I love looking for new toys. I was wondering what peripherals you use and why.

I would also like to know what you’ve tried and didn’t like...and why you didn’t like it.

I use what I would consider an old school 2hand set up now....supplemented by a pen input.

Right hand:

3M™ Wireless Ergonomic Mouse, Large, EM550GPL $60

Why:

Keeps my hand, wrist, and arm relaxed all day. My carpal tunnel pain is a thing of the past! Best CAD peripheral purchase I have ever made.

Left hand:

Nostromo SpeedPad n52 F8GFPC100 $25

Why:

This is an old tool. Its 3 sets of 14 programmable buttons keep me off the keyboard unless I’m editing text on a drawing. With the scroll wheel and D pad, many of my mouse clicks and movements can now be carried by my left hand if I wish.

Alternate input device:

old Motion Computing Tablet PC $150

Why:

I love this thing. It gives me a pen input solution to my CAD. I remote into my workstation with this thing – so, the pablet PC doesn’t need any real HP itself. The pen input allows me to ‘draw in CAD’. I use the Nostromo to handle the mouse combinations that would normally be on the right mouse peripheral. As a huge bonus, I use it to keep my design notes and meeting minutes electronically on OneNote.

Things I tried and didn’t like:

I’ve tried lots of peripherals. I even got the Kinect working so that I can navigate my model with it. It turned out to be a horrible interface.

I also got the Leap motion control working. It also turned out to be a horrible interface for me.

I’ve also tried various pen mice(mouses? meece?). I don’t like them. They chew through batteries and you need to wake them up each time you want to use them.

What do you use – or not use – and why?