Hacker News Reader

Comment by jurassic | Hacker News Reader

I've been looking into this but haven't taken the leap yet because I decided I wanted an external monitor and keyboard. A standing setup with a laptop seems less than optimal from an ergonomic point of view. Isn't it better to decouple the keyboard and monitor so that you can place the monitor and keyboard each at the optimal height? I've done some informal testing with stacked books and couldn't find a height that was comfortable for both viewing and typing on my Macbook. Comfortable typing height makes me hunch over to look at the screen.

View on HN

I'm always a bit baffled when people build something to prop up their laptop. I guess mostly because I'm an a country where you're not allow (legally) to use a laptop as a permanent workstation, unless you have an external monitor, keyboard and mouse.

To have a comfortable standing position, you really need to be able to move your monitor separately from the keyboard. Most monitors doesn't really allow you to adjust their height, even iMacs just allow you to tilt the screen, which isn't what you want. If you want to switch position during the day, you either need a really good desk where you can rise the monitor separately or a monitor where the "neck" extends.

Wait, what? Your government actually regulates what can and cannot be used as a permanent workstation? What country do you live in? How does that even work?

Here in the US we have OSHA, or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, who make rules designed to prevent employers from setting up working conditions that promote injuries/illnesses. I don't know if they have rules specifically about laptops, but that would definitely be the kind of rule they make.

OSHA is basically a big joke. My father owns a factory and has had an OSHA inspection only once in almost 30 years. Doubt they even get around to visiting offices.

But couldn't a worker file a lawsuit? I think the big enforcer of policy is employee lawsuits, not government inspections.

Germany here. It's a kind of a safety regulation. Think of it as a right that the employee has. The employee has to provide the equipment and supplies that you need to do your work, and equipment that prevents "injuries" (wrong term for the long term effect of bad ergonomics) is amongst the equipment you need. So if you work at a desk with a computer, you are entitled to a separate monitor and keyboard and mouse.

If you don't want to use the keyboard, you can set it aside, of course. But it's there for you to use it if you like.

I'm in Denmark, and yes it does work. Companies get their work conditions checked every two or three years, an office worker is no different from a construction-, warehouse- or factory-worker. Two years ago we got a remark for being on the floor, rather than tied up under the desks, we got two weeks to change it. In the end you'll get fined if you do not comply.

Most companies don't really think about it, providing adjustable desks, external monitors, dockingstations, etc. is just the norm.

I've been using a standing desk since Jan 2011 [1], and ended up using an external keyboard and mouse to solve the problem of having things at the optimal height. Since I have two machines, I just run synergy to go back and forth between my desktop and laptop, but hooking up directly to the laptop would work just the same.

[1] http://elasticdog.com/2011/01/shelf-made-standing-desk/

That's right, you do not want your hands and screen to be so close together. Think about it: how often do you keep your hands in your line of site for extended periods of time?

You do it momentarily to look at what your manipulating, but its not very comfortable for extended periods, since it requires that you're either craning your neck to look at your lap or keeping your arms extended out in front of your body.

I'm using an external mouse and keyboard with my laptop at the same level as my 2nd monitor. It works pretty well.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com