Personal experience with 3 vertical mice

[gator456]

Over the last year I have struggled a lot with RSI and the worst being in my mouse hand.

I tried 3 vertical mice:
Wowpen Joy mouse
Evoluent mouse
zero tension mouse

First, finding a good vertical mouse is an expensive journey.  A good fit for a vertical mouse is much more dependent on your body shape than a horizontal mouse.  None are sold locally so you must mail order them.  You will pay unit cost plus shipping.  Then if it does not work you will have to pay shipping to return the item.  You may get hit with the restocking fee.  Returning the evoloute to Newegg left me with a net loss of $20 to $30.

What makes a good ergonomic mouse?  I developed my own personal test for ergonomics: Close your eyes, hold your hands at your sides shake them around and then look at the position of your hands.  This is the perfect ergonomic position for your hands.  (we will call this the gator ergo test)

The mice I tried:
Wowpen Joy mouse:  This came pretty close to the the 'gator ergo test'.  The problem with this mouse that the click force was too high and caused my hands to cramp.

Evoluent mouse: This mouse was a bit too vertical.  The biggest issue for me was that it was built for someone with big hands.  Like basket ball player size.  Hence, I had to return it.

Zero Tension Mouse: This mouse started out as the most promising.  It felt very comfortable to put my hand on the mouse.  However over time my thumb started hurting.  If you notice in this picture the thumb is straight up:

http://www.ergodirect.net/ProductImages/zero2.jpg

Over time this position jammed my thumb.  I took two weeks of visits to a physical therapist to get it back to normal.  This mouse fails the gator ergo test.

In the end I found a good deal on a Datahand on ebay, take lots of breaks and moved the horizontal mouse to the other hand.

I hope my experience can save someone some pain, literally.

[alec]

Moved the mouse to the other hand
Cheapest solution ever.

[Findecanor]

I got myself a left-handed Evoluent.

I found it weird that it has three buttons: one each for index, long and ring finger, but no space for the pinky. Unless you are supposed to hit the "right" mouse button with the pinky ...
And you can't really get a good grip of the Evoluent. It is just like a big blob.

[Findecanor]

My left-handed one hasn't got a pinky ridge. Perhaps it is an older model...

[Rajagra]

You have to wonder what goes on in the head of mouse designers. Seems to me the obvious design would be hemispherical (imagine half a grapefruit) with one button or other control (wheel etc.) under each digit. You would hold it with your hand at around a 45° angle putting the pinkie close to the desk. There should be a flat projection that the edge of your hand rests on rather than hitting the desk, though this could be removable for those who prefer hand-to-desk friction for fine control.

[microsoft windows]

Regarding RSI, I'd advise doing the following:

DO NOT use your keyboard legs up. Keep your wrists elevated while typing. A good way to do that would be to tilt your keyboard the other way.

Use a variety of mice. They don't have to be fancy. Just make sure they're different shapes. Using them with both hands helps too.

And, if possible (It might be your job though), the best solution:
Stop using the computer so much.

[EverythingIBM]

Regarding RSI, I'd advise doing the following:

DO NOT use your keyboard legs up. Keep your wrists elevated while typing. A good way to do that would be to tilt your keyboard the other way.

Use a variety of mice. They don't have to be fancy. Just make sure they're different shapes. Using them with both hands helps too.

And, if possible (It might be your job though), the best solution:
Stop using the computer so much.

I'm in agreeance with the keyboards top being tilted down rather than being angled upwards. Typing flat (for me) allows more speed and easier on the wirst/fingers, don't have to move as much. Whereas if the keyboard is tilted up, you really need to move your hands around, which could provoke RSI.

[hyperlinked]

Whereas if the keyboard is tilted up, you really need to move your hands around, which could provoke RSI.

You really need to stop giving out medical advice. You cannot just tell people "the best position is with your keyboard legs collapsed." You have no idea what the rest of the setup looks like, what their body type is, what their chair is doing to their posture, etc. etc. etc. It all matters... a lot.

I personally use my keyboard legs or I angle my keyboard tray back so that I have more precise control of how angled it is.

Quite the contrary, moving your hands around is likely to be better for someone with RSI because it means you can move your hands into a more biomechanically advantageous position to hit keys. The better your biomechanics, the less work your hands are actually doing.

[microsoft windows]

I know for a fact that having the keyboard legs up in most cases prevents you from keeping your wrists elevated while typing. I only use my keyboard legs when putting my keyboard on an uneven surface.

[hyperlinked]

I know for a fact that having the keyboard legs up in most cases prevents you from keeping your wrists elevated while typing. I only use my keyboard legs when putting my keyboard on an uneven surface.

I'm not sure if having the legs up means that they should be extended or retracted, but either what may be a fact for you isn't necessarily a fact for everyone. Workstation setup aside from the keyboard itself is important to consider. If you type with your keyboard on top of a flat table, then most likely you don't want the legs extended because your wrists are probably already out of position for typing.

If you have a keyboard tray or if you're very tall or if you sit in a very high chair it may be different.

[microsoft windows]

If you got a keyboard tray or you're in a high seat it's even more important for your wrists to keep the keyboard flat.

[Findecanor]

I also just got a WowPen Joy. I also thought that the buttons were too hard, at first. I even opened up the mouse to see if I could replace the switches. However, the switches themselves felt no harder than the ones that I intended to replace them with!
It took me a while to figure it out: the button itself is too stiff and the switches are located too far out: You have to grip the mouse completely, with the inner part of your palm touching the mouse and your fingertips at the very tip of the mouse buttons. Then the buttons are not as hard any more.
If you press them too high up, as you would normally do, then that would be in-between the switch and the hinge, creating an inverted lever action that increases the amount of force required at the expense of shorter switch travel.

The problem is that it is very easy to stray from the intended grip position, especially when you go between mouse and keyboard. Also, the scroll wheel is located higher up on the mouse, often making you shift your hand position before using it. You have to be aware of your grip all the time when you use the mouse or the buttons will be too hard.

Contrast that with the Evoluent VerticalMouse, which is supposed to be gripped in a more casual manner and where the click force is almost the same throughout the entire surface of each button.

Edit: Scratch that. The mouse buttons are too hard anyway. I think it has to do with the buttons.. I'll see if scratching the plastic thinner will make any difference.
Edit 2: I did find a couple of switches in an old mice that were softer than the one in the WowPen Joy. I replaced the switches in the WowPen, but I still find the buttons to be too hard, especially the right one. I couldn't find a way to remove the rubberized buttons from the shell for modification, unfortunately.
Btw, I think that the mouse is not vertical enough.

[microsoft windows]

I wonder how a Wiimote would do as a computer mouse when it comes to ergonomics.

[ch_123]

Just don't throw it into your screen and everything should be fine.

[Findecanor]

I got an Evoluent VerticalMouse V3 rev 2 at work today... and I noticed something that I had not noticed with my V2. Unfortunately, I just sold my personal V2 so I can't look if it had the "feature"... darn.

Whenever I move the mouse almost in a straight line vertically or horizontally, the mouse "corrects" the motion so that it goes in a perfect straight vertical or horizontal line.
This must be a feature in the mouse's firmware! Apparently it works as if motion on one axis is small enough and smaller than motion on the other axis, it cancels out the smallest. I am not sure, but it does not appear that the firmware would compensate for the lack of motion on one axis by adding to the other, though.

Every time that I want to move the mouse slightly diagonally, such as when selecting a block of text, the mouse wants to go horizontally until I start moving my hand more downwards to compensate.  I find this quite annoying.

I am running Linux both at work and home. Do the Windows drivers allow this feature to be switched off? Of course, I have also sent an email to Evoluent about it, asking how I would be able to get around it. If I can not get it switched off, I will return it.

[Konrad]

A few mice can be adjusted or reconfigured, somewhat.
 
An example is the Cyborg RAT 7 (made by Saitek, I think). Unfortunately marketed as a gaming mouse, so it's expensive. (A lot of gaming mice go for unusual form factors.)

RSI can sometimes be reduced by changing the way you hold a mouse, ie: "palmer" vs "gripper" (neither is really better).  Or even switching hands (the choice of right hand is purely arbitrary, and in fact generally counterproductive if you are right-handed).

[MsKeyboard]

Whenever I move the mouse almost in a straight line vertically or horizontally, the mouse "corrects" the motion so that it goes in a perfect straight vertical or horizontal line.

I have been using this mouse for the better part of 2 weeks now, and I do not have that issue.  The mouse reflects my exact movements, no correction whatsoever.  You might check the settings on the included drivers, just an idea.

Also, the "stop working and stretch" feature although hokey, is actually useful.  More than anything it helps me time my work when I tend to get caught up in a project.  Would be nice if you could personalize the message, maybe something like "time to go check Geekhack!"

Later................

[Lanx]

A few mice can be adjusted or reconfigured, somewhat.
 
An example is the Cyborg RAT 7 (made by Saitek, I think). Unfortunately marketed as a gaming mouse, so it's expensive. (A lot of gaming mice go for unusual form factors.)

 
RSI can sometimes be reduced by changing the way you hold a mouse, ie: "palmer" vs "gripper" (neither is really better).  Or even switching hands (the choice of right hand is purely arbitrary, and in fact generally counterproductive if you are right-handed).

That mouse is too heavy to be ergonomic, it's like 130g or so w/o adding any additional weights, as personal experience it was just a pain trying to move it in a sweeping motion after a while cuz it was so heavy(no wimpy jokes, blah blah).
my surface is entirely frictionless so that wasn't the issue, it was the build quality. It's a high build quality they unlike everyone else use a metal base as opposed to cheap plastic like every other mouse on the market, but that adds lots of grams to the equation.
it was highly adjustable, but i couldn't use it after a month, too many other issues.

[Konrad]

Hey, the RAT was just a suggestion.  Haven't tried it myself yet (and now I probably won't, lol) - your comments make sense.
 
You could always go ape**** and just build/mod your own mouse.
 
Attack an existing mouse and replace heavy metal plating with plastics or even cardboard?
 
Shape a blob of waxy plastic into your ideal grip, wire the buttons out to wherever you prefer, and spray the thing with a few coats of hard surface stuff.  Et voilą, perfectly ergonomic, customized, and (dare I say) quite a stylish conversation piece too.
 
Combine with blank keycaps and basically no other human will ever dare operate your computer.
 
Or ...
 
0) change the way you grip the mouse (mentioned above)
 
1) switch mouse hand.  It's not as hard as you might think, only takes a few days.  You can even use two mice on the same computer - you'd be surprised at the productivity/gaming boost you can gain when you become ambi-moustrous.
 
2) change the mousepad height, by raising/lowering your desk (or keyboard tray) or your chair, or maybe even just stuffing a big fat book underneath ... this forces your arm/wrist positions into different angles.  Take note: habitually resting/folding your wrist on a table edge gets nasty after a while, avoid this (use a cushion if necessary).
 
Just my thoughts.
 
[Edit]
 
Maybe have an air-hockey mouse table?  Oh yeah.