Using PCs versus laptops when you're mostly in or on your bed

I agree, this is an important consideration for some folk—laptop screens are particularly expensive, and make up a biggish chunk of the cost.

I just use one because it needs to be portable. I'm away from home on a wildlife trip at the moment, and I sometimes want to be able to view and process my photos in the evenings. If I didn't need (a) something that's easily portable and (b) doesn't take up much room on the sofa either, I'd probably use a Mac mini plus screen or something.

 

I started using a PC in about 1998. I had a lot of problems with arm ache and fatigue as I have always been mostly housebound so I tended to sit at the PC for everything, communication, research & entertainment. Before diagnosis I tried to fight it but kept making myself very ill so now I try to take a more taoist "go-with-the-flow" kind of approach.

I got to my current abode in 1999, after a few years adjusting and experimenting with different chairs and tables I set about making a comfortable set up which allows me to rest my arm while using the PC and has a soft seat to prevent compression and towelling to wick away sweat. It all rests on a sturdy piece of 3/4 inch ply under a rug making a platform for chair and desk to prevent rucking of the carpet due to long term use on top of old flexy floor boards.

The chair is a slider recliner with thick caravan seating foam cushions from ebay replacing the padding it came with which gave out after a few years. They are quite comfy and covered in towelling which I can wash and replace. I very slowly designed and worked on a plywood mega mouse table platform bolted to the metal frame of the chair over the right arm, which has a big mouse mat with foam and towel arm padding resting on camping mattress foam, which is glued to the table and is firm and flat but gives enough to support the weight of my arm completely without causing bruising or RSI and preventing arm muscle ache. The other chair arm supports my left arm for keyboard use and I also rest my wrists on the desk if I need to type and also my right arm on my thighs if typing both handed as the height is adjusted so I am close enough to be able to do that without using arm muscles to hold my arms up which I just cannot do.

This has largely solved the muscle aches I used to get.

 

My computer is in the cubby on the left - it's an intel i5 with 16gb of ram currently fitted. The system only has a 500gb SSD fitted as most of my storage is on my network (currently in a cubby on the other side of room). The computer is liquid cooled so is virtually silent apart from at power up.

The TV is its monitor/speakers but for some stuff (films lol) there is a soundbar hidden behind the TV. I also have networked TV tuners so any other computers (none currently but there used to be 2 others) or tablets etc. have full access to TV and my media collection.

The system can be used lying down on the sofa (what it was designed for), or sat up using the rollerball mouse (on the right hand sofa arm. The keyboard is backlit and small/lightweight, and balances on my gut and the sofa arm when sat up.

The coffee table is shown in it's dining position, it can be used as a desk lite if sat up, or as a cup holder if lying down. It also works as a coffee table when not raised.

Over the years I have tried laptops, over bed tables that tilt, but for my needs, this setup works best.




It does suffer from a distinct lack of portability.

 

Wow, so many ideas and so much variability.

For simplicity's sake and because I don't feel my living quarters are stable (heat and fires and noise), I think I will ponder the possibilities a bit more. Perhaps I could change my bad laptop behavior. And get another lightweight one, perhaps a 17 inch screen would be n$ce.

Do a pair of headphones do anything to increase the low volume problem of laptops, by any miracle?
I haven't tried that.

Otherwise, I will look into speakers.

Thanks for the thread number three about all this. Appreciate it mucho.

 

Maybe investigate noise cancelling headphones?

 

I’m severe so always in bed and can’t sit up for long. I stopped using a laptop.. had to force myself to stop working so took away my tools. Also ME has made my vision so unfocused and weird that the distance to screen was difficult. I got an iPad Pro 12.9inch which I use vertically propped on my stomach while reclined in bed to read, and on a lightweight spider stand to watch TV. It’s really great for reading and is a bit closer to eyes than a laptop would be. Less good for typing but manageable if you don’t type much, or a Bluetooth keyboard can be used w iPad on stand. It’s 7 years old now and works perfectly.

 

For anyone who has to lie down a lot, and uses a tablet,-- I would highly recommend getting a tablet cushion. I only got one a few weeks ago and it's made watching it so much easier. The cushion I got was £8 from Etsy and can be used on a hard or soft surface.

 

My laptop has decent volume anyway, but I also have a pair of Bluetooth headphones so I can listen to music without annoying the neighbours.

I guess it comes down to what you describe as loud. To give you an indication, I haven't been to a cinema since the early 1980s because that's when films started to be played at an unbearable volume that leaves me in an autistic meltdown within minutes. I cope fine with loud music (as long as it's my choice of music and not some bugger else's!) but with video content I only want to be able to hear what people are saying at normal conversational volume. My laptop gives me that with the volume set at the equivalent of about 6 out of 10, so it's plenty loud enough to watch a documentary etc.

 

A week after my sesame oil laptop spill I drove to the repair place. Result: too expensive to maybe fix. i bought one of their HP plug in keyboards and I'm good for now. I'll keep the laptop on the table in front of the couch to slouch and read while on heating pad. When I need to lie down, I will do podcasts and audio books and such like.

I have a neck spasm from looking for hawk's nests for 20 minutes yesterday. I lost my keys a couple of days ago. Had an unexpected tax bill. I think I'm teetering on the edge of losing more of it. Illness + pandemic + war = too much stress.

Will take it easy for the rest of the week.

 

I find neck and back spasms recover better if I take calcium supplements for a couple of days.

 

I use a tablet 95% of the time, and it follows me as i come and go.

 

I wish calcium would work for me, but they are something I take all the time per osteopenia.

Can't do any action repetitively but do I learn from my mistakes?

It's typical of FM (fibromyalgia) I think. Things get wacked out pretty easily.

 

I've been using this in bed for my phone for a month now and it's great:





Holding my phone up whilst lying in bed was a real effort. You can also use it with a tablet, but I use it just for my phone.

 

I have a desktop PC with 25" screen. I find using a phone/tablet etc seriously hurts my eyes, especially in dimmer light.

 

Do you use some sort of voice app to control it?

It seems like holding your arm up to touch the screen (to scroll, click, etc) would still be difficult - but maybe your setup has the phone much lower than the diagram.

 

You can move the phone to whatever position you want, it's not fixed, so you can even lie on your side or move it to whatever position you want or change positions. You still have to raise your finger to tap the screen (less so if lying on your side), but at least you don't have to hold the phone with your other hand, which I found was causing most of the effort.

 

Thanks, that makes a lot of sense.

Holding a phone is bad for me, too! I bought my first headset back in the early 1990s, in the days of corded landlines, because my hand and arm ached after using the phone.