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My desktop is fine, except that I like programming while reclining on a couch. My legs hurt after sitting too long in an office chair.

Is there anything like a keyboard, trackpad, and monitor combo that I could hook up to my desktop (8 feet away from the couch), so I can work on the couch?

I was thinking of buying a laptop for this purpose, but I'm looking to save money.

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Programming on a couch sounds like a formula for back problems. You need to look at your desk set up and why you get leg pains as there should be next to no pressure on them. – Jon Hopkins Nov 13 '10 at 19:34
It could probably be done with a big monitor & wireless keyboard/mouse. However, I got a nice present of a Herman Miller chair. Wow, what a difference! You can spend all outdoors, but mine was about $700. – Mike Dunlavey Nov 16 '11 at 20:20

3 Answers

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If you want to be reclined on your couch, but use your desktop PC I'd think that a laptop is your only choice, even though you want to save money. By the time you bought another monitor and rigged something up along with a keyboard and mouse with cables etc. it would be a nightmare setup and not save you very much. Get a relatively weak laptop and then RDC / VNC / etc. into your desktop. If you have a large flat screen TV that you could hook the laptop into then you could spring for a wireless keyboard up and use the TV for the display.

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(please pardon my shameless advertisement) intel.com/consumer/products/technology/wirelessdisplay.htm – rwong Oct 25 '10 at 5:06
up vote 1 down vote

You could get something like the Gyration Keyboard/Mouse Combo for input, and at eight feet distance, you may want to look into plugging your video out into a television if you have one that accepts PC inputs at native resolutions. Most recent flat screen/LCD televisions will accept HDMI and/or DVI connections at 1920 x 1080 resolution.

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up vote 1 down vote

You need to attend to having your regular breaks! Get up and walk around. Your code will be better too...

Also your office chair may need adjusting. If your legs hurt, the char may give too much pressure on the underside of the thighs reducing blood flow.

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