Different typing zones, and home row?

[NOMiS]

So I just started typing by the book way, can do about 10wpm after about 2 hours right off the bat. Doing research I found out there's different "zones" that seem even better than what I just learned. I tried a few out and I can switch between them pretty easily.

I also found a site that I'm sure many of you have seen, that shows an alternate homerow. http://typingsoft.com/typing.htm





I'm guessing the "B" key is up for grams but using the index fingers for just 3 keys seems like such a waste.

I also found another one posted here a few times:


The left hand keys are a bit of a reach but its feels more natural moving my fingers in that direction.

I'd like to know more about these and if there's more out there. Also which ones do you use? If I'm going to learn to type again, I'd like to do it the best way. I'm sure there's preference involved as well as none of them being the "right" way.

[DreymaR]

Here's how I do it. It's debatable whether an ANSI board user should be advised to reassign the left Shift key to the Z key however, so I guess my way works mainly for ISO keyboard users. It's very nice however!

Note that when you maintain straight wrists the fingering of the number keys 3 6 9 becomes a bit of a matter of choice. I suggest that every user tries it out; I myself use the left ring finger for 3 (with some room for 'combos' though), the left index finger for 6 and the right middle finger for 9 which may seem inconsistent but bear in mind that the keyboard isn't actually 100% symmetric anyway.

If I could physically redesign the keyboard I might end up with something more like this (including a trackpoint):



Keep in mind that my trick does not involve changes in fingering of the main letter keys! I don't think that's worth it, since I'm moving between keyboards a lot. It's very easy to adjust to the ZXCVB key shift as long as I'm still using the same fingers on each key! And the ergonomical benefit is great in my opinion.

[NOMiS]

Thanks for your post. I have ANSI boards, so I've made a new image.

[DreymaR]

You found my DIY images, did you?  

While your way has you relearning fingering for the ZXC keys, it may be one of the better solutions for you poor people who are lacking the VK_102 key. However, the letter C in particular is so common that I'd consider moving the Z to the old B position and the XCVB one to the left instead of changing the fingerings for the other ones. Even if this means having the Z in a radically different place it'd be much more harmonic on the more common letter C and V (and on X as well), and make the B a lot easier to type as well.

On my own computers, I usually implement that shift in the registry so it's always there. The fun thing is, anyone but proper touch typists tend to not even notice that I've done it! It's not a massive conceptual change at all. They'd notice if you moved the Z key to the middle of the row though...

[NOMiS]

Yes, your directories are quite browsable.

That's a pretty good idea. I was also thinking of swapping the ";" key with the "'" key. I've been using Qwerty for so long that I want to try and keep it the same.

[Viett]

I honestly think that typing by the book is the best way:

The keyboard seems skewed to the left, but it's not as significant as how it looks in an image. The reason (in my opinion) for this is because of the number row, which is significantly offset. In normal touch typing, you're not mixing a significant amount of numbers in with normal text. If you're typing a large amount of numbers, a normal touch typist will change his/her homerow so that the pointer fingers are on 4 and 7 anyway, so the skewness is not a problem.

Now if you look at some of the in-ward skewed layouts with this in mind:



Now you have the pinky on two different keys (Q, W) and the ring finger on E and middle finger on R (try these, they're uncomfortable).



This one is just weird. I don't have anything really critical to say about it, since I've never tried it, but the 3/4 with one finger, and the fact that you're moving up/down the keyboard in the same directions (left), might be a bit strange.

[NOMiS]

Yeah I tried the inward one at first, as it was the first alternate that I had seen. I didn't like the E and R keys either. My major problem with the standard zones was the bottom left hand row. Felt the same as hitting E and R on the inward zones.

[symphonic1985]

Ok, so I'm reviving an old thread... but I guess that I shouldn't start a new one if the topic has been discussed before?

I just got a new mech keyboard - g80-3000 with blues ISO. I've learning Colemak for the first time and trying to improve my QWERTY at the same time. I've also been trying to decide on ideal typing zones.  I can touchtype at about 70 wpm - in typeracer I've hit 90+ in sprints and also some 80+ over 2 mins at hi games, but I also have some 60s floating in there.  

I use a hybrid of the traditional zones and the third image from the topic opening post- left index finger hits c,v and the right hits b, most of the time. Do any of the fast typers here (90+ wpm) do this? The traditional rows feel AWFUL to me on the left side. I'm using Dreymar's zxcvb right now and also that feels strange, because c is hard to hit while keeping a wrist angle that lets me get to left shift...

I want to add modifiers below the spacebar...perhaps that will solve my problem with hand angle and the shift keys.