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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: FinancialWar on Thu, 23 September 2010, 08:23:35

Title: realforce various weighted vs all 55g weighted
Post by: FinancialWar on Thu, 23 September 2010, 08:23:35
help me decide, My goal is to improve typing speed.

Your input in highly appreciated.
Title: realforce various weighted vs all 55g weighted
Post by: Rajagra on Thu, 23 September 2010, 09:17:38
Variable weight if you use a thick wrist rest, or do the right thing and hover your hands above the keyboard.

If you are lazy and rest your wrist on the desk I'd go fixed weight.

That's my opinion. I'm very happy with the variable weight version.
Title: realforce various weighted vs all 55g weighted
Post by: keyboardlover on Thu, 23 September 2010, 09:25:04
Quote from: dvorak;225716
help me decide, My goal is to improve typing speed.

Your input in highly appreciated.

I have 55g and I've never typed faster. Haven't tried variable though...
Title: realforce various weighted vs all 55g weighted
Post by: itlnstln on Thu, 23 September 2010, 10:06:17
It's hard to recommend switches based on weight for typing speed.  There are people here that type fastest on BS and others that prefer Cherry browns.  I type much faster on Cherry browns than Topres even though they have pretty much the same resistance.  Force curves and switch design play just as big of roles (if not more so) than straight resistance.
Title: realforce various weighted vs all 55g weighted
Post by: itlnstln on Thu, 23 September 2010, 10:18:55
Personally, I think the more the tactile bump, the more "Tug-o-War" effect a switch has, and that makes me type slower and get more fatigued.  Cherry browns, Cherry blues, and lighter Topres are nice, IMO, because you can feel the tactile bump, but you can push through it without needing to push so hard that you crash to the bottom of the stroke after the tactile bump.  Some ALPS and Topres (HHKB) do this.
Title: realforce various weighted vs all 55g weighted
Post by: ironman31 on Fri, 24 September 2010, 17:13:12
When I bought my all 55g Realforce, my speed dramatically decreased. (I had come from browns, bs's, and blue cherry) But the more I use it without switching it out with any other keyboard, the faster I get. I don't think it's so much of the weight that slowed me, but how hard it is to not bottom out.

I bottom out with the buckling spring, but I hear a nice click on the way down. Webwit compared the Topres with most other switches in a post I saw a while back. With a Topre you hear the click after you've released the key, and with everything else you hear it on the way down. And when you're typing 90+ wpm it can slow you down if you are not used to when the key is actuated.

Aside from the sound factor, I was (still) much faster on my cherry brown filco. I'm positive it's because I never bottom out while typing at relative speeds.
Title: realforce various weighted vs all 55g weighted
Post by: ironman31 on Fri, 24 September 2010, 17:14:31
Quote from: itlnstln;225766
... Some ALPS and Topres (HHKB) do this.


That's exactly how mine acts. I don't really mind it much since the landing is so nice :)
Title: realforce various weighted vs all 55g weighted
Post by: 002 on Fri, 24 September 2010, 18:44:37
I alternate between the two every weekday (see sig) and, like Ironman, I had trouble getting up to speed with the 55g version but I think now, I'm almost even.

I seem to make more typos on the variable weight which might not have anything to do with the weighting of the keys but I think if I were to really put an effort into improving my typing speed, I'd go with the variable. The 55g is more fun to type on though...what a dilly of a pickle :(
Title: realforce various weighted vs all 55g weighted
Post by: ironman31 on Fri, 24 September 2010, 20:40:45
Then again, it doesn't really matter what keyboard someone uses. It all depends on how accustomed you are to using your keyboard. Plenty of people can fly on a generic dell rubber dome. Doesn't mean the keyboard doesn't suck, just what they practice on.