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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: Grundoko on Tue, 13 January 2015, 00:01:17
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I'm asking this question as someone who has greatly enjoyed the use of mechanical keyboards for years. I will say that without a doubt I enjoy typing on a mechanical keyboard more than any rubber dome or scissor switch. My current keyboard is a WASD v2 with Cherry Mx Browns, and I dearly love it. Yet I type more slowly on it than I do on a scissor switch keyboard. On my mechanical keyboard I can reach up to 120wpm with 1-2 mistakes per minute, or 110wpm consistently without mistakes. Yet on my Lenovo laptop with scissor switch keys, I can get 120wpm without mistakes, and can reach 125, and sometimes 130 with 1-3 mistakes per minute.
In the end, I'll take comfort over the slight speed increase, especially in long typing sessions. But the reason for this I think, is that the keys on my mechanical board are raised, whereas on my laptop keyboard, they are flat. I find that when typing at very high speeds, often the edge of my finger will nip the key next to the one I'm pressing, which doesn't happen nearly as often on the flat keys on my laptop. Another thing that may affect speed is travel distance. Scissor switch keys only travel about 1mm, which means less time pressing the key.
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Nope, same speeds no matter what. I might be faster compared to a really bad rubber dome, but I don't have one of those to test on. I just tried a decent rubber dome, scissor switch, and a Matias Alps board and I got the same speed on all three.
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hhkb gives you +80wpm on top of your current wpm.
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hhkb gives you +80wpm on top of your current wpm.
Actually trolling aside, my HHKB did increase my wpm on speed test websites by over 20-30 wpm. I've never been able to hit consistently over 100 wpm on any other mechanical or non, only hhkb pro 2. Now of course, this wasn't conclusive testing, side by side, word for word after warm up.
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I like to feel that I am typing faster on my mechanical keyboards (including HHKB), although really I just enjoy typing on them and could happily type on most of them for much longer than I could on a membrane keyboard.
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Yes, just a little. But the comfort is more valuable than the speed.
The increase in speed comes from not having to bottom out and having a softer touch when typing. My hands feel "freer" :) And my ErgoClears with SA profile caps on feel divine, I have less fatigue on longer coding / typing sessions than with all the other cap profiles, spring strengths, switch types or mechanisms that I've tried and that matters a lot to me.
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For my use case using a mechanical keyboard has nothing to do with typing faster, not sure if that is the main goal of most people or not.
I'm so used to typing on my laptop keyboard when I'm home that there probably is no real speed difference between it and my daily driver mechanical I use at work.
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It's more of a comfort and style thing for me, but yes. When I have to use the keyboards at school it slows down mostly because of all the mistakes I make on rubberdomes
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I do type slower with my mecha than with a rubber dome keyboard just for the sake of the enjoyment of typing with it. Could you eat that ice cream you like the most quickly? Could you kiss your beloved girl in a rush? 8)
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But the reason for this I think, is that the keys on my mechanical board are raised, whereas on my laptop keyboard, they are flat. I find that when typing at very high speeds, often the edge of my finger will nip the key next to the one I'm pressing, which doesn't happen nearly as often on the flat keys on my laptop. Another thing that may affect speed is travel distance. Scissor switch keys only travel about 1mm, which means less time pressing the key.
You could try Cherry ML, which are low profile, short travel mechanical switches
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Nope, i'm much faster on topre
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I type about 10% faster on a mech than I do on rubber dome.
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I used my gfs macbook to look something up yesterday because I didn't wanna get off the couch and it was sitting on the coffee table.
Honestly, I was still probably typing at least 80wpm
But at 40% accuacy. **** was so frustrating, but I got a giggle out of missing at least every other key
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I type about the same speed on rubber domes and on mechanical keyboards.
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I switched from a rubber dome to MX Browns a few weeks ago. Since, I've been playing 5-15 races on typeracer daily. My typing speed has stayed roughly the same, ~100WPM but my accuracy has steadily increased to over 95%. Typeracer doesn't actually record your accuracy percentage as far as I know but I try to keep track after every race.
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It might increase your typing accuracy compared to RD membrane boards...since membrane boards require you to press the carbon contact all the way down and may fail to register some strokes, compared to mechanicals which actuate about half way.
I did some typing tests long ago and (I believe) my fastest was at tied around 118 out of 121 correct WPM (average over 5 attempts) using Topre 55g and 62g Linear. RD was consistently lower, but not by much.
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I'm about the same. However, typing for long periods on a rubberdome does make my fingers ache so while I don't type faster, I can type for longer on a mech.
This is assuming it's a good rubberdome, like a Thinkpad keyboard or one of those Dell rubberdomes. I am a bit slower on that silver/black HP keyboard that seems to be in use everywhere, and I'm almost reduced to hunt & peck typing on non-Thinkpad/Apple chiclet laptops due to the sheer lack of travel.
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I honestly haven't measured. I haven't had a non-mechanical board in about 5 years so I couldn't really test either.
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nah
it's just more fun... better experience...
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nah
it's just more fun... better experience...
This guy gets it. HBD BTW!
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An odd experience I have is when I buy a new keyboard or bring one out that I haven't typed on for a while I always type faster on it at that moment in time than 90% of my other experience. I can't explain why.
Fingers have A.D.D I guess. :D
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I have increased my WPM significantly since switching to mechanical keyboards a around 5 years ago from around 45 to my current speed of 95 . Now if I go back to typing on rubber domes I just type a bunch of errors, which contributes to a pretty poor WPM.
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For me the additional comfort I believe gave me more WPM lol. I was hitting around 90 WPM on a rubber dome now I can get 105 on my MX blues.
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I did get a +20 wpm boost on HHKB but I was able to do that when I was using rubber dome and scissor switch keyboards. But the thing is, on the HHKB I do it effortlessly and more consistently than I do on a normal keyboard which leaves my fingers and wrists tired.
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Faster? Not really. But with less typing errors, so yeah, the overall effect is "a bit faster".
And since I'm accustomed to it, typing on a rubberdome surrogate always gives me an uneasy feeling.
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I think I type a little slower, but more accurately. Compared to my black Lenovo KU-0225 rubberdome keyboard with the blue enter keys, I think I lose a word or two per minute. Actually the Lenovo is not too bad at all to be honest. (For now, anyway.)
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I think I actually type slower, but that's more an issue of being used to the really low keycaps on the Acer rubberdome I had before, the height of the board I've got not working well with the extremely bad desk setup I've got right now that I can't do anything about, and Blues being too heavy half the time.
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I think some people are associating them typing faster with the fact that they're typing more which is going to give them a boost in speed...Or they're now practicing typing which is going to get them better speed...The keyboard itself is not going to make someone type faster.
I suppose some might fit into some sweet spot for someone..just as scissor switch keyboards seem to work out better for some people...but I think overall, you're going to get about the same speed on just about any keyboard you use...
The difference to me is the experience...I enjoy using a mech keyboard a lot more than a normal keyboard. The difference in quality is definitely perceivable and for me, the amount I end up spending per day to have a better overall computing experience is a pittance...I don't type faster, I don't think they're necessarily more comfortable to use..I just think when using it, you can feel the quality and it feels nicer to use. They're more fun to use.
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I think I actually type faster on my laptop because there's less travel time for each key. I type faster with a mechanical compared to a crummy rubberdome, because I'm not used to how the keystrokes feel
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Mechanical keyboards give plus 8 to comfy, not to speed.
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hhkb gives you +80wpm on top of your current wpm.
Can confirm.
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Well I definitely type faster on a mechanical keyboard because I'm not cringing every few seconds
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Honestly I doubt it. From the limited testing I did, I got the exact same WPM as with the mech, albeit with a few more mistakes. So I will say I honestly believe that it helps my accuracy. This could have been attributed to using a keyboard I wasn't accustomed to though.
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Speed depends a lot on familiarity and personal preference.
For me, the range in typing speed between fastest and slowest keyboards (that is, among full-size standard ANSI layout boards) is about 40% difference, if you include time for correcting errors. Not any arbitrary “mechanical” keyboard is good for me though.
Apple scissor switches are much faster than $10 full-travel rubberdome boards though. From my laptop keyboard to the fastest external keyboard is probably only ~15–25% difference.
Using a better physical and logical layout and better firmware also makes a big difference: with a better layout (column-staggered, split and tented, with the right keycap profile, plenty of thumb keys, etc.) hand comfort is dramatically improved; with a better layout than QWERTY, many slow motions can be avoided; with better firmware with lots of shortcuts, macro recording features, etc., many computing tasks can be sped up dramatically; adding a trackpoint, trackball, or trackpad within easy reach of the key area also makes a big difference: moving your hand back and forth to a mouse/trackpad/trackball is slow and uncomfortable.
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I don't necessarily think that mechanical keyboards improve typing speeds though the switch actuation point is definitely quicker. I think it really is just a personal preference for enjoyment.
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no question isn't even close, plus my fingers don't hurt
not going to say it is the rule as i have a couple decent rubber domes..........., but on the whole YES
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If I use a rubber dome keyboard, chicklet or otherwise, I can type just about the same speed now as I can on my mechanical keyboards. I measure it sometimes and I lose about 10WPM, from an average of 105WPM on my mechanical keyboards down to about 95WPM on a rubber dome keyboard. Or on a keyboard which is uncomfortable or has a foreign layout. However, I will say my typing speed has increased dramatically after I began mechanical keyboard ownership and use. As others have said, mechanical is far more comfortable to me, but I also believe it enabled me to gain a faster typing speed because it is comfortable enough to practice on for long hours and easier to do so on.
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I typed faster on my old rubber dome keyboard.
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Probably about the same but mechanical boards are about joy and comfort to me.
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I type between 80 and 90 wpm on all my keyboards, cherry (blue, clear), topre (novatouch), buckling spring (model M), scissor switch (samsung and HP laptops). I tend to get in the low to mid 80s, but getting faster than that depends more on the words I'm typing than the board I'm using.
I don't have a rubber dome around to test with at the moment, but my best wpm score ever was on a Dell rubber dome (91). Usually though, I'm in the same range with that board as I am with my mechs.
I do find mech boards to be a more enjoyable and less fatiguing experience than other boards though, with rubber domes being the least comfortable, then topre, then buckling spring, with cherry mx clicky and tactile switches giving the best experience.
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I havent had a rubber some in close to a decade, but I type much faster on my mech boards than my laptop. About 15 wpm faster
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The fastest keyboard that Ive typed on would sadly be a chiclet keyboard, great for speed (for me) but sacrifices comfort.
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I type like 10wpm faster on my laptop as it has very short travel-distance, however I found it more comfortable to write on my mechanical keyboard, speed isn't everything that counts.
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I received a new keyboard yesterday with MX clears and my average typing speed went up ~10 WPM and I hit a new personal record (136 WPM). All within hours of using clears.
I found these results after roughly 40 races on typeracer so take it with a grain of salt. But to answer your question, right now I'm saying yes.
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I get an increase of like 30-40 wpm typing on my LZ-S compared to say my DT-35, even though I love the DT more I just type faster and more efficiently on a mechanical. Haven't done any serious typing since I put the hobby on hold though ^_^
EDIT: did one real quick (wow I haven't played since May! meh.)
http://i.imgur.com/6aS7gx6.png
I know I only hit like 100-120~ on a rubber dome.
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I just received my Topre Realforce 87U, I cant say I am quicker but I suddenly feel more manly. I think thats the real thing :thumb:
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I type fastest on my laptop's scissor-switches, however it hurts after awhile and the experience is horrendous. I like mechs for the comfirt they provide, not the speed.
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Who told you that people get a mechanical keyboard to type faster? :))
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I type somewhat faster on mechanicals. I don't think the keys are actually faster; for me, it's the sounds they make. I'm a musician, so I tune in to the clicky/sproingy sounds, and that helps me stay out of my own way. Which is what good typing is about, of course—and playing music, and doing all kinds of things.
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Well, if this thread is coming back, then no. But it's more fun :P
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I definitely type somewhat faster on a mechanical keyboard, due to lower error rate rather than increased speed. Mainly I think this has to do with smaller tops on the keys versus the wider/taller tops of the modern Apple keyboards I was using before. I just went to an Apple Store and looked at their new ultra-thin Macbook, which has even wider/taller keys than before, and my typing on it was atrocious.
Furthermore, I type about 10wpm faster using the Truly Ergonomic keyboard with MX Blues than a traditional TKL keyboard with MX Greens.
I made much bigger gains in wpm switching from QWERTY to Dvorak though, even on lousy keyboards.
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I type faster with some kind of audible feedback of a key being pressed -- seems to make me more confident and fluid in my keypresses. On my Macbook, I use an add-on app (Keyclick) to provide that since the keys themselves don't make much sound. On my HHKB, obviously that provides its own audible feedback.
Good writeup of audible keyboard feedback here:
http://sustworks.com/site/prod_keyclick_overview.html
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Mechanical boards are made to enjoy the typing experience more; thus, you would type better, maybe nor faster, but you certainly will enjoy it more.
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Nope. Did 10FastFingers with a Mitsumi rubber dome and hit 110, my highest. Only did it once again on my Filco w/ browns. Both were done in the past 2 months.
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Mechanical keyboards give plus 8 to comfy, not to speed.
this is the only reason i get (expensive) mechanical keyboards :)
and i've also come to love switching between different keyboards/switches..
i used to be convinced that there is that one perfect board out there for me,
but switching between boards every once in a while is actually incredibly satisfying to me :D
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It's like a car. If it gets you to your destination, it's done its job.
However, if you spend hours in your car each day, you might also want it to be a little more personalized and comfortable. If you have the money, you can afford to get one that suits you the best..
Same story for keyboards.
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It's like a car. If it gets you to your destination, it's done its job.
However, if you spend hours in your car each day, you might also want it to be a little more personalized and comfortable. If you have the money, you can afford to get one that suits you the best..
Same story for keyboards.
Except, traffic permitting, you can drive faster with more expensive cars :P
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It's like a car. If it gets you to your destination, it's done its job.
However, if you spend hours in your car each day, you might also want it to be a little more personalized and comfortable. If you have the money, you can afford to get one that suits you the best..
Same story for keyboards.
Except, traffic permitting, you can drive faster with more expensive cars :P
Well you could do 'more' with more expensive keyboards, thanks to NKRO. You could type 'faster' with NKRO since your throughput isn't limited. I'm not sure how fast you'd need to type to be limited by key roll-over.... This is actually an intriguing maths problem:
"If little bobby has a cheap keyboard which can only register 6 keys at a time (per-second?), what is the maximum words per-minute he can type, assuming an average letter count of 5 per word... and including spaces between words"
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"If little bobby has a cheap keyboard which can only register 6 keys at a time (per-second?), what is the maximum words per-minute he can type, assuming an average letter count of 5 per word... and including spaces between words"
USB interrupt transfer pooling rate is from 1ms to 255ms for full and low-speed devices. So if you would want to use this kind of argument then the speed limit is 6 * 1000 / 5 = 1200 words per second. Clearly, 6KRO is not this kind of limit for the typing speed.
Edit: But (if you do not want to use chording) then the right computation should be 1000 / 5 = 200 words per second. Which is still a LOT. To keep the sequence of presses releases only one key should be pressed (and another one released) at a time.
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USB interrupt transfer pooling rate is from 1ms to 255ms for full and low-speed devices. So if you would want to use this kind of argument then the speed limit is 6 * 1000 / 5 = 1200 words per second. Clearly, 6KRO is not this kind of limit for the typing speed.
Edit: But (if you do not want to use chording) then the right computation should be 1000 / 5 = 200 words per second. Which is still a LOT. To keep the sequence of presses releases only one key should be pressed (and another one released) at a time.
In other words, irrelevant to typing by humans.
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Got my first mechanical keyboard recently (since I was a kid, anyway). Opened the box, plugged it in, and spent about the next 20 minutes doing typing tests. Based on casual observations (I didn't make a spreadsheet project out of it), my speed improved 5-10%. So pretty minor.
On the other hand, I'm at work now, I'm typing noticeably worse on the cheap keyboard plugged into the PC I'm on. It feels off after a week with the Unicomp. So I've probably screwed myself for nearly all the keyboards populating the world.