Chris wrote:
For years I had a borrowed laptop next to the settee.
It was a Dell Latitude - very light - only 1.2 kg.
It was really useful for casual web-browsing and looking up things when
doing the crossword - without going into the study to use the desktop
machine.

The laptop has now gone back to the friend it was borrowed from
and I'm wondering about various options.

I could buy a laptop - but I have a couple of old desktops - and
wondered about using one of them - set up in such a way as to be as
convenient as the laptop was.

How about a small 15" TFT monitor on a swinging arm that could be at the
side of the settee and swing in front when needed?

The computer case could be hidden away behind the settee.

Is there a wireless keyboard that contains a glide pad or trackball?

Any design ideas will be welcomed and appreciated.

Or use Win's mousekeys facility, which converts the numeric pad to
mouse use. At first it seems awkward, but one quickly gets used to it
and t results in less tota hand movement than mousing. Most app
functions can be done with key commands, again an upfront learn
overhead, but winds up much quicker in use. For most apps today I dont
bother with a mouse it only slows things down. Just one or 2 where its
needed.

The other option is you can get old laptops cheaply now, and even a p1
is ok for light use.


NT