Typing Speed, Keyboards and Layouts

[MycoRunner]

I recently taught myself how to touch type. This is not my first attempt at it, but it is perhaps the most successful. I used my own "hybrid" style before that certainly worked, but I was annoyed by how many errors I made regularly. Unfortunately since I learned and started to use the correct method my wrists get sore and my typing is slightly less accurate and still not terribly fast (44wpm-ish). I still make at least several mistakes per sentence, probably more.

I have a Unicomp keyboard which I love, but sometimes I wonder if the keys are a little too heavy. I don't think the main problem can be blamed on the keyboard. The only mistakes I attribute to the board are the ones where I press two keys by accident. I have no problem with the force needed to press the keys with most of my fingers except for my pinkies and ring fingers, which I didn't use as much before I learned touch typing.

I really like my clicky keyboard. It is loud, big and a little ugly but it feels so much better than typing on the mushy nonsense that most KB's are. I have to say that my Lenovo laptop has pretty nice keyboard too.

I have dabbled in Dvorak. It is always a looming temptation. Even when just starting out it is immediately easier, especially because generally you alternate hands every other letter (or at least more often than with QWERTY). Dvorak is difficult because the keys are printed with the wrong letters. I think it would be easier if they were blank. Also some common keyboard shortcuts are not as easy to do.

Also I've been reading up on some keyboards here and it sounds like blue cherry switches are similar to buckling springs but don't take as much pressure, maybe that would help a little.

Are there any suggestions that might improve my typing? Maybe more lessons from good ol' Mavis? Any other particular ideas? A new keyboard?

[devilcm3]

once you get used to touch typing....the only thing that slows you down is called , experience ...
theres  things that you can learn by an instant , others are not
i am comfortable at 50~60wpm with dvorak , trying to increase my wpm to 90 by reducing the number of errors and imprint the layout into my body memory

blue cherries are clicky , yet lighter than BS ... i cant think of anything lighter than that(yet clickier) ...

[didjamatic]

I'm consitently 5-10wpm faster with Topres, though I have come close with Buckling Springs.  With BS I had fewer errors, slower rate.  Topre higher rate, only slightly higher errors but still came out on top in correct wpm.  Cherry Browns are fun for me to type on, but i make more errors by bumping incorrect keys.

I went back and forth between all-55g and variable key resistance Realforce Topre keyboards and I type the same on each, about 75-80wpm.  This is using "The Enchanted Typewriter" test on http://www.typingtest.com

101wpm is my goal.

[patrickgeekhack]

You're right, blue Cherry MX switches are lighter than Buckling Spring. But, I won't call them similar. They feel completely different.

If you want to keep using your Unicomp keyboard, you can switch the keys around. If you keyboard is a Customizer, then it's one of the rare keyboards which you can move the keys and the overall will be the  same. Other keyboards use different shape keys on different rows.

As for speed, you'll need practice. When I started to self-teach how to touch type, there came a time when I was losing my old typing style but did not completely aquire touch typing style. This was a very frustrating time of my typing experience. With time, it got better. You wrists are hurting you currently probably because you have not aquired the touch typing skill completely yet. With practice things will get better. Good luck!

[MycoRunner]

Thanks for the advice. God, I didn't even know 100wpm was possible!

I think you're right, I could probably keep practicing and the speed will increase. It is frustrating though. I think the keycaps are differently shaped on the Unicomp too, lemme check.               m   mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,j,dde[qpmwop,,,,,,,,,,,sssssssssssssssssss['qp[[[mp

OOPS I should have closed the window before prying off the keycaps, lol. Yeah they look the same or at least very similar. So I could learn Dvorak after all...

But I'll stick with QWERTY for now, just because I already know how to type on it.

[Viett]

I will probably write up a new thread soon regarding my experience with Dvorak. I would say I am absolutely fluent with Dvorak now, and overall I'm extremely displeased. I've been typing it for almost two years. My typing speed (~90WPM) is still significantly slower than QWERTY and it's a lot more stressful to type. Also, I can't stand the lack of ZXCV. I have for the most part stopped typing in Dvorak, which is only a recent change. I am perfectly happy with QWERTY, although I may give Colemak another shot.

[msiegel]

I will probably write up a new thread soon regarding my experience with Dvorak.

[...] although I may give Colemak another shot.

wow, i'd love to hear about it

[Input Nirvana]

I found switching from QWERTY to Colemak to make typing EASIER. I assume this could lead to faster speed, less errors, less RSI.

Using a Kinesis Contoured also made typing easier. I don't know if changing the switches could make a positive difference too.

[DreymaR]

Save yourself the extra hassle I had to go through; jump directly to Colemak instead of learning Dvorak first. It's easier to learn (there's even something called Tarmak that lets you learn one hand at a time!) and as far as anyone can see every bit as good.

Dvorak has more hand alternation and Colemak more hand rolling; the jury's out on which is the more efficient of those principles but both are good and personally I lean towards good rolls as the fastest (judging from playing the tambourine and piano).

[patrickgeekhack]

But I'll stick with QWERTY for now, just because I already know how to type on it.

If you really want to learn DVORAK and think that this is the layout you want to use all the time, then now is probably the best time to learn it. It's going to be frustrating yes, but you have not been touch typing on QWERTY a lot. Believe me, once you've been touch typing on QWERTY, moving to a different layout can be like trying to quit smoking for some.

[MycoRunner]

I will probably write up a new thread soon regarding my experience with Dvorak. I would say I am absolutely fluent with Dvorak now, and overall I'm extremely displeased. I've been typing it for almost two years. My typing speed (~90WPM) is still significantly slower than QWERTY and it's a lot more stressful to type. Also, I can't stand the lack of ZXCV. I have for the most part stopped typing in Dvorak, which is only a recent change. I am perfectly happy with QWERTY, although I may give Colemak another shot.

Wow, I will abandon that idea then...

Save yourself the extra hassle I had to go through; jump directly to Colemak instead of learning Dvorak first. It's easier to learn (there's even something called Tarmak that lets you learn one hand at a time!) and as far as anyone can see every bit as good.

Dvorak has more hand alternation and Colemak more hand rolling; the jury's out on which is the more efficient of those principles but both are good and personally I lean towards good rolls as the fastest (judging from playing the tambourine and piano).

Colemak sounds good, I just looked it up on wikipedia and it seems pretty similar to QWERTY. It's not included in Windows though, how would I set that up?

[MycoRunner]

By the way, I just found this cool site (http://patorjk.com/keyboard-layout-analyzer/) where you can input text and it will analyze how you would type it on different layouts (how many times the pinky is used, homerow is used, etc).

[Viett]

Colemak sounds good, I just looked it up on wikipedia and it seems pretty similar to QWERTY. It's not included in Windows though, how would I set that up?

http://colemak.com/pub/windows/Colemak-1.1-Caps-Lock-Unchanged.zip

I would, of course, go with either a caps / backspace swap, or a just leave the caps lock key unchanged. Don't be a caps lock murderer.

By the way, this thread motivated me to finally swap to Colemak cold turkey. It's now incredibly painful to type. Thanks .

[msiegel]

By the way, I just found this cool site (http://patorjk.com/keyboard-layout-analyzer/) where you can input text and it will analyze how you would type it on different layouts (how many times the pinky is used, homerow is used, etc).

thanks, that's very interesting.

(btw it recommended colemak for me

[MycoRunner]

http://colemak.com/pub/windows/Colemak-1.1-Caps-Lock-Unchanged.zip

I would, of course, go with either a caps / backspace swap, or a just leave the caps lock key unchanged. Don't be a caps lock murderer.

By the way, this thread motivated me to finally swap to Colemak cold turkey. It's now incredibly painful to type. Thanks .

Cold turkey? damn!

It's so frustrating but I may join you in switching over. There needs to be a alternative-layout support group:biggrin:

[onowak]

seems to me that jumping from qwerty to dvorak or colemak gives you the largest return in terms of typing comfort and speed.

going from dvorak to colemak not so much.

-0.

[MycoRunner]

You're probably right, the only convenient thing about colemak is that the most common shortcuts are the same and its closer to QWERTY.

Then again they are both pretty inconvenient.

[itlnstln]

http://forum.colemak.com/viewforum.php?id=6

Hmm... It seems that Obvious Cat is obvious.

[spremino]

I recently taught myself how to touch type. This is not my first attempt at it, but it is perhaps the most successful. I used my own "hybrid" style before that certainly worked, but I was annoyed by how many errors I made regularly. Unfortunately since I learned and started to use the correct method my wrists get sore and my typing is slightly less accurate and still not terribly fast (44wpm-ish). I still make at least several mistakes per sentence, probably more.

I think your wrists get sore because you've just learned, therefore there is a bit of tension while trying to keep correct hand posture. When I started touch-typing, my hands and wrists ached too.

I have a Unicomp keyboard which I love, but sometimes I wonder if the keys are a little too heavy.

Unicomp's keys are heavy, however they feel heavier if you type by pushing down your fingers instead of using the weight of your hands.

I have dabbled in Dvorak. It is always a looming temptation. Even when just starting out it is immediately easier, especially because generally you alternate hands every other letter (or at least more often than with QWERTY). Dvorak is difficult because the keys are printed with the wrong letters. I think it would be easier if they were blank.

You can swap keys easily on a Unicomp.

Are there any suggestions that might improve my typing? Maybe more lessons from good ol' Mavis? Any other particular ideas? A new keyboard?

As I've said, don't type by just pushing down your fingers, use more of your hands' weight. Your hands should float over the keys. Other than that, just keep practicing. You'll learn to type with less effort.

Keep up with the good work ^_^

[DreymaR]

If it's frustrating, you could try Tarmak first? The argument is that it's easy for the brain to learn a few keys but frustrating and hard to learn a lot all at once. Some people seem to disagree, but to me that sounds true.

If you use Windows, you could try the installs in the files from Ezuk and me -. I could also whip up a pair of PKL files if there's interest in it, or even *nix definitions.

[Viett]

Cold turkey? damn!

It's so frustrating but I may join you in switching over. There needs to be a alternative-layout support group:biggrin:

It really wasn't such a large leap for me. I learned the layout completely last summer, and I still remember it, but I just never used it / got up to speed.

[spremino]

I forgot: do make the switch when you have plenty of time for a relaxed practice (for instance while on vacation), don't do that under a deadline.

[MycoRunner]

Thanks for the advice. I'm at the awkward stage where I don't know all the keys for colemak yet so I switch back to qwerty when I need to type anything (like this) then go back to the "typefaster" program in colemak. It's like pulling teeth a little, but it could be worth it. I type a lot and doing it comfortably would be good in the long run.