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Typing Speeds

K

komseban

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 27, 2010
86
0
The average typing speed for "non-professional typists" is around 30 WPM (words per minute). While professional typists, who may type long documents, like pleadings, average speeds that can range from 80 - 100+ WPM, average computer users don't type much over 40 WPM.


What is your average/best typing speed?

Right now, I'm at:

625.0 Strokes/Min
125.0 wpm.
0.0% error ratio
 
LOL.
I can see why you'd think it's ********.
I happen to type A LOT.
I spend close to 7 hours a day at least on the computer every day typing stuff.
OTL....
 
I'm around 95 WPM, but the test excluded words shorter than 3 letters (such as I, so, the, a, an, am, at, etc). Besides, the words came in arbitrary order - if I were to write something that made sense, it might have gone faster. Between two different keyboards, there was a variation of 15-20 % in typing speed, too. 125 WPM is certainly not impossible, but it requires optimal conditions.
 
torbjoern said:
I'm around 95 WPM, but the test excluded words shorter than 3 letters (such as I, so, the, a, an, am, at, etc). Besides, the words came in arbitrary order - if I were to write something that made sense, it might have gone faster. Between two different keyboards, there was a variation of 15-20 % in typing speed, too. 125 WPM is certainly not impossible, but it requires optimal conditions.
Click to expand...

just fyi WPM is calculated by total chars typed divided by 5. This is because the average length of a word is 4 letters long plus 1 space hence 5 chars.

It does not matter what the words are or how long they are it is still 5 chars per word in terms of figuring out typing speed.
 
I'm pretty sure that my wpm would vary depending on how my fingers are along with the temperature of the room.
LOL.
My fingers are really sensitive to the cold; they numb up pretty fast.

A sidenote: Does anyone know how a dvorak keyboard works?
 
komseban said:
I'm pretty sure that my wpm would vary depending on how my fingers are along with the temperature of the room.
LOL.
My fingers are really sensitive to the cold; they numb up pretty fast.

A sidenote: Does anyone know how a dvorak keyboard works?
Click to expand...

DVORAK is just a different keyboard layout. It is based on where they letters are.

The standard keyboard most of us use is QWERT.
 
I actually tried piano but apparently my hands don't have enough strength in them.
I can't even hold like a dish in my hand without it shaking.
OTL....


Is Dvorak easier to type on?
Ehh.. easier is a really bad word. LOL
 
jessica. said:
125 wpm? I call total ********.
Click to expand...

125wpm isn't totally unreal. I just did one race on typeracer now to check my current speeds:

Screen%20shot%202011-02-14%20at%2008.36.00.png
 
Rodimus Prime said:
DVORAK is just a different keyboard layout. It is based on where they letters are.

The standard keyboard most of us use is QWERT.
Click to expand...

QWERTY was designed to slow typists down. The keys on a mechanical typewriter kept jamming.

If we went to DVORAK things would speed up, but I guess QWERTY is now entrenched?
 
I haven't tested in a while, but depending on what I type, will dictate how fast I go.

If I'm writing code, and have the code in my brain, I can usually average about 80-90wpms, but if I'm typing emails, or posts on MR, it goes down significantly, because of spelling and thinking
 
I have averaged 105 on typeracer. That's over something like 1600 races now, and includes a begininning period of making a TON of mistakes.

The difference of course is that it is relatively easy to keep a fast typing pace when you are copying something and only typing out a few sentences.

It is far more difficult to actually type that speed over the course of, say, typing a paper freehand or coding other things of that nature where you are more likely to be slowed down by having to think, and not just type.

I find my typing speed increases incredibly though when I slow down slightly - I make probably 90% less mistakes when I concentrate on going just a bit slower.

On the other hand, I can type really fast in IM conversations where it does not matter hah. I've started to not correct mistakes just to make me more aware of when I do make them to increase my speed.
 
80wpm first rate, 97wpm second race.

My parents had a rule: you get a computer when you can type 35wpm. We had to spend time every day during summers working on Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing...

I have hit 125wpm with no errors before on Mavis Beacon tests in a later typing class at school, wowing the ladies...but that was just luck. I tend to type around 85-100wpm depending on what I'm typing and how I'm typing it. I tend to make the same mistakes time after time, but don't really see the point in spending too much time trying to get a lot better, because I'm still pretty fast.

I spend quite a bit of time on a computer as a student working on papers and things, and I do worry about carpal tunnel.
 
Does it really matter how fast you type as long as you can type fast enough? I need to think and edit my messages, when I compose them at my work. Fast typing / messaging does not equal effective communication.

I use Skype chat for my work to talk with my boss and I have no issue typing up quick messages. But, I have to admit the typing classes I took at college are one of the best things I learned to be productive at my work. It would be frustrating if your hands are not typing fast enough while your thoughts are racing through your brain.

If you are getting paid by WPM, that could be a tough job because your hands could be shot in several years.
 
Are there any secretaries here? Wait, do any job descriptions these days actually require you to have a certain typing speed anymore?

No?

Then let's all just collectively put our dicks back in our pants and not worry about how much faster we can type than the next guy.
 
Tomorrow said:
Are there any secretaries here? Wait, do any job descriptions these days actually require you to have a certain typing speed anymore?

No?

Then let's all just collectively put our dicks back in our pants and not worry about how much faster we can type than the next guy.
Click to expand...

Spoken like a "hunt-n-peck"er. :D
 
While my read-and-copy typing speed is between 90-100 wpm, I absolutely never type like that outside of a speed test. My average over the course of writing my entire 35,000ish word undergrad thesis came to somewhere around 5-10 wpm, including time spent searching for citations, staring out the window and cursing at the world. I have managed to average as much as 15 wpm while writing less involved essays. Word keeps statistics on 'editing time' as you work on a file, so that's how I calculated these, I don't have a stopwatch running while I write! ;)
 
iJohnHenry said:
QWERTY was designed to slow typists down. The keys on a mechanical typewriter kept jamming.

If we went to DVORAK things would speed up, but I guess QWERTY is now entrenched?
Click to expand...

That is false. Qwert was more made to spread out the letters so common letters were not right next to eachother. This prevented jamming as often because two letters right next to eachother commonly in English either were spear out or requid to be hit by same finger.
 
Rodimus Prime said:
That is false. Qwert was more made to spread out the letters so common letters were not right next to eachother. This prevented jamming as often because two letters right next to eachother commonly in English either were spear out or requid to be hit by same finger.
Click to expand...

And this did not lower output?? He said, she said.
 
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