I can't understand why you would want to build one yourself to save money. I really doubt there is any way you can make a device that works entirely in hardware like this, spending much less on materials than the $140 price tag. And that doesn't even include the hours you spend on building the thing.
I can understand if you want to do it for fun, but if you are doing it to save money, don't bother.
I have two of those keyboards. They are really nice. I would recommend getting the PS2 version, as the USB version requires a driver.
I always have the bookmarks/favorites sidebar open in Phoenix/IE, and in the top of that list I have a folder named _Daily, which phoenix graciously let's me open in tabs every morning, disposing the tabs one by one as I read through them, opening more tabs to the list as I hit interesting links.
Whenever a new site I want/need to check regularly I add it to this list. It's like my morning newspaper, without the paper.
I am typing on a datahand right now. I have been using it for about a year and a half. While I feel very sorry for DaveWood, I want to set the record straight about this: The Datahand is absolutely not worthless. I don't have serious RSI, but I used to get these back-of-the-hand tinglies just like Dave. I bought the datahand both to be a productivity boost and to give my hands and shoulders a chance.
My experiences differ from DaveWoods in several ways: 1) I never get sore or tinglies with the datahand. 2) I learned to type my old typing speed in about 6 weeks (and I was a reasonably fast typist) 3) I use a danish keyboard layout, not an english one, which REALLY sucked compared to the US keyb layout in the beginning, until Datahand developed a danish keyboard ROM from my advice and upgraded my datahand with it free of charge
My datahand is the best piece of ecquipment I have ever purchased for my computer, and I can write code and reports for 10-12 hour stretches without any problems. I am aware that this doesn't totally remove the risk of RSI, which is why I think DaveWood still has problems with it (too far gone), but I'd say it reduces the wear and tear by about 90-95%.
So if you are only beginning to have slight problems, and you want to do something about it before it's too late or gets too serious, I'd recommend the Datahand any day. It's well worth it's heavy price tag.
So, Dave, I am sorry it didn't help you, but to a lot of other people it might make the whole difference. And a cortizone shot isn't a solution. That's like breaking the gas warning light on your car and hope it fixes the empty tank; you are just removing the symptom. Not the problem. I would still recommend that you get yourself a datahand. If you are serious about it, it doesn't take long to learn. That might make the difference between getting a cortizone shot every 6 months and every 12 months.
Slashdot Mirror
I can't understand why you would want to build one yourself to save money.
I really doubt there is any way you can make a device that works entirely in hardware like this, spending much less on materials than the $140 price tag.
And that doesn't even include the hours you spend on building the thing.
I can understand if you want to do it for fun, but if you are doing it to save money, don't bother.
I have two of those keyboards.
They are really nice. I would recommend getting the PS2 version, as the USB version requires a driver.
Brian Meidell
Electrical Engineer
Whenever a new site I want/need to check regularly I add it to this list. It's like my morning newspaper, without the paper.
In my _Daily folder I currently have:
(Fun)
http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3
http://www.snopes.com/info/whatsnew.htm
http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail.html
http://www.userfriendly.org/
(Friends and blogs)
http://www.kuro5hin.org/user/sunbeam60/diary
http://www.rasmus.sigsgaard.com/blog.php
http://www.kuro5hin.org/
http://meidell.dk/blog
(News) http://slashdot.org/
http://wired.com/
http://www.computerworld.dk/
http://politiken.dk/VisArtikel.iasp?PageID=1
http://www.memepool.com/
http://osnews.com/
http://www.shacknews.com/
http://www.gonegold.com/
Many of these are dispersed with a quick scan, and nothing more. Others are checked thoroughly and spawn many new tabs (like /.)
I am typing on a datahand right now.
I have been using it for about a year and a half. While I feel very sorry for DaveWood, I want to set the record straight about this: The Datahand is absolutely not worthless.
I don't have serious RSI, but I used to get these back-of-the-hand tinglies just like Dave. I bought the datahand both to be a productivity boost and to give my hands and shoulders a chance.
My experiences differ from DaveWoods in several ways:
1) I never get sore or tinglies with the datahand.
2) I learned to type my old typing speed in about 6 weeks (and I was a reasonably fast typist)
3) I use a danish keyboard layout, not an english one, which REALLY sucked compared to the US keyb layout in the beginning, until Datahand developed a danish keyboard ROM from my advice and upgraded my datahand with it free of charge
My datahand is the best piece of ecquipment I have ever purchased for my computer, and I can write code and reports for 10-12 hour stretches without any problems.
I am aware that this doesn't totally remove the risk of RSI, which is why I think DaveWood still has problems with it (too far gone), but I'd say it reduces the wear and tear by about 90-95%.
So if you are only beginning to have slight problems, and you want to do something about it before it's too late or gets too serious, I'd recommend the Datahand any day. It's well worth it's heavy price tag.
So, Dave, I am sorry it didn't help you, but to a lot of other people it might make the whole difference.
And a cortizone shot isn't a solution. That's like breaking the gas warning light on your car and hope it fixes the empty tank; you are just removing the symptom. Not the problem.
I would still recommend that you get yourself a datahand. If you are serious about it, it doesn't take long to learn. That might make the difference between getting a cortizone shot every 6 months and every 12 months.