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Thoughts on Mechanical Keyboards and the ZSA Moonlander

masteringemacs.org

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Re: Thoughts on Mechanical Keyboards and the ZSA Moonlander

#31

Post by squigz »

dotancohen wrote: post #28
UltraSane wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can get a QMK keyboard and create a function key layer.

That sounds a lot more like a keyboard hobby, than a keyboard.

It's very basic customization of a tool you use all day for your job. This is a strange attitude to me coming from a programmer.

Re: Thoughts on Mechanical Keyboards and the ZSA Moonlander

#32

Post by egypturnash »

There are still key combos that I could tap out with lightning speed on my old keyboard that I still struggle to type as fast: C-M-- (negative argument) followed by another key, such as C-M-k, is one such example.

I wish I had more keys, yet ironically I have empty keys I do not use at all on the keyboard.

Stick those sequences on those empty keys as macros. Or assign one of those empty keys to control-meta.

Re: Thoughts on Mechanical Keyboards and the ZSA Moonlander

#33

Post by knlb »

Another vote for the Glove 80: I used the Kinesis Advantage 2 for 10 years (after a few initial signs of finger pain developing), then tried the new 360; and recently got the glove 80 so I could easily travel with it and fell in love with the keyboard.

It definitely doesn't feel as solid as the Kinesis or ergodox (which I used intermittently as well) but is the most comfortable keyboard I've used, the LEDs are actually useful (for showing battery life and bluetooth connections), and there are enough keys (including function keys); I don't like having to reason about layers at all, I want to be able to smoothly transition to my laptop's keyboard in a pinch).

Re: Thoughts on Mechanical Keyboards and the ZSA Moonlander

#34

Post by arcanemachiner »

Jcampuzano2 wrote: post #8

I started having RSI issues 2 years ago, what a way to welcome me to my 30s. It was excruciatingly painful just getting through a workday even with plenty of breaks. I didn't care for building my own keyboard I literally just wanted something to help me not be in pain no matter how weird it looked. I've ended up on a Kinesis advantage 360 pro after spending thousands of dollars on keyboards because I needed something…

For those with more time than money, you can build an open-source Advantage 360 clone for around $100 USD:

- https://github.com/wizarddata/Ergo-S-1

I'm not the creator, but I do have a repo with a purchase list that shows what stuff to buy from AliExpress:

- https://github.com/arcanemachine/Ergo-S-1-Extras

It takes about 10 hours to put together. You'll also need some nerd tools: access to a 3D printer, soldering iron, etc.

Re: Thoughts on Mechanical Keyboards and the ZSA Moonlander

#35

Post by Arrowmaster »

waynesonfire wrote: post #23

Those thumbs are doing a lot of work. Can't imagine that being ergonomic.

Thumbs are one of your stronger fingers. In contrast the pinky is by far the weakest but we have dedicated it to almost every modifier and outlying key. I currently use an Elora from SplitKB so I can't speak to the Moonlanders thumb cluster, but if you find one you like it's a massive difference in how much usage you can get out of your thumbs while typing.

Re: Thoughts on Mechanical Keyboards and the ZSA Moonlander

#37

Post by Svoka »

I love my moonlander. I bought it on release and it is best computer accessory I know of. I extensively customized the software. My favourite is controlling cursor with keyboard, I have one hand mode, etc.

One note — when I purchased the Moonlander their "The Platform" wasn't available. I bought it couple month ago and it improved experience even more.

Re: Thoughts on Mechanical Keyboards and the ZSA Moonlander

#39

Post by Forgeties79 »

Jcampuzano2 wrote: post #8

I started having RSI issues 2 years ago, what a way to welcome me to my 30s. It was excruciatingly painful just getting through a workday even with plenty of breaks. I didn't care for building my own keyboard I literally just wanted something to help me not be in pain no matter how weird it looked. I've ended up on a Kinesis advantage 360 pro after spending thousands of dollars on keyboards because I needed something…

These look great and I don’t doubt it’s worth the investment, but holy hell $500 is a tough price tag to accept.

Re: Thoughts on Mechanical Keyboards and the ZSA Moonlander

#40

Post by snailmailman »

dotancohen wrote: post #20
kyeb wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find one modifier plus a home-row key to be much more comfortable than reaching several rows up for an F-key. The author's whole point here is that QMK (or ZMK, which I use) lets you customize it to exactly your own needs!

But then many keyboard shortcuts require four keys to be depressed all at once. Just for an example off the top of my head, in JetBrains IDEs the shortcut for hiding all tools is Ctrl-Shift-F12.

As much as i like the idea of these split keyboards that are more ergonomic, I can’t get over the idea of missing keys and having to use chords or new combinations of hotkeys. I use nearly every key of my 104 key keyboard. Literally pause/break and scroll lock are the only ones I don’t use; and I’ve remapped those to be volume controls. If anything, i’d like even more keys for macros and dedicated shortcuts.

But so many keyboards cut that number down so drastically. I use home, end, delete, page up/down, all the time not to mention the number pad as a whole, and all the Fkeys.

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