5 Tips for Laptop Use

Cornell University Ergonomics Web

5 Tips for Using a Laptop Computer

1. Un-ergonomic Laptops – the design of laptops violates a basic
   ergonomic requirement for a computer, namely that the keyboard and screen are
   separated. In the early days of personal computing desktop devices integrated
   the screen and keyboard into a single unit, and this resulted in widespread
   complaints of musculoskeletal discomfort. By the late 1970’s a number of
   ergonomics design guidelines were written and all called for the separation of
   screen and keyboard. The reason is simple – with a fixed design, if the
   keyboard is in an optimal position for the user, the screen isn’t and if the
   screen is optimal the keyboard isn’t. Consequently, laptops are excluded from
   current ergonomic design requirements because none of the designs satisfy this
   basic need. This means that you need to pay special attention to how you use
   your laptop because it can cause you problems.
2. Laptop User Type – how to you use your laptop? Are you an occasional
   user who works on your laptop for short periods of time or are you a full-time
   user with the laptop as your main computer? Occasional users will have less
   risk of problems than full-time users. All users should pay some attention
   to how they use their laptop, but full-time users may have more problems.
3. Laptop Posture – as indicated above, laptops violate basic
   ergonomic design requirements, so using a laptop is a tradeoff between poor
   neck/head posture and poor hand/wrist posture.
   • Occasional Users – because the neck/head position is determined
     by the actions of large muscles, you are better off sacrificing neck
     posture rather than wrist posture. For occasional use:
     • find a chair that is comfortable and that you can sit back in
     • positioning your laptop in your lap for the most neutral wrist
       posture that you can achieve
     • angling the laptop screen so that you can see this with the least
       amount of neck deviation

   • Full-time Users – if you use your laptop at work as your main
     computer you should:
     • position this on your desk/worksurface in front of you so that you
       can see the screen without bending your neck. This may require that
       you elevate the laptop off the desk surface using a stable support
       surface, such as a computer monitor pedestal.
     • use a separate keyboard and mouse. You should be able to connect a
       keyboard and mouse directly to the back of the laptop or to a
       docking station
     • use the keyboard on a negative-tilt
       keyboard tray to ensure a wrist neutral posture
     • use the mouse on an adjustable position mouse platform
     • follow the postural guidelines for working at a computer
       workstation

4. Laptop dimensions – many laptops offer large screens (15″
   plus) and can work as desktop replacements (giving the viewing area of a
   17″ monitor). However, think about where you will most use your laptop
   to help you choose the best size. The larger the screen the more difficult
   it will be to use this in mobile locations (e.g. airplane, car, train).
   There are a number of smaller notebook and ultraportable laptops on the
   market. Consider issues of screen size and screen resolution. A small screen
   (e.g.12.1″) will be useful in mobile settings, but if the resolution is
   high (e.g. XGA – 1024 x 768) make sure that you can read the screen
   characters and can easily use the input device to point to areas on the
   screen. The smaller the laptop, the smaller the keyboard, so make sure that
   you can comfortably type on a keyboard that may be only 75% the size of a
   regular keyboard.
5. Laptop weight – if you are a mobile professional who will be
   frequently transporting your laptop think about the weight of the system. By
   the word ‘system’ I mean the weight of the laptop plus the required
   accessories (e.g. power supply, spare battery, external disk drive, zip
   drive, CD_RW, DVD, Blu Ray etc.). Many lightweight portables can become as heavy as
   regular laptops when you add the weight of all of the components together.
   If your laptop + components weighs 10lbs or more then you should certainly
   consider using a  carry-on bag that you can pull along.  If you
   want a smaller bag and can comfortably carry your laptop consider a good
   shoulder bag design (e.g. see  “The Perfect Laptop Bag” article
   1, article
   2).

Send comments or suggestions to Professor
Alan Hedge.

Note that all materials on this page and
web site are copyright and may only be copied or distributed for nonprofit
educational purposes without permission.

© Professor Alan Hedge, Cornell University, content last updated June 13, 2015