Haven't used any of those you listed, but thought I'd chime in with my experiences.
I have large hands that don't fit normal keyboards so I learned to type with just a few fingers. Pain struck my right wrist about two years ago.
I once tried Microsoft's split keyboard but it was too large for my desk space and was clunky. Now, honestly, I have the normal Apple slim keyboard, but don't use it that often: I use MacSpeech Dictate for almost all typing needs. It's awesome. Even use Speech to control some functioning of the computer. The most important weapon in my arsenal.
Gave up on mice due to the pain and now have an Intuous tablet that I control with a pen; ditched the mouse. Only problem with the tablet is its thickness creates an awkward angle for my wrist, so I used to use a magazine to support my arm, but this led to other problems. So I rebuilt my desk and have the tablet flush with the top of the desk in a rotating disk so I can adjust it according to what I'm doing and can even remove it if necessary. Am considering cutting a hole for the keyboard as well but have never gotten around to it. I even carry a small tablet with my laptop and use it religiously.
To the left of my keyboard I have two tools: a SpaceNavigator from 3dconnexion for when I work in SketchUp or play with Google Earth (sadly they don't make it function for anything more than a few special apps) and a ShuttlePro2 from Contour which is programmable (well, you can assign keyboard shortcuts to it) for any application. Using the latter, I have greatly reduced the need for moving the right hand over to acecess tool bars and menus on the left of the screen.
Another thing that I have found essential is regular breaks. As a former teacher with classes 50 minutes long, I got used to getting stuff done during free periods. When I left and took a different job, longer stints in front of the computer increased pains and aches. I started taking breaks every 45 minutes and ended the pain and actually was getting more work done.
Just checked your makers list and realized I had used one product on the Kinesis site: the vertical mouse. Waste of money IMO; my primary pain comes from moving the index finger (left clicking) and that mouse still required the clicking. Achieved the same wrist rotation help by using a tablet and have greater art input to boot(I work in graphics mostly now).
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I have large hands that don't fit normal keyboards so I learned to type with just a few fingers. Pain struck my right wrist about two years ago.
I once tried Microsoft's split keyboard but it was too large for my desk space and was clunky. Now, honestly, I have the normal Apple slim keyboard, but don't use it that often: I use MacSpeech Dictate for almost all typing needs. It's awesome. Even use Speech to control some functioning of the computer. The most important weapon in my arsenal.
Gave up on mice due to the pain and now have an Intuous tablet that I control with a pen; ditched the mouse. Only problem with the tablet is its thickness creates an awkward angle for my wrist, so I used to use a magazine to support my arm, but this led to other problems. So I rebuilt my desk and have the tablet flush with the top of the desk in a rotating disk so I can adjust it according to what I'm doing and can even remove it if necessary. Am considering cutting a hole for the keyboard as well but have never gotten around to it. I even carry a small tablet with my laptop and use it religiously.
To the left of my keyboard I have two tools: a SpaceNavigator from 3dconnexion for when I work in SketchUp or play with Google Earth (sadly they don't make it function for anything more than a few special apps) and a ShuttlePro2 from Contour which is programmable (well, you can assign keyboard shortcuts to it) for any application. Using the latter, I have greatly reduced the need for moving the right hand over to acecess tool bars and menus on the left of the screen.
Another thing that I have found essential is regular breaks. As a former teacher with classes 50 minutes long, I got used to getting stuff done during free periods. When I left and took a different job, longer stints in front of the computer increased pains and aches. I started taking breaks every 45 minutes and ended the pain and actually was getting more work done.
Just checked your makers list and realized I had used one product on the Kinesis site: the vertical mouse. Waste of money IMO; my primary pain comes from moving the index finger (left clicking) and that mouse still required the clicking. Achieved the same wrist rotation help by using a tablet and have greater art input to boot(I work in graphics mostly now).
Thank you