headaches... splitting... my ibook??

liquidrliquidr
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
I've been noticing that every night I've been getting tremendous headaches at the rear of my head. I think it may have to do with the position of my screen or eye strain due to the small monitor on the 12in ibook. I love my book and have a splendid time on it, I don't want to have to ration my time on it.



Has anyone esle suffered similar problem?



I'm considering getting a seperate monitor for it, anyone suggest a decent one for under 300?



Additionally can I do the monitor spanning hack with a VGA monitor?



I'm off to bed now, before Athena escapes from the rear of my cranium.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 5
    escherescher Posts: 1,811member
    LiquidR: The pain in your neck is definitely because your iBook's (and any other laptop's) screen is placed too low. For good ergonomics, the upper edge of your LCD should be level with your eyes. The small screen should only strain your eyes. But it may also make the neck strain worse because you bend over even more to see the small pixels.



    There are two options to prevent the neck pain:

    (1) position your iBook on a stand to elevate the screen, or

    (2) get an external monitor with a long arm



    In both cases you'll need an external keyboard and mouse. If the arm on your external monitor is not long enough, you can always set it on one or more phonebooks.



    Personally, I just went the external monitor route and ordered a Viewsonic VP171B ThinEdge 17" LCD (for $520 from Amazon). It should be here Friday and I can't wait to use it. Note that I chose a larger monitor with 1280x1024 resolution in anticipation of buying a 12-inch PowerBook, which can support a higher resolution than the built-in LCD on an external monitor.



    Escher
  • Reply 2 of 5
    liquidrliquidr Posts: 884member
    thanks for the info Escher. I think I'd rather spend the money on a platform and keyboard, even though a nice large monitor would be nice for my photoshop work.
  • Reply 3 of 5
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    I don't buy it. Good ergonomics is most important for the wrist. As long as you're sitting straight and not doing something very odd your neck should not hurt. Shoot we write on paper placed on our desks and that's not a big ergonomic disaster.
  • Reply 4 of 5
    francisg3francisg3 Posts: 168member
    As nice as PowerBooks are, their ergonomics will always be awful for extented typing, without spending over $100 in accessories.



    (sorry Murbot)



    However, you'll find that an iCurve will help, in addition to an extra keyboard and mouse (so you don't have to type with your hands in the air)
  • Reply 5 of 5
    alcimedesalcimedes Posts: 5,486member
    i had a similar problem when i was working on my PB all day on my lap. the angle was too far and it started to hurt my neck, then i'd get headaches.



    locate it a little higher up and you should be ok.
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