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Author Topic: Switching from a UK layout to a US  (Read 1735 times)

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Offline Finax

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  • Posts: 15
Switching from a UK layout to a US
« on: Mon, 10 May 2010, 06:17:49 »
I really want a filco tenkeyless keyboard but the only one I can get is a US layout from keyboardco.

I'm sure there are a lot of people here who've switched from UK to US. How hard was it? Did the smaller return key feel weird? How long did it take you to stop reaching for shift-2 to use "?
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Offline Rajagra

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Switching from a UK layout to a US
« Reply #1 on: Mon, 10 May 2010, 06:46:43 »
The US enter key is vastly better for people who type. It is less of a stretch when you are staying at the home position.

Honking great L-shaped enter keys are better for sales assistants who want to mash the button down to confirm an action.

I really don't understand why some people prefer the L-shaped enter keys.

I switch between US/UK keyboards. All the confusion happens when I go back to the UK boards. Aiming for left shift, I hit the \ key. Aiming for Enter, I hit the # key. When I go back to the US style it's easy, because those errors are simply not there to make.

I use the Colemak layout, which makes things easier. But if I wanted to stay with UK Qwerty on a US board, I would map an unwanted key to replace the missing \, or design a keyboard layout to get around the missing key problem.
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Offline Half-Saint

  • Posts: 371
Switching from a UK layout to a US
« Reply #2 on: Mon, 10 May 2010, 06:55:49 »
I've used UK layout my whole life. I hit the Enter key in the middle (viewed vertically) so when I use a US board, I keep hitting \ instead of Enter.
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Offline InSanCen

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Switching from a UK layout to a US
« Reply #3 on: Mon, 10 May 2010, 07:07:10 »
I don't have any problem with either layout. I'm currently using a US M13, but have been using a UK M earlier. I've done it for a while though, takes me a couple of minutes or so to adjust.
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Offline ch_123

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Switching from a UK layout to a US
« Reply #4 on: Mon, 10 May 2010, 07:08:06 »
Quote from: Rajagra;180643
The US enter key is vastly better for people who type


I'll drink to that.

My laptop still has a UK keyboard (set to US layout in the OS) and I can switch between them easily enough. The US physical layout is superior. The placement of characters is rather arbitrary, I don't think one is necessarily superior to the other.
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Offline DreymaR

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Switching from a UK layout to a US
« Reply #5 on: Mon, 10 May 2010, 08:18:15 »
The best option is a wide modified ISO (UK-type) layout, in my opinion. This fixes the problem of the left-hand wrist angle due to wrong row stagger, gives you a slightly better hand separation, takes some load off the overworked right-hand pinky and gives you better access to the Enter and Backspace keys like on the ANSI boards. Problems vanished.  :)



Some may be scared by the keys moving into the middle, and especially the splitting of the number row. But I think it works really well - even the funny separation of the brackets.
« Last Edit: Mon, 10 May 2010, 08:21:08 by DreymaR »
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Offline FunkTrooper

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Switching from a UK layout to a US
« Reply #6 on: Mon, 10 May 2010, 09:07:30 »
Quote from: ch_123;180651
I'll drink to that.

My laptop still has a UK keyboard (set to US layout in the OS) and I can switch between them easily enough. The US physical layout is superior. The placement of characters is rather arbitrary, I don't think one is necessarily superior to the other.

My old laptop had a UK keyboard, and I used to map the # key to be an additional enter key, because I didn't want to have to re-learn how to type when I switched between my laptop and desktop PC.  Also, when you press enter on a UK board, you have to kind of twist your wrist sideways because your pinky can't stretch far enough on its own. This gets painful after a while.

When I ordered this new laptop, I made sure it came with a US layout. That's one good thing about Dell: since the machines are built to order, you can ask for *anything*, and they'll do it. (The website sucks, but get into an IM convo with a sales rep and you can pick whatever you like)
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Offline ch_123

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Switching from a UK layout to a US
« Reply #7 on: Mon, 10 May 2010, 11:12:10 »
I've contemplated replacing the keyboard on mine at various points, but it doesn't annoy me enough to justify spending €30+ on it.
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