it seems to me, key/spring resistance is one of the biggest factors in deciding which keyboard is ideal for a given typist/user.
Of course other factors matter too in making a decision, including looks and style and etc as well as key actuation point and etc etc but I think key resistance winds up being an important consideration.
One way to figure out what resistance is good for you, is to start with a light board, take a typing test (which takes typos into account while calculating wpm). Then try heavier and heavier boards until your typos decrease and your WPM maximizes. At some point your WPM will decrease again (or, plateau) as the switches become so heavy that they just slow you down or dont produce any benefit. The point where your wpm maximized, is the keyboard you want. At least as far as resistance goes.
I guess what I'm implying is that, for me anyway, for instance, heavier switches have been useful in reducing typos. I found that to be true in my case. Light switch make me do typos more easily.
I think heavier switches reduce typos in two ways: a) reduction of accidental key presses; b) increase in tactility/feedback when you do hit a switch.
But of course at some point they become so heavy that they tire you out or slow you down, and impact productivity that way. So there is certainly such a thing, for keys, as being too heavy.
So the idea here is somewhat like what Calvin's dad (in the old Calvin and Hobbes comics) suggested when Calvin asked him how they figure out the weight limit on bridges. He said "well they just drive heavier and heavier trucks across it until it breaks, then they rebuilt it".
Well then, taking my own advice, so far i know that I've found cherry browns and most rubber domes (even the decent ones) to be too light (lots of typos), and the M to be sometimes a touch too heavy. (Cherry blacks I found especially heavy, literally tired out my fingers). So I'm looking for something in-between.
The teflon-ed and greased unicomp comes pretty close. I do enjoy typing on it. But just now I switched to one of my "decent" and very light dell rubber dome boards, and I'm flying on it and enjoying the relative lightness (even tho i know i dont type without typos on this thing). So clearly maybe I still need to find my ideal resistance level.
I dont think cherry blues is it either, as I've made lots of typos on blues boards when I tested myself. As for alps, while I like strongmans, I find them too "frictiony" for some reason and kept swapping them out when I did have them. So while the unicomp is my fallback, the only board I havent tested extensively yet is the topre.
And the topre board is arriving on tuesday or thereabouts. I'm looking forward to testing it out over a few days to see how it measures up on these criteria for me. I believe the 87U has 45g keys (and 35g on the pinkies). That *sounds* light to me, but lets see. I think there's also a all 55g board which may be an option. (I'll hit the 55g esc key a few times to see if I can tell the difference).
I know most people have said they havent felt much difference between the different weights on topre boards. I think the difference is one of those things that you feel after 10 minutes of typing (ie, has an cumulative effect) rather than on an individual keystroke.) Hopefully i'll be able to test that.
My guess is that i'd like 60gm keys, but no one seems to make those. My choices right now are the 45gm topres or the 65gm unicomps.
