Author Topic: Left-handed mousing for a right-handed person  (Read 4759 times)

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Offline CX23882

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Left-handed mousing for a right-handed person
« on: Thu, 12 March 2009, 11:34:23 »
I decided to give it a go today, and although I'm not as quick as my usual hand, I'm not doing too badly.  The main advantage of this is that you can use a full-sized keyboard with a numpad and keep the alpha keys centred but avoid having to reach across to use the mouse.

Does anybody else here mouse with their left hand even though they're right-handed?

I've not swapped the mouse buttons around.

Offline FKSSR

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Left-handed mousing for a right-handed person
« Reply #1 on: Thu, 12 March 2009, 12:07:16 »
Where I work, there are people that specialize in "ergo" and all that encompasses.  They try to get people to use the mouse with their left hand, but I'm just not sold.  

The main thing is that I will always want to use a right-handed mouse for gaming type applications (things where I need to be the most precise and quick).  

The second thing is that I don't have a left-handed mouse to try out.  Right-handed mice just feel to weird in the left hand (all that I have access to, at least).

I can understand the concept, but I don't think I'll be switching anytime soon.
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Offline itlnstln

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Left-handed mousing for a right-handed person
« Reply #2 on: Thu, 12 March 2009, 12:23:49 »
I would probably give left-handed mousing a legit shot if there were more true left-handed mice available.  Then again, maybe not.  I have been reaching across the number pad for so many years, I don't really care anyway.  When I think about my interactions with my PC, I either mouse a lot or I type a lot, but I don't switch tasks so much that it bothers me.


Offline FKSSR

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Left-handed mousing for a right-handed person
« Reply #3 on: Fri, 13 March 2009, 10:20:27 »
Yeah, I agree.  I wish I could get a slightly ergonomic (like the MS Explorer wireless I use) made for lefties to try out for a couple weeks.  

However, I'm also so used to using my right hand for mousing and moving it to my keyboard occasionally.  

I usually am either using one or the other as well, but I probably do switch more often than I think (i.e. when I'm surfing this forum and then start typing a reply - or moving my mouse to my Outlook and then typing an email).
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Offline bigpook

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Left-handed mousing for a right-handed person
« Reply #4 on: Fri, 13 March 2009, 11:12:00 »
Yes, I am right handed but use the mouse on the left hand side. I also swapped the buttons. It took a bit to get used to but within a few weeks it settled in nicely. Now I can mouse with both hands as needed, but prefer the left side. I use a kensington expert mouse and just recently broke out the kensington orbit. Whats nice about left handed mousing is that it allows you to keep your right hand over the arrow keys and the page up/down keys. This actually works out real well for me.
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Offline iMav

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Left-handed mousing for a right-handed person
« Reply #5 on: Fri, 13 March 2009, 12:01:38 »
I am left-handed and mouse with my right hand.  I have never used the mouse with my left.

Offline bigpook

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Left-handed mousing for a right-handed person
« Reply #6 on: Fri, 13 March 2009, 12:51:09 »
Forgot to add, that when I do game on the pc, I use a logitech G5 and I use my right hand.
Now that I got a PS3 I don't think I will be gaming on the pc too much anymore....that will make for one less mouse on my desktop, sweet.
HHKB Pro 2 : Unicomp Spacesaver : IBM Model M : DasIII    

Offline FKSSR

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Left-handed mousing for a right-handed person
« Reply #7 on: Fri, 13 March 2009, 13:25:05 »
Quote from: iMav;24384
I am left-handed and mouse with my right hand.  I have never used the mouse with my left.


Interesting....  So, you choose to travel more between the keyboard and mouse.  Really, it just solidifies my belief that the travel may not be as bad as some make it out to be.  Obviously, it depends on how often someone does it as well as individual "health" factors that can range from one person to another.
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Offline iMav

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Left-handed mousing for a right-handed person
« Reply #8 on: Fri, 13 March 2009, 16:19:25 »
Quote from: FKSSR;24390
Interesting....  So, you choose to travel more between the keyboard and mouse.  Really, it just solidifies my belief that the travel may not be as bad as some make it out to be.  Obviously, it depends on how often someone does it as well as individual "health" factors that can range from one person to another.

Wrong.  I only use spacesaver/non-keypad keyboards.  ;)

Offline bigpook

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Left-handed mousing for a right-handed person
« Reply #9 on: Fri, 13 March 2009, 16:34:37 »
The travel factor is very noticeable to me. Even though I use keyboards without numpads I still like the mouse on the left side. Personal prefs I suppose. All that matters anyways is what works best for you. I don't think there is any right way of doing it.
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Offline FKSSR

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Left-handed mousing for a right-handed person
« Reply #10 on: Mon, 16 March 2009, 12:52:17 »
Quote from: iMav;24404
Wrong.  I only use spacesaver/non-keypad keyboards.  ;)


Oh, yeah.  I forgot about that...  Thanks for clarifying.
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Offline ozar

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Left-handed mousing for a right-handed person
« Reply #11 on: Mon, 16 March 2009, 13:31:29 »
Quote from: CX23882;24284
Does anybody else here mouse with their left hand even though they're right-handed?

I've been thinking about giving it a go ever since you posted this.

Going lefty would pretty much eliminate the "keypad is in the way" issue that I've been dealing with and I'm pretty good at using the left hand anyway, so it might work.  The only problem is that my current mouse is very right hand oriented in construction.

Offline Chloe

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Left-handed mousing for a right-handed person
« Reply #12 on: Mon, 16 March 2009, 14:00:05 »
I mouse with two trackballs, a Kensington Orbit Optical (left) and a Logitech Marble Mouse (right). I was surprised at how natural it felt but I am quite ambidextrous anyway. For a long time I couldn't use my right hand for mousing thanks to graphics tablet RSI.

Travel factor is an issue for me. I think it's related to build and how you use the computer. With full size keyboards I have to mouse with my left, the distance is too much to reach the right comfortably. I get pains in my right arm even with smaller keyboards such as the Compaq MX 11800 and Cherry G80-1800. I'm most comfortable with compact keyboards such as the KPT-84.

Offline itlnstln

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Left-handed mousing for a right-handed person
« Reply #13 on: Mon, 16 March 2009, 14:42:18 »
Quote from: webwit;24641
Resistance is futile. HHKB is your destiny...


I thought the resistance was about 45g.  Oh well...


Offline FKSSR

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Left-handed mousing for a right-handed person
« Reply #14 on: Thu, 26 March 2009, 13:22:43 »
I thought about buying a left-handed keyboard for that reason, but they are expensive and much harder to find with good switches (it's hard enough to find right-handed or tenkeyless).

Nice link, though.  I'll read it at some point.
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Offline bhtooefr

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Left-handed mousing for a right-handed person
« Reply #15 on: Sat, 28 March 2009, 23:52:28 »
Well, if it uses individual switches soldered to a PCB, you could always cut the board in half, and then make a LONG cable to re-join the halves across the board...