AlphaGrip the Best Keyboard of All Time?

[TotalChaos]

I have been reading GeekHack for years but I just now suddenly discovered the AlphaGrip.
http://www.alphagrips.com/purchase_page_standard.html

It looks exactly like how I would mass produce one of my ideas for a keyboard!


Does anyone have one?


I assume it uses stiff rubberdomes.
How much force does it take to press a key?

Does it require an impact in order to register a keypress?
(I have an extremely bad pain problem so I must avoid all impacts)

I currently type on Cherry Reds with soft cushy pads installed under each key.

Would there be any way to modify an AlphaGrip keyboard to make typing softer and gentler?

[tp4tissue]

a major cause of carpel tunnel is continuous Grip...

properly trained.. I'm sure someone can use this controller proficiently, but overall.. gripping is bad.

[TotalChaos]

I was thinking I would not be gripping it continuously.  But you reminded me it has the "mouse" built in so I guess I would be gripping it an awful lot.

I currently use a traditional keyboard and lasermouse just like Grandma 
And I spend 95% of my time with my hands relaxed not touching anything.  My hands swoop in and do what they need to do then they relax and touch nothing for a while.

I am also worried about how hard it is to press the keys on the AlphaGrip and if they are like pressing calculator keys? 
Are the buttons on the AlphaGrip all like the top row of a Kinesis?

[hoggy]

For me, the biggest problem with the alphagrip is that it only suits a range of hand sizes. If your hands are too big, then it's possible to pad it out with foam, but if your hands are too small then forget it.

I've never taken mine apart,  but I've always assumed it was rubber dome.

The trackball position is excellent.

I'm with tp4issue on this one. I'd say it could form part of a collection of keyboards that are rotated through to good effect.

Out of all of my chording keyboards, it was the easiest to learn.

[hoggy]

The buttons are better than the top row of a kinesis.

[TotalChaos]

Awesome!  Thanx 4 da info!

But I am "just assuming" they are probably 60g rubberdome which is a bit to stiff for my painful fingers.

Normal rubberdome keyboards are often times modifiable to require less force.

But I assume that an AlphaGrip would be much to tedious to modify.  It is probably like this new Topre keyboard I bought (the Type Heaven) that has 1 individual rubberdome per key, glued at exactly the right spot instead of a big sheet of rubberdomes like my other rubberdome keyboards.

[TotalChaos]

Review of AlphaGrip AG-5 keyboard.

The keyboard looks awesome.  A+
The keyboard is highly innovative. A+++++
The keyboard is very reasonably priced imho at $150.00  A


Ohno.  I have found a fatal flaw in this otherwise wonderful keyboard.

It is missing some vital keys!

The following keys are missing:
RIGHT CTRL
RIGHT ALT
RIGHT OS

So it is impossible to type many many key combinations.  Key combos you need to type every day.

> Why is it impossible?

Because your LEFT thumb would have to exist in 2 completely different locations at once.
You can't use your right thumb to ALT, CTRL or OSkey your way into shortcuts, typing those groovy European Characters and other useful things because the RIGHT ALT, CTRL, OSKeys are missing.

If you look in the instruction manual you will see a very clear picture of the keyboard that shows the problem.  A picture is worth a thousand words. http://www.alphagrips.com/AlphagripAG5UsersManual.pdf


There is also no HELP key.  (Used as the MENU key on Microsoft Windows)


This keyboard has 4 layers.
1. The normal layer which is filled up with functions.
2. The Red Shift Layer aka The Numeric Layer which has some empty slots.
3. The Green Shift Layer which has several empty slots.
4. The Function Key layer which has many many empty slots.

So they could have included the missing keys.

Furthermore, keyboards are supposed to have F13-F24 keys.  And any keyboard with layers should generate these keycodes.  Its really easy to implement if you have a function layer anyway.  But nope.  These keys are not included either.  The function key layer is nearly empty.  A complete ghost town.

Total Number of Missing Keys: 16
Total Number of Empty Keyboard Positions: A huge amount more than 16.

Final Grade: F  (dealbreaker, sorry)


If anyone knows any tricks for fixing things with AutoHotKey or whatever then I can revise my review accordingly.