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

I'm fundamentally flawed and the drinks and snacks know it

 

Haha, I love where this thread went! Thanks for the much-needed giggles this day

 

I have a new PC winging its way to me. Will report back on whether I can use it from bed. I could technically use it at a desk, but only for shorter lengths of time, and it could run me down big time. Haven't been able to sit at a desk for nearly 10 years.

 

Bit of a zombie thread resurrection, but it seemed the best place to say...
I bought a laptop tray to use, after seeing it in the ME Association magazine. It's been great! Today I'm having to stay in bed but am using the laptop tray and it's very configurable. Similar to the one further up the thread but it's this one:
The laptop is a Dell G3, which has a pretty amazing spec for the cost really. Much better than the desktops I've had in the past.

 

I don't want to take the thread off topic, but I posted about this ergonomic chair in the 'Show and Tell' thread:

https://www.posturite.co.uk/rh-logic-400-high-back-ergonomic-office-chair.html

https://www.s4me.info/threads/show-and-tell-things-youve-made-baked-grown-etc.400/page-13 (post 249)

I asked for a chair (as part of a disabled student allowance grant) that would 'wrap around me' and this chair is probably one of the best on the market. It tips forward as well as backwards, so moves along with the user. It can enable me to work at a desk for much longer than I otherwise would be able to do (previously max time was 5-10 minutes).

 

I prefer the chair with monitor attached shown earlier in the thread

 

I really wanted something like that crazy chair, what I put together instead is reclining chair with a laptop table each side for using a mouse, keyboard on my lap and a 40 inch monitor which allows text big enough to read even when fully reclined, not quite as fancy but it's working out pretty well.

 

I use a 9.5 year old Acer Aspire 5750g laptop which has soft touch buttons but I haven't been well enough to type directly since January 2017. Instead there's an android app for my phones call unified remote which lets me type using my phone but have the text appear on my laptop.

I have two LG V20 phones, 1 is held up near my face using a mount so that I can type with my nose because using my hands causes payback too easily. This has happened since 2018.

The batteries keep swelling up from over charging because I can't physically unplug them my self. I now get my carers to unplug them for me. Luckily this model has easily removable batteries and stores still stock new ones.

I can't talk and can't write more than a word or two so using text to speech apps on my phones like Stephen Hawking is my main way of communication.

 

I use an app called accubattery which can be set to alert (make an annoying noise) when the charge reaches a preset level (I use 90%) which could be used, if the charger was plugged into a remote controlled socket, to tell you when to turn the socket off.

I used to do the same thing with a boiled egg cooker to turn it of when it started beeping so can't see why it wouldn't work for a phone charger.

You'd think by now, with phones being able to do virtually anything, even stir tea if your cups big enough (or phone small enough) that it would be possible to get them to stop charging using an app to turn off the phones charging circuit, or even the thing realising it's full so should stop, but no - apparently this is beyond the reach of current technology, despite it being something literally everyone would want, and every other non budget device on the planet managing to do.

 

I use an ipad in bed about 90% of the time. I simply prop bed covers bunched up and surf away. I watch tv from there, and i bring the screen along whether i turn on either side.

I have a MacBook for any kind of word document that i need to do, and use either in bed or at the kitchen table. No particular or fancy holder, but i know they exist for in bed support. I just prefer the ipad situation.

 

I am lucky not to have to spend the majority of my day lying down. I usually sit back on a comfortable couch with heating pad to read online, and later in the day need to recline on said heating pad for several hours to read more online to watch video.

But I have destroyed two laptops due to various bad practices, which include a spill of oil in the bathroom and carrying an HP large screen laptop with the lid open and that busted a hinge, but it is a shoddy excuse of a laptop. Both kind of still work (between them) maybe for a bit longer.

But I am trying to picture using a standard computer because the volume would be higher (sometimes can't hear the laptop volume well) and it's getting expensive with my laptop abuse problem. A computer would last longer.

I wonder how you arrange comfortably the screen and keyboard for use both lying down and sitting up. Does a certain model of adjustable (hospital arm type with a lower shelf?) table work well with having a screen and keyboard, and perhaps a monitor? Any problems with such a set-up from an ergonomic or technical perspective? Anything from your experience would be appreciated.

Thank you.

 

I use a desktop on a computer desk.

 

I enjoy photography, so I have MacBook Pros—cost a fortune, but easily last nine or ten years. I got my first one secondhand in 1995, and I've bought my fourth this year.

The 2012 one is still working okay and might well last another year or two, but I happened to have the money to replace it this year due to a small legacy, so I took the opportunity. The new M1 chip runs mobile apps, and because my hands are wrecked by severe arthritis, it's much easier for me to operate them on a laptop than it is on a phone.

 

So you run mobile apps on a laptop? so the ridiculous problems i have because i dont have a smartphone because of issues with my fingers, & therefore cant het a whole host of 'apps ' that would be useful but they dont make them for windows - eg the NHS app.... i could overcome with a macbook?

sorry @shak8 that doesnt help you

I cant sit up at a desk, always have to recline feet up head supported with a laptop on a lavolta stand over my lap, dont know if the stand could be utilised for the screen, at optimum height/distance (you can adjust the stand to make it quite high up - much higher than the pic & with the support plate vertical, you just have to get the weight balance with the leg angles right, its a fiddle but do able).
then with your keyboard closer to you? I dont know i not had anything other than a lap top for 15yrs.
Lavolta Laptop Table Desk - Laptop Notebook Stand Adjustable - Ergonomic Breakfast Bed Tray Book Holder - Black : Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

 

There's something called the (deep breath) "MagicHold Height Adjusting Sit Stand Computer,Monitor,Laptop,Tablet for Bed Office Stand Mount Workstation" - which is currently
unavailable at Amazon. It has "mixed" reviews, but it is intended as a way to use a desktop PC in bed. It looks like the PC is actually part of the counterbalance to the weight of the monitor and keyboard.

I don't know how practical it is, but I'm uploading the photo to show the general concept. The female model may well be smaller than the average person, so take that into account.

 

Some you can, some aren't optimised yet (the new chip hasn't been out all that long). I certainly run Patient Access and MyGP on it—I don't use the main NHS app, so I'm not sure about that one. My mobile banking, credit card account, and credit union savings apps all run fine, as does the leisure centre booking app for my swim sessions. Because they're not optimised yet, they still look like a phone screen (see attached screenshot), but it does scale up to fill the laptop screen, and they do work normally.

It's the text messaging-type apps, e.g. iMessage and WhatsApp, that I need on here most, though, as they're the ones that involve a lot of typing. I can't do it accurately at all on my iPhone screen, every message takes forever!

 

A laptop could use a usb speaker system too.

I don't use my computers when lying down, but I expect it would be reasonably simple to arrange a keyboard+mousepad for use. The monitor can be arranged in some way, such as the product Forbin showed.

If you can find a way to arrange the peripherals, you can certainly save money with a desktop unit. I'm writing this on a Raspberry Pi3: $35 for the basic model. The Pi4 is the same price, and is a bit newer and faster. The Pi3 isn't great for watching videos, but I think the Pi4 does it okay. Going the other way, if you need better than average computing power, a desktop unit is probably cheaper than the same power in a laptop.

Also, if you tend to ruin keyboards and screens, replacements are cheaper than whole laptops.

 

thats why i dont have a smart phone. I cant text it takes me about 10 minutes to write 2 words! hopeless

 

Another alternative would be rechargeable, wireless speaker(s). These have the advantage of not being tethered to the laptop (assuming it can transmit a wireless signal), but you do need to recharge them every once in a while (via USB). Unless laptop internal speakers have improved greatly, a standalone speaker would have better sound.

For years now, I've used a small, rechargeable, wireless speaker (made by a company called JAM) to play audio from a 2008 era Ipod Nano. It has good volume and decent sound and the charge lasts for quite a while. Since my old iPod is not wireless, I usually use a single connector cable for mono, but you can connect two speakers with a stereo cable.

Anyway, I'm not sure that this exact speaker is still made by JAM, but there are no doubt a lot of rechargeable, wireless speakers out there which can also be used wired.