I also have some mice and trackballs that I’ve bought and pretty much never liked enough to use for more than a week. This has been on my desk (along with a couple of right handed alternatives that I probably use 75% of the time) for ~3 years now.
Upon further reflection, my right handed options are an MX Master 3S, and an MX Ergo - both by many people’s opinions the peak options for mouse and trackball, so I’m comparing the Elecom to something akin to a Mercedes and wishing it was more like them. In reality the Elecom is probably at least as durable as the average corporate supplied mouse for an employee’s desk. Nothing has broken on it.
Also, it doesn’t have bluetooth, so it’s another thing to plug into the dock, but maybe that just means less interference for everything else.
Is there any reason why the notebook couldn’t be on the pull-out tray? It is not going to have the height issue of your keyboard. In fact, a very slim tray would work for that. Besides, I assume you are using the keyboard more often that the notebook. When you need it, just slide it out, jot down your note and push it back in.
