In Search Of...Decent Keyboard Trays?

lupine asks: "There have been many dicussions about keyboards on Slashdot but I couldnt find any on keyboard trays. So if you have one you like please list the manufacturer, features and estimated price. Im looking for one that is large enough to accomidate a mouse, height and tilt adjustable, but does not need to be retractable (who turns their computer off anyway?!)"

Re:Tried Your Lap?

[mrzaph0d]

actually, back when i first started playing doom i learned the best position to play was with my feet propped up on the desk and the keyboard on my lap. the height of the desk allowed a comfortable angle, but only if i was in a certain chair we had. of course that all went to crap once i started using the mouse too..

KellyRest

[Rupert]

We have one of these that my wife liberated from an unworthy employer. It is vastly superior to the Fellowes that we had before.

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okay, you got me

[scotpurl]

That was pretty good joke about flat panels. If I had mod points, you'd get one from me.

But, yes, I'm drooling over the flat-panels, and once Sony gets some 20"-ers down into my price range ($500), I'm buying two of them.

Howzabout a deeper desk?

[scotpurl]

A keyboard tray is a modern kludge to avoid having a real computer desk.

My old desk was a piece of 4'x8' plywood (A-C), cut down to 4'x6'. I varnished it (7 coats), and added some cheap folding legs. I think $30 for the whole thing, plus some of my time.

The extra depth meant I could rest my entire forearm on the desk when typing, and plenty of room for my 17" Sony monitor. If I pushed the monitor back as far as it would go, it was actually too far away.

They have old "writing" desks, which are only 20" deep. That was fine for a typewriter (when those came along), but now that we have monitors....

Humanscale offers a bunch of nice keyboard trays..

[buildboy]

http://www.humanscale.com/products/keyboard_suppor ts/keyboard_platforms_index.html [humanscale.com]

I think they are about $150. They have different models for different situations: corner desk, handedness, etc.

Articulating tray

[phutureboy]

I just bought a Fellowes articulating keyboard/mouse tray. It was like $70 at Staples, and bolted onto the bottom of my desk with about 30 mins of work.

Basically, you loosen a knob and you can control the height and tilt of the tray, and you can also pull it forward and back. I got it so I could position my keyboard in a more ergonomic fashion, and type with my wrists held properly. So far it's worked out really well. Definitely has made things easier on my hands.

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rubermaid

[Phork]

i personally use a rubermaid keyboard tray i found trashing one night, it is very nice, when i pricded this particular model out, they wanted like $200 for it.

Roll your own kb "tray"

[hakkr]

After trying many trays to no satisfaction, i decided to build an arrangement myself. What you need: 2 2-shelve steel cabinets [officedepot.com] ($30 each from officedepot, free shipping), one 5 ft hardboard from home depot (abt $10). The cabinets stands at about 3 inches shorter than my workstation desk at work and at home. I place them 3 ft apart on each side of my legs underneath my desk. The board, which i place on top of them, provide the perfect height for my kb. On the perfectly flat board, I have lots more freedom of movement for my kb, space to place 2 mousepads, and a soda. And the setup is sturdier than any tray i have ever tried.

The caveats are that you need to find the height of the cabinets to be agreeable (but there are a few cheap cabinet offerings of slightly different heights that you can pick from), and the legs of your desk must leave room for the cabinets.

Try it if your work environment satisfies the above requirements. With benefits like these, those 4 extra shelves are really just a little icing on the cake :).

Low and High end

[Kefaa]

I have one on my desk from IKEA ($59 USD). It works great, and adjusts to my constantly changing angles. Downside -- no mouse area, so I keep the mouse on the desk.
IKEA Keyboard Tray [ikea-usa.com]

If you feel the need to go all out, try this $249 unit from Levenger
Levenger Keyboard Tray [levenger.com]

Tried Your Lap?

[Edgewood]

Have you tried typing with the keyboard on your lap? With the kb that low, you can relax your shoulders. (I keep my mouse at lap height, too. Actually, it's a Logitech trackball velcro'd over the number pad.)

You'll want the keyboard at an angle so that you don't have to bend your wrists. Some "back specialty stores" sell beanbag-type lap trays that work well to hold the keyboard at a forward-tilted angle. This allows your wrists to stay inline with your forearms, which feels great. (A rolled-up towel works well, too; try it and see if you like it. This could be a no-gear solution.)

Some back stores: (thanks, google!)
Relax the Back [relaxtheback.com]
Healthy Back [healthyback.com]

Cheers!

No Space for a beer?

[SpanishInquisition]

Come on! You should have tought about that!
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Re:Howzabout a deeper desk?

[dstone]

Deep desks are a crutch to avoid buying a real display (ie, flat panel). ;-)

"Yes son, I remember the days when people needed desks deeper than 20 inches to fit a keyboard and display."

Back on topic... One thing I don't like about deep desks where the entire surface is a single height (like a sheet of plywood) is that the level my keyboard, hands, and forearms should be at is not generally the ideal height for a monitor or flat panel to sit on. If a desktop is height-adjustable, I find that if I lower it to allow my shoulders to relax (drop), leaving my forearms fairly parallel to the floor (good ergonomics in my opinion), then I prefer to place the monitor or flat panel on a somewhat raised platform. No big deal, but it's best if the monitor is big and light... (oh, there's that flat panel plug again!)

The best keyboard tray is none at all..

[cmowire]

The best keyboard tray is none at all.

I've seen a lot of them and most of them have various things wrong with them.

The only type of tray that I've seen work is one that is built into a properly ergonomic desk. Those are nice. They are generally sturdy stuff, match the rest of the desk, and are of the same quality as the rest of the desk.

Given that I'm a pretty big person, I actually find that I don't like keyboard trays because normal desk height is perfectly comfortable for me. Any lower and I'd be knocking my knees against it.

Keyboard trays

[tallahasseepenguin]

These are some of my favorites
http://www.leevalley.com/hardware/page.asp?page=41 363&SID=&ccurrency=2&category=3%2C40894
great quality and plenty of adjustability