Why do you like the switch weighting you do?

[johndavis33]

I'd never really taken that many typing tests before. I tend to get distracted partway through them and can never type at a consistent. However, I really wanted to try the "advanced typing test" on 10fastfingers, and thus I needed to do ten of them. I decided it would be a good way to analyze some of my keyboards and how they perform in more depth. What I found out was what I already knew, that I prefer heavier switches. But, I found out why in a bit more detail.

The best performance came from my model M, and my MX green and white boards, which all performed about the same, hovering around 80 WPM.

My black alps board came in around 75 or so the few times I used it, and my board with clears was around 70.

My HHKB, however, performed dreadfully. The 3 times I used it I got 55, 63, and 50 WPM.

As I said, clearly I performed better with heavier switches. But, upon further analysis, I managed to figure out why. When lifting my fingers off of my HHKB's keys, the springs wouldn't really push my fingers up as much. Therefore, I'd hit the sides of other keys much, much more often. This would give me accidental presses and/or slow my fingers down. Looking back on it, I had this same problem with blues, only much worse than with topres. It's a shame that the force curve for most switches offers less resistance on the upstroke than the down stroke, otherwise life would be much easier for me.

Anyways, do you guys prefer lighter or heavier switches? For what reasons? And has anyone else run into this same problem? I'm curious as to wheter there may a difference in typing style or something between users of each kind of switch, leading different switches causing different problems.

[demik]

Because im a man

[taylordcraig]

I like heavy switches because I have lazy hands. If they're too light it's like they're not even there.
Arguably I should float more. My fingers are just heavy I guess.

[Puddsy]

i like light switches because i can game better on them

[SpAmRaY]

i like light switches because i can game better on them

I like light switches because they make dark rooms not dark anymore.

[Lastpilot]

Just for pure feels. I want to feel the "weight" of quality rather than something that feels flimsy.

It's like why I use a Rotring 600 as a pencil. Sure, the weight of it might hamper me from writing a faster WPM, but I never worry about that anyway. What feels good in my hand is more important.

[Jotokun]

I prefer heavy switches because I am rather heavy handed when typing. As such, I tend to bottom out quite hard on lighter switches constantly regardless of type . Heavier switches are softer to me if I bottom out, and if the switch is tactile/clicky I can avoid bottoming out most of the time once I'm used to it.

As for typing speed, I find type (linear vs tactile/clicky) to have far more impact than weight.

[GL1TCH3D]

I like lighter switches because I'm a b*tch when it come sto heavier switches ;P

[Polymer]

It could be the weight coming up..but I think speed wise someone calculated it wouldn't make a difference.. I also doubt your fingers rest enough on the keys for it to push your fingers up although maybe that is happening...Or maybe the slight push back early on would help (although clears should have helped you in that case). 

I would think it is more of a feel/rhythm thing than anything else...You get used to certain keys..your fingers get used to a certain amount of resistance and feel and your typing rhythm is all based on that...

I'm sure this doesn't apply to everyone but IMO..I think people used to heavier switches will make more mistakes on lighter switches but not experience fatigue....I think people used to lighter switches will type slightly slower and get fatigued when using heavier switches...

[taylordcraig]

Dude who is the fastest typist in the world is over 200 wpm on rubber domes so keyboard doesn't even matter.

[Grim Fandango]

For the speed with which I type it really does not seem to matter what kind of keyboard I use.

For example Topre 45g, Topre variable, MX Brown, Matias Alps, rubber dome. These are the keyboards I have used in the past 2 months. I started going to 10fastfingers because of one of the typing speed threads on the forum and I was curious. My typing speed on them is the same. I am a slow but accurate typist. So when I go to 10 fast fingers, I always type around 75 with little variation (outliers below 70 and above 80 do happen but are uncommon).

Knowing this, to me a keyboard should
1. Feel comfortable for prolonged use (I can use heavy switches at home, but not for 8 hours a day at work)
2. Not be too loud (both at home and at work I have other people that I need to take into account)
3. Feel satisfying to use (Typing is more fun on switches that feel and sound satisfying)

For me, these three things means that pretty much all Cherry MX are out due to being too loud. All switches over 45g are out because I do not find them comfortable to use for long periods. So I end up using only Topre, which do not only satisfy those two conditions, but to me, are also really fun and satisfying to type on. Though they are light, they have a sort of tactility and feel when bottoming out that I quite enjoy. I use an all 45g at home, and two variable weight at work.

[Oobly]

I like both. I seem to be about the same speed on both.

But heavy switches are fatiguing for long sessions for me, so I use lighter switches.

ErgoClears FTW. Best of both worlds. Tactility usually associated with heavier switches, lack of fatigue due to lightness of springs.