Kinesis Advantage - Issues with mouse due to height

[pan:cid]

Hi there,

Greetings to all of you.

I have been using a Kinesis Advantage for about 1 year and absolutely love to type on it.

However, its standing plainly on my desk and due to its significant height its has become quite uncomfortable to use my mouse. The mouse is also on my desk, but I have adjusted my chair so that my hands are comfortably on my Kinesis. Consequently, my hand now sort of needs to "grab down" in order to reach for the mouse.

I am sure I am not the first person who has met this problem. What would be your advise to do about this? (e.g. simply putting the mouse onto a book in order to bring it onto the same height level as the top of my Kinesis).

I would very much appreciate your input.

Thx a lot!
pan:cid

[Lurch]

Hey! Welcome to Geekhack!

I would suggest to try stacking a book or something similar in attempt to bring the mouse to a more comfortable height. 

Others might have better suggestions.

Enjoy your stay!

[davkol]

I afraid there's no other way than (a) raise your mousing surface, (b) not use a pointing device, (c) use a trackball or a touchpad (too bad the free space in the middle of the keyboard isn't flat) raised the same way, or some trackballs (e.g. Kensington Expert, CH Products DT225) are pretty high.

[hoggy]

You could try a vertical mouse.  To be fair, I don't notice the height difference anymore.

[davkol]

You could try a vertical mouse.

I think the problem is basically the same, if OP wants to avoid this

[natas206]

Just raise the surface of the mouse. If you have a mouse pad, just put a book or something flat under the mouse pad to make it level with the keyboard.

[natas206]

You could try a vertical mouse.

I think the problem is basically the same, if OP wants to avoid this

Show Image

Or use some kind of mouse palm pad

[Input Nirvana]

Yes, this is an issue when using a Kinesis Advantage. There are a few solutions, some more elegant than others. There have been some mods incorporating the ability to move the cursor into the Advantage.

Trackpoint put into the right key well
Rollerball placed in the mid-area
Touchpad stuck in the middle

[islisis]

to combine some suggestions: vertical mouse+wrist rest (doesn't suffer the same problems as flat mice)
use several rests to support the fore arm/edge of the desk. i do the same for the other arm

i agree it would be nice if future kinesis boards could be lower profile

[pan:cid]

Thx everyone for your suggestions. I put a reatively thin book below a mousepad with wrist rest, that does the job quite nicely. The problem remains that this sorf of setup makes the whole desk quite uneven, so the same solution is needed on the left hand.

Agree, would be great if the next Kinesis Advantage could be flatter (as far as physically feasible)

[jacobolus]

Just cut a hole in your desk to mount the Kinesis in. Problem solved!