Desk Keyboard tray or no tray?

[roaming pear]

Desk Keyboard tray or no tray?
Which do you prefer?  Which is better? why?

thanks

[Pacifist]

no tray

[blackbox]

I prefer no tray. I want to have the mouse and keyboard at the same level and a tray usually does not support that. A tray also limits the how big keyboard you can have.

[Puddsy]

I have a tray, but I don't have room for my knees. I'll probably get rid of it soon.

[CPTBadAss]

It works for me because it puts the keyboard at the right height compared to where my hands and arms rest.

[1996 Ford Taurus]

I was never much of a fan of most desk keyboard trays. I hardly ever see them with enough room to fit the mouse next to the keyboard.

[Cheesebaron]

Screw the tray, get a elevating desk instead and adjust it to the correct height.

[kurplop]

If you are happy with the height of the keyboard on your table relative to your seated/standing position,  then it makes less sense to get a tray. Unfortunately, that table height is usually too low for other desk functions. The mouse issue is a big problem for tray users. There just isn't enough space for unfettered mousing.

I'm a big fan of trays. First , the angular adjustability allows for frequent position changes. It also allows the  keyboard to be set at an optimal keyboarding height without sacrificing standard desktop height. Being a trackball user, the limited space on a tray isn't an issue for me.

[osi]

I used to use a tray for keyboard and mouse with notepads up top for writing. Eventually the setup was swapped to board up top and notebook to tray. It works out better for me ergonomically.

It is a really preferential decision!

[jakkdl]

I got myself a tray since two weeks, my life is now complete! Best peripheral ever.

[1pq]

Screw the tray, get a elevating desk instead and adjust it to the correct height.

Yes! This is what I do and it works very well.

[rowdy]

No tray.  Most seem to weak to hold the keyboard, rarely have room for a mouse too, and keep sliding in and out.

Plus they are a different height to the desk.

[divito]

I generally prefer no tray (coming from a competitive gaming background and large mouse pads for FPS), but my current tray supports my needs appropriately; when using a full-size, my mousepad can be supported over the edge, and when using a TKL, like now, it fits just fine. Chair is also proper height for level arms, and having the monitors slightly higher for viewing purposes is nice too.

[Melvang]

I use the desk top for my keyboard but use the tray for my mouse and orbweaver.  I mostly game and the longest bouts of typing I do are here on the forums.

[HalfCent]

No tray. I don't have room for my mouse comfortably on most trays, and I can't angle the keyboard the way I like it when I game on a tray.

[Lastpilot]

I always end up putting too much weight on the tray and eventually bending the rails that support it. Sooooo....desk it is!

[Kayla]

I hate keyboard trays. I think they are awful. The cord is always off in some other dimension and routing it to the top when youre tired of the blood rushing to your fingers is frustrating depending on how cramped your setup is.

[user 18]

No tray -- I do occasionally have an issue with needing different desk height for keyboard usage vs other usage, but then I just adjust my chair's height. And I don't need to deal with the tray moving on me.

I do use trays at work -- there's not enough space to have the keyboard always accessible.

[Hypersphere]

Definitely, no tray. It is far better to work on a single surface that is typing height.

[roaduck]

Desk Keyboard tray or no tray?
Which do you prefer?  Which is better? why?

thanks

I have a large, wide solid desk that supports my full-size IBM model M but I have a good, tall IKEA task chair http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/20103101/

It has a good slide-out keyboard tray that is not rickerty and the monitor height is adjustable as well so for ergonomics; it`s bob on.

[user 18]

If I may ask, what's the point of having two speakers on top of each other like that?

[roaduck]

If I may ask, what's the point of having two speakers on top of each other like that?

Off course you can user 18; let me try to explain.

Pictured is the upstairs living room.
Downstairs I just have a  big old TV and 3.1 system...I wanted it mainly for live music jams and my book library.
I have them stacked to save space and there is also another set of speakers for the telly behind the curtains; so 4 sets of stereo speakers for my different set-ups.

Currently I haven`t got space for my 46" tall 3-way dipoles and the Marantz AV receiver is not connected.

I have the back black speakers from the television amplifier for surround sound, the larger ones on the bottom are for my main HI-FI amplifier and my AV receiver and the top ones are for computer sound that goes to a micro CD receiver with a separate subwoofer that is shared with low and high level inputs for the active plate amp.


So in effect I have four discreet systems in one room.

One for the Computer
One for Cinema Sound
One for Hifi
One for stereo TV with it`s built in amp

I can have 3 systems on simultaneously with one input.

The AV amp isn`t on much because I watch a lot of foreign films...I don`t need sound effects ...2.1 is fine for me.

I have an old CRT telly...but I`m not bothered because  I hardly watch TV..I love reading and listening to music.

One of my hobbies is stereos...I used to sell esoteric HI-Fi in London.

Here`s a list of my system.



 Krell KSA 100A class "A" power amplifier
 Vacuum Tube Logic Ultimate class "A" valve dual mono twin mains lead preamplifier
 Sugden A21a class "A" integrated amplifier
 Sugden CD21 class "A" CD
 SD Acoustics OBS 3-way custom dipoles - ADI/Dynaudio/Scanspeak beryllium drive units
 Wilmslow Audio outboard 3-way crossover
 BK Monolith+ Forward Firing active subwoofer
 Mordaunt Short MS-902 fronts
 Mordaunt Short MS-302 fronts
 Onkyo CR-505DAB CD receiver
 Pioneer DV-600AV - DVD, DVD Audio/SACD
 Sony WM-D6C Professional Walkman cassette recorder
 Technics RS-AZ7 3-head IR remote control cassette deck
 Nakamichi CR5E 3-discrete head IR remote azimuth cassette deck
 Traxdata 900 CD Audio Recorder
 Linn Axis class "A" PSU turntable
 Linn Basik Plus arm
 Linn K9 MM cartridge
 Musical Fidelity X-Cans class "A" headphone amplifier
 Sennheiser HD-600 headphones
 Apollo Aria 6-tier rack
 QED and Cambridge Audio Pure Silver interconnects
 Sharp VC-MH814 6 head stereo VCR
 Toshiba 28" ws CRT
 Panasonic Quintrix 32" ws CRT

 'puters

 Laptop

 ASUS K53E

 Desktop

 DELL Vostro 200MT desktop
 IBM - 102 key UK layout 1391406 keyboard
 Dual CPU E2200@2.20GHz processor
 Foxconn G-33M clone motherboard
 HDD-160 GB-7200 RPM internal Hard Disk Drive

 External HDD Servers

 Edge10 8TB JBOD 1
 Edge10 8TB JBOD 2
 Samsung 1TB
 Hitachi 2TB
 WD 200GB
 Toshiba 2TB
 Maxtor 400GB
 WD 2TB
 Toshiba 700GB
 WD 200GB

 ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT - 256 MB Graphics Processor Unit
 4GB - DDR 667 MHz RAM Memory
 DVD-ROM Pioneer Reader
 DVD-RW Pioneer Writer
 LCD Dell - 24" 1920 x 1080 - display
 CRT Mitsubishi - 22" 2560 x 1600 - display
 O/S Tiny XP Pro & Knoppix dual boot - Operating Systems

 Computer Speakers - Acoustic Energy Aego M 3.1 & Tannoy SFX centre
 Wireless USB 5.1 optical transmitter - Onkyo UWL1 connected to main system
 Phones - Sennheiser HD-250
 Headphone Amplifier/Passive Preamplifier for PC - QED MB45
 Switching Box for PC - Tandy audio selector.

 AOR AR-ALPHA shortwave receiver
 Sangean ATS803A worldband
 Datong signal amplifier
 and the remote antenae, Baluns and longwires
 Samsung Tocco Ultra S8300 multimedia phone
 Soundmatters Fox-L bluetooth speaker

 plus loads of other bits and bobs like the

 Pure Oasis DAB radio etc.


Some Piccies ...if your interested...warning some old ancillaries.

[user 18]

That was a ton more answer than I was expecting, thank you very much.

I don't claim to understand why some people sink so much time and effort into sound setups, but I can certainly appreciate the amount of work and knowledge that must go into it. Of course, a year ago I didn't know what the whole keyboard fuss was about either

[roaduck]

That was a ton more answer than I was expecting, thank you very much.

I don't claim to understand why some people sink so much time and effort into sound setups, but I can certainly appreciate the amount of work and knowledge that must go into it. Of course, a year ago I didn't know what the whole keyboard fuss was about either

I`ve just seen your site - user 18 wow you`re obviously very talented and knowledgeable about electronics and keyboards.Well done and I hope your business really flies for you in these difficult times.

Actually i was a lot off-topic user 18 but I am passionate about my hobbies; I like most electrical stuff - I`ve been into electronics since 1972.

I`m actually subcontracted by a local PC shop; that`s why I needed a the red ASUS K53E laptop to do mobile repairs.

I`m just getting used to laptops having used big workstations servers and desktops for decades and I`m only just getting used to Windows 7 and Zorin Linux.

Erm about the the other post mentioning a netbook...I meant a laptop/notebook...I didn`t mean to sound condescending...sorry if that was the inference; it certainly wasn`t intended.

I see that you`re into electromechanical keyboards...user 18.

I love the feel and sound of them..they`re so tactile.I bought an old British IBM model M because they reminded me of ancient keyboards and typewriters which I loved using even though I`ve not learn`t to touch-type properly after all these years.

I must get lessons one day and also get more into my tenor saxophone downstairs: got to unplug occasionally heh ?

[user 18]

Don't worry about it, water under the bridge. Thanks for the good wishes

I have a trumpet sitting under my desk, I ought to get to playing it at some point.

Everyone here has some bad typing habits (or at least it seems like it). I know I don't type properly, despite my parents trying to teach me. I don't hold pens the right way either