A pain in the ar…m.

 

For the last six months I’ve been using one of these instead of a mouse. Wrist pain had set in; a burning feeling at the joint with occasional sharp needle pain in my forearm. Hardly surprising, I’ve been wielding a mouse since the designing world was first infested by them.

I looked into getting a Wacom tablet but, to be honest, even the entry level tablet makes for a pricey mouse substitute when all you actually need is a mouse. So I thought it was worth giving the Swedish designed Penclic a whirl. Within a couple of weeks I was feeling the benefit and it only dawned on me last week that I have not even a hint of pain anymore.

I miss the swipiness of the Apple Magic Mouse but I still use that function, with my left hand. Took a bit of getting used to and I’m thinking about getting a third-party trackpad instead but it’s been working just fine – I actually find the Penclic more precise than the mouse. Maybe a Wacom would be even better but I’m not an illustrator and have no use for full-on tablet functionality.

There’s no denying, the Penclic is really a mouse on a stick but the stick is quite nice to hold. Again, it takes a bit of getting used to, especially the right click, which is on the left but while initially the buttons seem to be the wrong way around, in practise, they’re not. The track wheel is probably the one thing I’d change – it’s slow.

I use the R3 Wireless version which wins over the Magic Mouse by being able to charge and use it at the same time using a rather neat retractable (separate) charging cable.

The overall ergonomics and cost of the Penclic make it, on balance, a good choice for me although I can't say it's a perfect solution. The ‘mouse on a stick’ concept is especially good and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see it more often – it feels much more natural in the hand.

Report ends.

Comments

[nev]

It feels weird to comment on a blog post. Something I have not had the pleasure of doing so in quite some time.

Closing this post with "Report ends" is a near perfect closer for the subject matter.

Bored of my usual (tired and obvious) list of places to look online, I thought I'd come back here expecting a graveyard as is the rest of the old good parts of the web. But no! It's alive again, and what's more you're posting once a week or so. Good work! I hope the charms of posting is a tenth as fun as it used to be. Your use of language in this context is still as enjoyable to read as ever.

[Richard Weston]

Hi Daniel,

It's a weird receiving a comment as it is making one. I started blogging for my own benefit and that's why I've returned to it. Maybe in a reaction to the highly transient nature of the social medias. I don't think many people are listening but that's OK.

Delighted to hear from yourself though. Hope you're well and are enjoying life, in whatever form that takes.

Stay tuned :-)

Richard

[Daniel]

I had to come back here to read the comment. To even know if there was going to be a reply. So very quaint.
I also had an itch to start blogging again somewhat recently, but children and other things got in the way. Good to know someone has the time.

[Richard]

It's no way to talk is it? I actually sent a reply to the email address linked to your comment. Did you not get that? If you didn't, you would have got the next one I sent. Which asked how old your children are. Ours are 13 and 15 now. So we're finding we have more and more time back for ourselves. Hence, my return.

[C. Long]

I'm way late here, since I just now found this post, but ... here goes:

Trackball (Logitech) saved my nearly 30-year career. I literally cannot use a mouse without major pain. I trashed both my arms by using a mouse, and they still hurt 30 years later.

The last 6 or 8 years I used both a trackpad and a trackball -- R and L, respectively. Don't underestimate the value of a LOCK function on a trackball! Click on something, LOCK, then take your time moving it around without having to hold down a button of some sort. THEN, release.

Try different options. They're not wildly expensive, and if you have years/decades in front of you, they're a no-brainer.