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Comment by entropicgravity | Hacker News Reader

Mx Ergo (by Logitech) is far and away the best "mouse" for me and probably for you. It only takes about two hours to transfer your motor skills of regular mouse to the Mx Ergo. Because this "thumb ball" mouse only involves your thumb to work the mouse you won't get the full wrist, shoulder and neck pain that you can get from a normal mouse. If you have any kind of arm pain then check this out.

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I have the MX Vertical from them, by far the best mouse I've ever used, bluetooth or proprietary wireless, sensible place for the charging cable to connect (rarely I might add).

I also have the Lift vertical, for use when travelling, but it's not nearly as nice as the MX.

edit: also the Ergo keyboard is fantastic. I can't overstate how using ergonomic keyboard/mouse is important; you're using them basically all day.

Love mine. Expensive but nice. The downside is the button switches failed for me after about 15 months. I'm Currently waiting for some time to replace the left and right buttons

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29448776

I had this problem as well and, as I recall, I fixed it by blowing high pressure air under the button. A 'can of air' under pressure will do.

If you're having those issues, please address the underlying problem instead of thinking that having the perfect ergonomic setup will fix your body. Getting up from the desk each day and getting some physical activity in will help your body a lot more in the long run.

Your attitude is quite unpleasant, teetering on the edge of ableism. Some people (myself included) are just very sensitive to RSI. I get up and about plenty, but without my ergodox keyboard and mx ergo I'm in a world of pain after a regular workday.

If you heard me say this in person I'm sure that you'd hear in the tone of my voice that I'm more coming from a place of concern than anything. I understand that what I said landed wrong though. Sorry. I'm just trying to say to other people what I wish I heard from someone years ago when I was having the same issues.

Working with a computer is the underlying problem here. If a special mouse reduces tension, nothing wrong with that. Also you cannot know how often and intensely the parent poster exercises already.

True. I am speaking from my own experience of having a lot of pain at the desk at one point in my life. After I started exercising regularly I have had zero problems for years.

I have got a Mx Ergo, and to everyone else out there asking questions about this trackball. Let me tell you.

As long as you are not using the mouse to draw (photoshop, gis software, cad software etc...) you will adapt. And the thingy is comfortable to use.

If you need to do some of those tasks that requires drawing a polygon, snap vertex into other things etc... The MX Ergo is not for you. You can do it, but you will be significantly more slow, even after months of practice. Look something else. I wish someone would have told me this before.

Have you got the precision of the regular mouse with this trackball?

I have tried a number of trackballs, and haven't been able to reach the precision of a regular mouse from any — after a week of usage of each of several trackballs I only got to the convenience/precision of trackpoint or bad touchpad.

Moving in straight lines, predictable directions and moving just a few pixels was the biggest issue.

Not OP but using the mx ergo since more than a year. Never really had problems with the precision, the precision in the first week of using the mouse will definitely be different, because your brain needs to adapt. The only time I have problems is, when I haven't cleaned the trackball for some time, then it will get jittery. But the mouse has a precision button next to the trackball where you can move really slow and will definitely have a chance to move just a few pixels.

There’s a dedicated button right at your thumb that increases precision on demand. :)

I use an external touchpad instead of a mouse for the same reason. Zero wrist problems + I get the extra efficiency from gestures.

touchpads are literally the worst kind of mousing interfaces ergonomically

Huge fan of the Ergo. I pair mine with the keyboard in the same family, both of which allow you to connect to and switch between multiple computers. It’s just perfect.

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