How fast can you type?

[timw4mail]

I can type about 40WPM...according to these online typing tests, anyway.
(this is on my Model F.)

How fast can you type?
(And what layout and keyboard?)

[Mercen_505]

It depends. If I'm taking one of those typical online tests that throws out random sentences filled with esoteric words that are seldom used in modern times, then I average 58 WPM. If I'm typing up a forum post it's closer to 85 WPM.

[Rajagra]

I'm working to build up my speed, the best I've got is 65 wpm, but that's after warming up and doing a test I'm familiar with. More important is the fact that I can touch type at all (thankyou blank DAS!) I had been using computers for around 30 years without learning to use a keyboard properly.

That's with QWERTY. To put the fly in the ointment I started to learn to use Colemak yesterday. I know the layout now, but I'm painfully slow at it. One thing that messes me up is how S and U are only moved one key sideways between the formats. I wonder if they were really worth moving, and whether that is a common criticism of Colemak.

[o2dazone]

It also depends on what you use to test
Mine has fluxuated from 115 wpm on typeracer, to 105wpm on fast-fingers

[Manyak]

On average I get around 100.

It fluctuates though. I still get some tests where I only get like 80, but then I'll do 120 on others.

[huha]

Fast-fingers is a bit inaccurate insofar it counts actual typed words and not wpm. wpm := cpm / 5.
On fast-fingers in English I'll get about 440 cpm, in German 600 cpm. Nicely shows the difference between one's native language and English.

Typing tests don't really convey the speed I'm typing anyway, as usually my typing speed is limited by my thinking speed anyway. I don't know how to measure it, but I suspect bursts can go even higher than 600 cpm, but that would require measuring actual typing and not just typing a given text.


-huha

[timw4mail]

I'm getting faster, the different places to speedtype are really helpful. I just got a 61WPM average on Typeracer.

[o2dazone]

Fast-fingers is a bit inaccurate insofar it counts actual typed words and not wpm. wpm := cpm / 5.
On fast-fingers in English I'll get about 440 cpm, in German 600 cpm. Nicely shows the difference between one's native language and English.

Yeah, it's not a great typing test, I just wanted to include it as an example of tests that give drastically different results

[bitflipper]

Average about 55 to 62 wpm (on white alps).

I have a feeling I'd be faster if my fingers weren't so strong from playing guitar and various home improvement projects. I get a lot of  accidental keypresses on the cherry brown Filcos and Topre rubber domes.

[timw4mail]

Average about 55 to 62 wpm (on white alps).

I have a feeling I'd be faster if my fingers weren't so strong from playing guitar and various home improvement projects. I get a lot of  accidental keypresses on the cherry brown Filcos and Topre rubber domes.

Yeah, after having typed for a while on my Model F, typing on either my Cherry or SMK switch boards feels really weird.

[huha]

Here's a german typing test:

Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz

Congratulations, you've just typed 1  WPM!

Just tested it:

Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz
Word typed in 8688 ms. That makes 137 ms/char and 435 cpm


-huha

edit: weird. I didn't put a space in the word. Does the board software insert spaces for character breaking purposes? A zero-width space would be much less irritating.

[bitflipper]

I tell everyone my guitar playing would be faster if I didn't use the keyboard so much.

If you could get rid of those pesky strings and mod your fretboard with some blue cherry keyswitches.....

[timw4mail]

FASTEST TYPER EVER!

Warning, this YouTube video is so bad it's good.

Eww...what a disgusting keyboard.

Typeracer is addicting...I'm currently up to about 60WPM

[wellington1869]

Typeracer is addicting...I'm currently up to about 60WPM

typeracer IS fun. I just tried it, won a 'race' at 100wpm

Those races need to be longer though. Do they get longer if you keep racing?

[timw4mail]

typeracer IS fun. I just tried it, won a 'race' at 100wpm

Those races need to be longer though. Do they get longer if you keep racing?

The length of the passage to type varies, but that's about it.

[wellington1869]

Welly, It's a domehead icon!!

Thats your pic

Are you typing on the modded one?  I was worried when I didn't see any posts today.

I wish. Didnt have a chance to do it last nite (thats a lie, i got too lazy when I looked at those 39 screws! Unlike you I dont have one of 'dem fancy shmancy electric screwdrivers ) so I watched tv and fell asleep, lol.  But seriously, I'd like to do it tonite. I'll eat a lot of protein all day so I have the energy for all those screws. (Its just impossible to not sound sexual when talking about keyboards?)

[wellington1869]

Unlike you I dont have one of 'dem fancy shmancy electric screwdrivers )

actually I take that back too -- I do have an old black and decker cordless screwdriver. I just fished it out of the closet. Problem is it takes AA batteries (which is fine, i use rechargeables) but the battery holder has a couple of loose contacts (hence its in the closet for the moment).

However--- this might be a great excuse to fix it. I believe all I need is some "conductive glue" or "liquid solder". Amazon has a bunch of products like that, great for quickly fixing loose connections.

So I might do that first -- fix cordless screwdriver (which I had been meaning to do for a while), then use that on the 39 screws (would go so much faster).

[wellington1869]

Actually I found it better to do the screws by hand so you don't strip anything. The black ones especially, they are only threaded at the ends IIRC.

Good exercise.

well you're prolly right but now I'm stuck on the idea of fixing my cordless first and guess what, I even had an old tube of conductive glue! I must have bought it at some point. Problem is its kind of dried out so I'm dissolving it in solvent right now.
Hmmmm, conductive glue. It smells great!

[timw4mail]

And I thought I was weird.

[joniho]

Using TypingTest.com I clocked in at 143wpm, though I was hitting the 150s in the beginning before my fingers started stumbling on the laptop keyboard.

[timw4mail]

Using TypingTest.com I clocked in at 143wpm, though I was hitting the 150s in the beginning before my fingers started stumbling on the laptop keyboard.

Showoff

Pictures or it didn't happen :biggrin:

[wellington1869]

And I thought I was weird.

[timw4mail]

Show Image

I need to stop derailing my own threads...

So, those who do type 100+ WPM, how do you do it? Just come naturally? Or did you do a lot of extra typing exercises at some point?

[Manyak]

I need to stop derailing my own threads...

So, those who do type 100+ WPM, how do you do it? Just come naturally? Or did you do a lot of extra typing exercises at some point?

Um, a bit of both.

The thing is that if you use one of those programs like Mavis Beacon or whatever, they only tell you the keys one at a time. This is great for starting out, but once you get to around 40-50WPM it starts to hurt more than it helps.

One of the biggest things that helps typing speed is you being used to common words and letter combinations. For example, if you see the letters 'st' in a word, you should already be moving your index finger to the 't' while you're pressing 's'. But the only way to really learn this is by typing, typing, typing.

[o2dazone]

I actually don't 'try' to type fast. I don't really find it a valuable skill, mostly because what I type is code, and I'm having to think of the logic behind stuff more than being able to just spew out keystrokes.

That said, I did my whole social networking stint when I was 16, and that's where I got most of it. Now I just work on a computer so often, and post on this place, it keeps my skills up

[joniho]

But the only way to really learn this is by typing, typing, typing.

Couldn't agree more. I find that typing tutor programs are useful only for learning the layouts, not improving speed. But if you want a strict regiment, grab a book and transcribe it.

Showoff

Pictures or it didn't happen :biggrin:

Unfortunately I slowed down a bit and my fingers are moist from the humidity.

[qso]

Language does make a difference. You'll just have to type as often as possible, especially those difficult words (normally a combination of a s w x z).

I do believe that English is harder to type on QWERTY layout than my Mother Tongue. Weird though lol not just because of that, but English's vocabularies like to stick on left hand (which is I'm having difficulty to type)

I can hit 719 cpm on fastfingers with 1 error or more less (this only got me 112/113 wpm).More than that the errors would spike up to 5-8 even more. There was this guy who could type more than 900 cpm @.@ with 134 WPM score and 0 error..... was it for real?? I'm hoping with filco's brown cherry it will improve my typing much better.



Btw do you all play Typing Maniac on Facebook? How high do you all get? I've heard there are softwares which can help you type , it's basically like NJ Star Communicator but in English, u type partial of the word and it will give you the list of possible words. Typing Maniac is really testing your left hand fingers LOL duh still wondering how one could get 1 million score meanwhile I only got 500k something.

[keyb_gr]

I do believe that English is harder to type on QWERTY layout than my Mother Tongue. Weird though lol not just because of that, but English's vocabularies like to stick on left hand (which is I'm having difficulty to type)

For me as a lefty, that's actually quite practical. My "left-hand zone" extends pretty far to the right, certainly up to the P-L-M line (no touch typist, obviously). The right hand is mainly for the "commandy" stuff, like Backspace, Return or period. If I want to type real fast, I actually tend to stick to the left hand only - my coordination isn't the best. I can hit almost 100 wpm like that in a synthetic benchmark (read: some boring test sentence), but I think my average is more like 50..60 wpm.

[timw4mail]

For me as a lefty, that's actually quite practical. My "left-hand zone" extends pretty far to the right, certainly up to the P-L-M line (no touch typist, obviously). The right hand is mainly for the "commandy" stuff, like Backspace, Return or period. If I want to type real fast, I actually tend to stick to the left hand only - my coordination isn't the best. I can hit almost 100 wpm like that in a synthetic benchmark (read: some boring test sentence), but I think my average is more like 50..60 wpm.

I was basically forced to learn to touch-type in Middle School, so I'm actually kind of glad after the fact. I'm not as fast, or in most cases, as accurate as I'd like to be, but hopefully, I'm getting better.

[IBI]

And I thought I was weird.

Not unless you practice kitten huffing, own a non-electric can opener or drive a fnord.

[qso]

For me as a lefty, that's actually quite practical. My "left-hand zone" extends pretty far to the right, certainly up to the P-L-M line (no touch typist, obviously). The right hand is mainly for the "commandy" stuff, like Backspace, Return or period. If I want to type real fast, I actually tend to stick to the left hand only - my coordination isn't the best. I can hit almost 100 wpm like that in a synthetic benchmark (read: some boring test sentence), but I think my average is more like 50..60 wpm.

From my experience, a lot of English vocabularies use letter combinations from left hand zone. Since I'm not a lefty, duh it's really hard to move my little finger and ring finger fast .

Lol how u can type 50-60 even 100 wpm with one hand?
I think most ppl who tested their typing speed on webs and got around 100wpm normally would get only 50-60 or more while thinking+typing at the same time. If the person could get around 100 wpm while thinking+typing it means, his/her brain works wonderfully faster than normal.

I learnt touch typing for 3 months without a significant result. Then at the time I was thinking, hmmm this would never get my anywhere so I scrubbed the letters with a coin, and with only 1 month I managed to touch typing. So basicaly first one week It was like hell, it took me over 2 minutes to type a single word.

[Hamps]

I'm a lefty myself. I've noticed that I also use my left hand a lot more in common words and think that seriously does give an advantage on qwerty.

I've never really "trained" until lately when I realized I was fast. I didn't even know I typed fast until college. I had a professor a couple semesters back who made us take a typing test at typingtest.com and I had 108WPM. I was like, is that good? while everyone else was around 20-40WPM. The girl next to me said, "Holy ****!" So yeah, since then though I've been taking typing tests regularly and buying mechanical keyboards in hopes of impressing girls. It pays off too, I'm typically at 120WPM these days when I'm fresh. Unfortunately that probably just makes me look even more pathetic. I mean, what an uncool skill to have eh?

Man, we were graded on a 100 scale for that test too. So if you had 38WPM, like the girl next to me, you got a 38! What a harsh professor. Since we used typingtest.com though, I changed her URL. Typingtest.com's test apparently follows the honor code lol. You can change it to whatever you want... so she got a good grade, har har.

 
DO I GET A 9218 OUT OF 100, PROFESSOR? A+++++++++++++++++???  No, we only changed it to like 90 or something so as not to raise suspicion, but yeah typingtest.com's results are like penis sizes on the internet. Speaking of which, you think that girl would have done something to mine after... y'know, saving her grade and all... but no such luck. ;(

[keyb_gr]

Lol how u can type 50-60 even 100 wpm with one hand?

Like I said, with stupid test sentences it's possible (think "quick brown fox"). You can listen to my audio clips. If I have to read or even think at the same time, I obviously slow down a lot. I just retyped my earlier post above and recorded the sound. 504 characters (plus 1 return, not counted), 2:07 including tpyo correction (caught all of them, maybe 4 or 5). That makes a net speed of 3.97 cps or 47.6 wpm, about in line with what I got in online typing tests. Only the final Return was entered with the right hand.

I was already considering to open a new thread "Unusual typing styles" yesterday.

[timw4mail]

So, do any of you feel that you type faster on a certain keyboard that you own?

For example, I feel fastest on my Model F.

[Mr.6502]

So, do any of you feel that you type faster on a certain keyboard that you own?

For example, I feel fastest on my Model F.

To this day I still type fastest on my Acer Extensa 367d.  Its what I took notes on in college.  I used to take notes verbatim in class so I could do fulltext searches on them later on for studying.  I've slowed down considerably since I've switched from taking notes every day to mostly writing code.

I average around 120 WPM on all the keyboards I consider decent for typing.  An old IBM rubber dome one I like, an MS Ergo Elite, and, most recently, a Dell SK-1000.  

I also have a Razer Tarantula on which I can type around 70 WPM.

[qso]

So, do any of you feel that you type faster on a certain keyboard that you own?

For example, I feel fastest on my Model F.

So far a newly bought low profile rubber dome, not more than 3 months of use. And also when I'm not typing English LOL :typing:

[keyb_gr]

I feel fastest on MX blues. I actually slow down a bit on Ms but the improved accuracy is well worth it.

[Rajagra]

I average around 120 WPM on all the keyboards I consider decent for typing.  An old IBM rubber dome one I like, an MS Ergo Elite, and, most recently, a Dell SK-1000.  

I also have a Razer Tarantula on which I can type around 70 WPM.

Thanks. I've been wondering why the Tarantula isn't more popular, I think you've answered my question.

[qso]

I feel fastest on MX blues. I actually slow down a bit on Ms but the improved accuracy is well worth it.

Cherry blue is really good or not the best for a short time typing. It does force you to type with a rhythm, and with rhythm u can type a bit faster, smooth and relaxing but with a superior accuracy.

[qso]

It also depends on what you use to test
Mine has fluxuated from 115 wpm on typeracer, to 105wpm on fast-fingers

This is weird. Typeracer has caps and punctuations, on the other hand, fast-fingers without caps and punctuations should be much easier. Or maybe full-texts line is much better than a single line.

[timw4mail]

This is weird. Typeracer has caps and punctuations, on the other hand, fast-fingers without caps and punctuations should be much easier. Or maybe full-texts line is much better than a single line.

If I understand correctly, fastfingers does not have
5 characters / Minute = 1 WPM

Meaning, its not really a fair measure of typing speed.

[qso]

If I understand correctly, fastfingers does not have
5 characters / Minute = 1 WPM

Meaning, its not really a fair measure of typing speed.

Oh I see, my fault. Then we should consider CPM : 5 - Typos hehe :fencing:

[iggysaps]

Typing at about 70-80 wpm here, using Colemak and my trusty Cherry G84.  I think I type most accurately on my Unicomp Spacesaver though.

[itlnstln]

Iggysaps, you list the G84 in your sig as having Cherry blacks.  In actuality, it has Cherry MLs which only come in one variety (AFAIK).
 
Unless... you modded it somehow, and in that case, I apologize.

[DreymaR]

It does depend a lot on what I'm typing! But on the average long-run test I'll do around 65 WPM I guess, with Colemak and a borrowed (never giving it back now - muahaaa!) IBM M.

http://hi-games.net/profile/83

[ch_123]

On type-racer I get about 60-70 on average. Have to try it with my Filco next.

[timw4mail]

On type-racer I get about 60-70 on average. Have to try it with my Filco next.

That's right in my range of speed, actually.

Maybe that's just the speed that the Model F works best at?

[iggysaps]

Iggysaps, you list the G84 in your sig as having Cherry blacks.  In actuality, it has Cherry MLs which only come in one variety (AFAIK).
 
Unless... you modded it somehow, and in that case, I apologize.

Thanks for the comment.  I modified and corrected my sig accordingly.  Cheers!

[erricrice]

I thought I was fastest on cherry blues too, but since getting this IBM M yesterday, my speed has improved more than 15 wpm, just in one day!!!!  I can't wait to see what will happen once I actually get used to the 'board.  I am a very heavy typist so I can see why I feel more natural on it.  I'm around 95 wpm on fast fingers but as low as 70 on typefaster lessons.  Those are ridiculous words anyway though lol so of course it's going to be less.

[keyb_gr]

You must be a heavy typist indeed. On a Cherry with blues I feel like I'm only limited in speed by the ol' PBKAC.

[wellington1869]

I am a very heavy typist so I can see why I feel more natural on it.

this goes to my notion that there are 'classes' of typists and some will always like the heavier ('meatier') switches and some will always like the lighter switches. I'm a relatively heavy typer too, and I really tried to like lighter switches (especially since some of those boards are so pretty!) but I always came back to buckling springs in the end.

I think for a given type of typist its hard to switch board genres abruptly, in either direction. Light typists will always prefer a relatively light switch, and vice versa for heavy typists.

For a while I even tried swapping between a light and a heavy board, but even that didnt last.  Its like right-handedness and left-handedness, eventually you pick a side and go with it

My fastest speed is on bs too (100wpm) though the topre came close (high 90s). But it also felt more satisfying to me on the bs.

[timw4mail]

this goes to my notion that there are 'classes' of typists and some will always like the heavier ('meatier') switches and some will always like the lighter switches. I'm a relatively heavy typer too, and I really tried to like lighter switches (especially since some of those boards are so pretty!) but I always came back to buckling springs in the end.

I think for a given type of typist its hard to switch board genres abruptly, in either direction. Light typists will always prefer a relatively light switch, and vice versa for heavy typists.

For a while I even tried swapping between a light and a heavy board, but even that didnt last.  Its like right-handedness and left-handedness, eventually you pick a side and go with it

Perhaps habits are just difficult to break.

[huha]

I thought I was fastest on cherry blues too, but since getting this IBM M yesterday, my speed has improved more than 15 wpm, just in one day!!!!  I can't wait to see what will happen once I actually get used to the 'board.  I am a very heavy typist so I can see why I feel more natural on it.  I'm around 95 wpm on fast fingers but as low as 70 on typefaster lessons.  Those are ridiculous words anyway though lol so of course it's going to be less.

fast-fingers has a really stupid way to count wpm. It counts actual typed words per minute, which doesn't quite correspond with the definition. One WPM is 5 CPM, period. Luckily, fast-fingers outputs CPM as well, so that's not much of a problem.

Fast-fingers in German, for example, gives me 552 cpm (92 words/minute), whereas following the classic definition, this equals about 110 WPM.
In English, I get 458 cpm (82 words/minute), which equals about 92 following the classic definition.

I can get up to 600 cpm if I try really hard. I guess I'm actually fastest with my Thinkpad's keyboard, but it's not all about speed, and typing with the Endurapro or G80-3000 just feels so much nicer.

-huha

[erricrice]

Oh yeah,  I know fast fingers is f'd, I just look at the characters per minute and divide by 5.  Typefaster does the same thing(it gives me usually around 40-50 wpm) as it only takes the actual words that you typed out for that lesson.  But they are strange words which slows me down since I don't have muscle memory for those specific words since most of them I've never even heard of lol.  I always look at cpm rather than what it tells you as wpm since it usually is f'd up anyway.

@wellington:

I think a lot of it has to do with the other things that you do with your fingers as well.  Many people who type on keyboards(pretty much everyone on earth now) doesn't do much else that really stresses your fingers.  Do you play any musical instruments?  I play paino guitar and flute so my fingers are used to lots of repetitious movement which might explain why I like the heavier keyboards more.  Same probably goes for everyone else, or something similar to that.

[timw4mail]

Oh yeah,  I know fast fingers is f'd, I just look at the characters per minute and divide by 5.  Typefaster does the same thing(it gives me usually around 40-50 wpm) as it only takes the actual words that you typed out for that lesson.  But they are strange words which slows me down since I don't have muscle memory for those specific words since most of them I've never even heard of lol.  I always look at cpm rather than what it tells you as wpm since it usually is f'd up anyway.

@wellington:

I think a lot of it has to do with the other things that you do with your fingers as well.  Many people who type on keyboards(pretty much everyone on earth now) doesn't do much else that really stresses your fingers.  Do you play any musical instruments?  I play paino guitar and flute so my fingers are used to lots of repetitious movement which might explain why I like the heavier keyboards more.  Same probably goes for everyone else, or something similar to that.

Ah, a fellow flautist.  Do you think that typing helps or hurts your playing?

[erricrice]

I barely play at all anymore, but hopefully I will start playing more in the near future when I get some more time....but I think that it has helped my playing, keeping my grip sure but light so I'm not crushing the damn thing haha.  It's also kept my fingers nimble by keeping the muscles in my arms well used.  Push ups **** up my posture somehow though haha.

[BucklingSpring]

Just tested it:

Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz
Word typed in 8688 ms. That makes 137 ms/char and 435 cpm


-huha

edit: weird. I didn't put a space in the word. Does the board software insert spaces for character breaking purposes? A zero-width space would be much less irritating.

Hey, how long did it take you just to find the "ü" on your keyboard?

Cheater :-)

[keyb_gr]

Obviously this is not the kind of word to use for a speed test with anything but a German layout where Ü is readily accessible...

[BucklingSpring]

I was basically forced to learn to touch-type in Middle School, so I'm actually kind of glad after the fact. I'm not as fast, or in most cases, as accurate as I'd like to be, but hopefully, I'm getting better.

I started to learn a typing technique long time ago. I remember that summer. Back then I was dating a girl who knew how to type and asked her to show me. My goal was to gain at least the same speed I had without any technique. It took me less then 2 weeks. I was working at a tourist information stand and I was bringing a book and a keyboard at work. The keyboard was not hooked to anything. My so called friends were laughing at me all the time.

I've been capped in the 70WPM for years with decreasing accuracy. I suspect I was much faster and more accurate when I was doing transcriptions. Then needed some speed for chatting during my IRC days. Never clocked myself back.

IRC sigh… Early 90’s - best of IRC years.

I guess it is very bad for accuracy when you see what you type all the time.

[qso]

No fast typists use mechanical boards, they are mostly on IBM laptop(scissor) from what I see on youtube. I need a low profile mechanical board:D is there any? When I'm trying to switch my fingers as fast as while I'm on a low profile rubber dome board, the fingers get stuck as if there's a wall blocking the way.

[itlnstln]

I need a low profile mechanical board:D is there any?

Keyboards with Cherry ML switches.  Any of the Cherry G84-XXXX models will get you there.  I believe the Cherry G84-5200 is a fullsize 'board with MLs.  The G84-4100 (ML4100) is a popular 'board, too, as it has a compact layout.

[timw4mail]

I guess my problem with such a method is that I don't like a low-profile switch as much as the full-profile switches.

I'd guess that there is some sort of inverse relationship between the feedback of a switch and the maximum possible speed, this explains the faster feel of my AT101W over my Model F, but the better feel of the Model F.

[itlnstln]

I guess my problem with such a method is that I don't like a low-profile switch as much as the full-profile switches.
 
I'd guess that there is some sort of inverse relationship between the feedback of a switch and the maximum possible speed, this explains the faster feel of my AT101W over my Model F, but the better feel of the Model F.

For me, it's resistance.  The lighter the switch, the faster I type, but this isn't true for everyone.  I would imagine that for some of these faster typers on Youtube, they use the shorter throw of the switch as a mental trigger to recognize the completion of a keypress. I know Welly types faster on his Model Ms than he does on other switches.

[Rajagra]

I need a low profile mechanical board:D is there any?

The Cherry / Raptor K1 sounds interesting. Seems to have MX switches with 30% less travel.

[huha]

No fast typists use mechanical boards, they are mostly on IBM laptop(scissor) from what I see on youtube. I need a low profile mechanical board:D is there any? When I'm trying to switch my fingers as fast as while I'm on a low profile rubber dome board, the fingers get stuck as if there's a wall blocking the way.

I'm fastest (that is, burst speed) on my Thinkpad with scissor switches as well. I think it all depends on what you want to achieve; just type fast for the sake of typing fast? Get a keyboard with uniform feel, somewhat short travel and okay feedback, like a Thinkpad's scissor-switch keyboard. If, however, you can accept typing a little slower, get a keyboard you like the feel of. I can't type extremely fast on my Endurapro, but as it does feel incredibly nice, it's not as tiring and much more inspiring and I'm still quite fast with it. A keyboard is, after all, just a tool. Depending on what you want to do, there's the right tool for every job. I can be creative when typing on good keyboards; it feels nice, so I can divert more brainpower to actually thinking and the sound of typing on a nice, clicky keyboard is somewhat soothing as well.

I wouldn't go for the "fastest" switches unless your job is to type as fast as possible. If you've achieved a certain typing speed, you're limited by how fast you can come up with things to type anyway. This barrier is much, much lower than what you can type; I think I might manage to do 60 to 80 wpm when coming up with texts; it doesn't really matter if I can do 120 on my Thinkpad vs. 100 on the Endurapro, because typing speed is not the limiting factor. That's why I tend to like typing on the Endurapro or the G80-3000 with blues, for that matter.

-huha

[o2dazone]

Whenever I type, I always use the same phrase, to tip my cpm in my favor (because I've used it so much). The phrase is "And now for something completely different" - but yeah, not super accurate if it's something you practice typing a lot.

Fastest isn't always the best. It's funny, I had this same conversation yesterday. I was packing up and taking home a few things from work yesterday, and had my G80 (which was my work board until I started toting the hhkb to/from work) with me. The receptionist said "Another keyboard huh??" and I replied with "these are clicky and tactile, a little bit different from this" and lifted the hard case my happy hacking was in. She finger rolled on the home row for a few seconds and said "It's nice...feels like a Remington". I'm assuming that's a typewriter or something, and then she said "I'd probably type faster on laptop keyboards though", and shes right. Less travel means you fingers can move around more, and preemptively prepare themselves for hitting other keys earlier. I told her she was right and then I mentioned the tactility and key shape. By then, it was blank stares, but it was interesting to see the receptionist, who is by no means a keyboard aficionado, notice the travel.

[itlnstln]

"It's nice...feels like a Remington". I'm assuming that's a typewriter or something

Yes.

[timw4mail]

How a Topre switch could feel like a manual typewriter must be like how a Model M supposedly feels like a Selectric...not much at all...

This is just conjecture, though.

[o2dazone]

How a Topre switch could feel like a manual typewriter must be like how a Model M supposedly feels like a Selectric...not much at all...

This is just conjecture, though.

She was referring to the G80
but she's also really old, I would imagine the force on a typewriter is much greater than a Cherry blue

[timw4mail]

Manual typewriters make the Model M seem like a feather-weight touch.

[o2dazone]

Manual typewriters make the Model M seem like a feather-weight touch.

Maybe her strong fingers were able to type on a typewriter with ease back in the day, and since they've atrophied and her bones have become brittle, and the "force" is about the same, just on a lighter switch lol

[ch_123]

It's nice...feels like a Remington". I'm assuming that's a typewriter or something

It coulda been this:

Show Image

Or it coulda been an electric shaver.  

Show Image

Or even

[timw4mail]

It makes more sense for the gun than for the Razor, I think... not that it really makes sense to be anything but the typewriter.

[o2dazone]

Maybe the Remington gun was a threat. Like "stay away from me you creep, or you'll be feeling my trusty Remington"

[qso]

Keyboards with Cherry ML switches.  Any of the Cherry G84-XXXX models will get you there.  I believe the Cherry G84-5200 is a fullsize 'board with MLs.  The G84-4100 (ML4100) is a popular 'board, too, as it has a compact layout.

The Cherry / Raptor K1 sounds interesting. Seems to have MX switches with 30% less travel.

Nice thanks. Duh shipping from europe I wonder how much I would be charged "extra" this time lol.... last time from Taiwan which is supposed to be near cost more than you guys.

I'm fastest (that is, burst speed) on my Thinkpad with scissor switches as well. I think it all depends on what you want to achieve; just type fast for the sake of typing fast? Get a keyboard with uniform feel, somewhat short travel and okay feedback, like a Thinkpad's scissor-switch keyboard. If, however, you can accept typing a little slower, get a keyboard you like the feel of. I can't type extremely fast on my Endurapro, but as it does feel incredibly nice, it's not as tiring and much more inspiring and I'm still quite fast with it. A keyboard is, after all, just a tool. Depending on what you want to do, there's the right tool for every job. I can be creative when typing on good keyboards; it feels nice, so I can divert more brainpower to actually thinking and the sound of typing on a nice, clicky keyboard is somewhat soothing as well.

I wouldn't go for the "fastest" switches unless your job is to type as fast as possible. If you've achieved a certain typing speed, you're limited by how fast you can come up with things to type anyway. This barrier is much, much lower than what you can type; I think I might manage to do 60 to 80 wpm when coming up with texts; it doesn't really matter if I can do 120 on my Thinkpad vs. 100 on the Endurapro, because typing speed is not the limiting factor. That's why I tend to like typing on the Endurapro or the G80-3000 with blues, for that matter.

-huha

My job requires me to type a lot and speed is important as well accuracy. This Filco seems to be hindering me often, but my speed on Filco's now is as fast as my old rubberdome low profile board. Recently I tried MacBook to my suprise I like it for a while, then I noticed the keys were too slippery:D. I'm doing 80++ while thinking, but I believe with a low profile mechanical board I can be more efficient & faster. I just like to slide on the keys:D

Also I read a lot of comments that saying, changing to Dvorak does not increase your speed but it's more comfortable.

[timw4mail]

I guess one of the easiest ways to continue to get faster is to be consistent. My problem is half the day I have to type on a laptop keyboard, and the other half I use my Model F. That adjustment has to cost some speed.

Then again, when I'm working, it's the Model F at home, and the Scorpius M10 at work.

[erricrice]

Oh yeah!



Hit 102 wpm on my Model M!  First time to break 100!

[shortround]

Best I've gotten so far on a typing test is 68 wpm with 98% accuracy.  I need a taller desk that I can rest my forearms on whilst typing.

[erricrice]

Best I've gotten so far on a typing test is 68 wpm with 98% accuracy.  I need a taller desk that I can rest my forearms on whilst typing.

Yeah, I've noticed that helps IMMENSELY!  It's not a good idea to anchor your wrists, as this will limit your movement, and thus kill your speed, but if you can anchor your forearms and keep everything else up in the air, I've found that is the best way to go.

And just keep working on it, you'll get there, all it takes is practice.  Also, speed comes from certainty, so I've noticed the thing that helps my speed the most is if I do some typing lessons(yes even the very simple ones) at a place like typing-lessons.org and just do all of the basic ones over and over, only going on to the next one when you have finished the last with 100% accuracy, no matter how slowly you have to go.  Since I've started doing that on a regular basis, my typing speed has improved a very noticeable amount.

[timw4mail]

Yeah, I've noticed that helps IMMENSELY!  It's not a good idea to anchor your wrists, as this will limit your movement, and thus kill your speed, but if you can anchor your forearms and keep everything else up in the air, I've found that is the best way to go.

And just keep working on it, you'll get there, all it takes is practice.  Also, speed comes from certainty, so I've noticed the thing that helps my speed the most is if I do some typing lessons(yes even the very simple ones) at a place like typing-lessons.org and just do all of the basic ones over and over, only going on to the next one when you have finished the last with 100% accuracy, no matter how slowly you have to go.  Since I've started doing that on a regular basis, my typing speed has improved a very noticeable amount.

I've gotten up to ~70WPM after playing some random "press the correct letter" sort of typing games.

As much as those sort of exercises may help, I can't help but dread the next "jfj fjf" typing instructor I see.

[erricrice]

I've gotten up to ~70WPM after playing some random "press the correct letter" sort of typing games.

As much as those sort of exercises may help, I can't help but dread the next "jfj fjf" typing instructor I see.

Lol, well the one that I linked above is the one I've been using.  It does that for the first lesson since you don't have any other keys to choose from, but after that it incorporates real words, which is pretty nice.  Does a good job IMO.

[hyperlinked]

Just did 104wpm on this test. http://speedtest.10-fast-fingers.com

This was done on a creaky Matias Optimizer keyboard that is starting to exhibit signs of wear and tear. I can't wait to try it again when my Filco arrives this week. It probably won't change too much, but I'll probably be wearing a big fat stupid grin from the new keyboard.

I cranked 120wpm with a 3% error rate around 15 years ago on an IBM Selectric Typewriter at a temporary job interview. I was usually the fastest typist at any temp assignment until I got paired with this one woman who was simply supersonic at 140+wpm!

[erricrice]

Just did 104wpm on this test. http://speedtest.10-fast-fingers.com

This was done on a creaky Matias Optimizer keyboard that is starting to exhibit signs of wear and tear. I can't wait to try it again when my Filco arrives this week. It probably won't change too much, but I'll probably be wearing a big fat stupid grin from the new keyboard.

I cranked 120wpm with a 3% error rate around 15 years ago on an IBM Selectric Typewriter at a temporary job interview. I was usually the fastest typist at any temp assignment until I got paired with this one woman who was simply supersonic at 140+wpm!

Yikes, that's ridiculous!  140+?  Insanity I say, Insanity.  Once you get to that point you know you will always be able to find a professional job being someone's personal assistant somewhere and make crap tons of money.

[cmr]

i average around 100 wpm on typeracer. i used to average around 85-90 but i noticed i wasn't using my left index finger and re-learned QWERTY a few months ago. i've never had the patience for abstract typing exercises.

i am much faster on mechanical and BS keyboards than on rubber.