Submitted by guitarhellboy t3_126mfjl in MechanicalKeyboards
What is it like using an alice/arisu board full time. Does it take a little bit to get used to. I am thinking of getting the switch coture alice as my first board and would love to know how people like that style of board.
I'm a graphic designer myself, and I also rely heavily on short cuts and key combos How does the modifier layout on an Alice not work for key combos? The programs you work in and the type of work you do come into effect, obviously, but I'm just curious. I have an Arisu board coming in this week to try, I'm curious to see how it will integrate with my workflow.
I hit Command+Opt a lot, in both Illustrator, and Photoshop.
Any keyboard that separates those two modifiers, will make it more difficult for me to hit those commands with my left hand only.
I generally hit those two keys with my left thumb, while rotating my entire hand to hit the actual character I need with my index finger.
On my custom ortho work board, I can hit Command+Opt+P with my left hand only.
I can't even come close to that on a WKL, or Alice.
I'm limiting my reach, right off the bat, by having to hit one of the modifiers with my pinky.
You can build a work-around for that, with either macros or mod-tap commands, but I like to keep things as similar as possible across all keyboards, to avoid muscle memory issues.
I have to use other people's computers a lot too, so I don't want mine to be that different from theirs.
Oh, you're on Mac, too. I use Windows, so it's a little different. I primarily use my right hand for combos since I use my mouse in my left hand, but it's challenging having most combos on the left side of the keyboard. I might just go the HHKB layout route and move Control to Caps Lock. I'm not sure if that would be more comfortable or not.
I understand the sentiment about using other computers though. People hate using mine haha
I use both platforms interchangeably because I have my Windows keyboards set up to mimic the Mac format.
Ctrl+Alt+R on a PC is exactly the same key-chord as Command+Option+R on a Mac, with that layout.
I posted a pic of my two layouts below.
The top one is my work layout, and the bottom one is for home use.
The top layout is considerably more efficient for graphic work because I designed it specifically for that purpose, and have the numpad overlapping the right hand alphas, in home position.
That lets me switch between alphas, arrows and numpad, on the fly, without moving either hand from its home position.
I even have the number row numbers mapped to the numpad area, so I don't have to go off home position for those.
The home board is slightly different, and less efficient, because I use it primarily for gaming and browsing.
I game using the mouse in my left hand, and use the numpad for button input.
Having the numpad area all the way to the right, with the blocker just to the left of Num0, feels more comfortable to me while gaming, so that's how my home board ended up being laid out.
I design on an Arisu board and have no trouble with key combinations; what key do you have bound to cmd?
The one next to the space bar, with Option next to that, mimicking a Mac layout.
Can you hit Command+Option+P with your left hand only?
I can do that on all of my keyboards, which is why I don't like any board that splits the modifiers.
Gotcha, have you tried using left space as cmd? Everything under the left hand ends up being in roughly the same place as the MacBook keyboard, aside from Fn but it's not like that's used often on the MacBook. I do use mod-tap so I still get to use that key as space, although I see you mentioned you're not a fan of that
I haven't tried that, but also haven't needed to.
A while back, I dove down the portion of the rabbit hole where you finally acknowledge that nobody else is going to design your perfect keyboard, so you will have design it for yourself.
I'm so far down the custom ortho hole now, even stuff I used to love has lost a lot of its attraction, like the Apple AEK, and my Wind X.
Totally fair, just wanted to chime in and say there are always options to make a layout work
As someone who was VERY skeptical of even building an Alice board to begin with, I have a few things to say. I used to tell myself that I would never build an Alice keyboard and that your standard layout was superior in every way. Now I loved Owlabs and the boards they make very dearly, so when they announced their Sping board (an Alice layout), I was hesitant to buy into it. However, I wanted a board that was white so that I could display any keycaps I wanted on it, and the layout was fun, so I told myself I would try it. Might I remind you that I only wanted it mainly as a display piece. Once I received and built my Sping, I took it for a little spin with my setup. It was weird at first, but I slowly started to enjoy how my hands and fingers rested with this board and only took about a week to fully get used to. This board is now my daily driver, and I LOVE it dearly. If you are thinking of getting an Alice board, I highly recommend it, even if it's just to try it out. You never know, it might just be the board for you!
I had one for a while. They take a little getting used to, but it's not that bad. I eventually went back to a 75% for a couple reasons:
So they're not bad and if you just like them, that's fine. But aside from preference, there's not really anything better about them.
Just commenting to say I'm in the same boat as you - looking to get an Alice as my first keeb. Deciding to go for one as I've found while learning to actually touch type that my hands need to rotate inwards, and Alice's look like they'll make that more comfy for me. Guess I'll found out once I get one!
Your hands don't both rotate inwards though.
Look at the stagger on the left side.
As you move upward on the stagger, you have to turn your left hand outward, rather than inward.
If rotating both hands inward while typing is your goal, I'd highly recommend checking out split ortho boards.
Those actually do allow both hands to rotate inwards, without requiring the outward turn that staggered boards do.
I got my first keeb to be an Alice. I honestly just wanted to try it out bc it seems cool. Altho i am planning to get a 75% for the sake of my finger positioning being used to that layout instead of the Alice layout.
I also find the fact that there's two space bars super useful, and the fact that it's a bit angled. But i still have to fully get used to this. I have a keychron V8 btw.
I also have a separate Numpad because i have to type ñáéíóú a lot.
I’ve been using my https://github.com/overset/JP01 Arisu daily for 2.5yr and still love it. Used similar split-fixed layouts for years prior so easy transition to current board. I remember it taking a while to get used to split-fixed but enjoyed the lack of discomfort after long sustained periods of typing.
NoOne-NBA- t1_jea5jt2 wrote
As a graphic designer, I'm a very heavy key-chorder, so the modifier layout on the Alice doesn't work for me at all, personally.
That aside, I also don't like the weird stagger on the keys, and the lack of a proper 10-key.
The left half, in particular, feels like it is staggered backwards to me, during normal use, but I've always felt that about "normal" staggered keyboards as well.
As far as ergo-type layouts go, I've always preferred the way split ortho boards allow the keys follow your hands naturally, as you rotate the halves of the keyboard.
That said, both my dailies are custom ortho layouts, in standard 60% cases.
My typing style creates a natural splay to my arms, when I'm using ortho layouts, so I don't need an actual split, and the ortho layout allows me to work a proper numpad into the layout.