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Thoughts on Mechanical Keyboards and the ZSA Moonlander

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Re: Thoughts on Mechanical Keyboards and the ZSA Moonlander

#41

Post by lotophage »

I struggled with the Moonlander although it is a wonderful keyboard.

I mapped it to a Colemak layout varient when I first got it. I was constantly discovering key combos that didn't quite work for whatever reason and made tweaks to the layout or the shortcuts in various editors. Forever tying my brain in knots learning and relearning mappings and combos. Then I'd frequently jump on other peoples computers/laptops to help out with small things and have to switch back to the old mode of thinking.

It ended up being a productivity sink rather than a boon. I don't know whether I would have crossed some inflection point if I had persevered, but there was always this fixed cost of tweaking shortcuts when using new software that was more burdensome than with a plain qwerty keyboard.

Maybe I was too ambitious and should have avoided the Colemak-esque layout, but I haven't managed to summon the stamina to give it a fair go again. I still use one half of it for gaming though. It's really sweet for that.

Re: Thoughts on Mechanical Keyboards and the ZSA Moonlander

#42

Post by __MatrixMan__ »

kayson wrote: post #5

I love my moonlander so much, I bought a second one for work. Both were secondhand, so the sticker shock wasn't quite so bad. Though, I did end up spending some of that savings on custom, coiled cables. A coworker, after seeing my setup, also ended buying two. I agree with the author. It's a tool, and if your job requires a lot of computer use, it is worth it to invest in a tool that can not only help prevent RSI, bu…

ZSA's support is great too. I've reached out twice for something I thought was a bug and both times the response was a swift, polite, confident:

> we thought of your case and built you a toggle for it, try setting [thing] and let us know if that helps

It helped

Re: Thoughts on Mechanical Keyboards and the ZSA Moonlander

#45

Post by Lunamare »

Forgeties79 wrote: post #39
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.

The way I thought about it was that I would gladly pay $500 to have a reduction in RSI symptoms, let alone prevent them beforehand. Not to mention the potential loss of enjoyment & employment from pain during computer use.

And as such, I'm an extremely satisfied Advantage 360 Pro user. The Adv 360 + a mouse side-grade massively reduced pains in my hands/wrists to the point where I don't notice any issues 99% of the time, even with heavy (7+ hour) computer use and quite a lot of FPS gaming.

Though note that there are several keyboards with split layouts + tenting (the two most important aspects for relief) that cost a fraction of the Adv 360; $200-300 of the price tag is for features, build quality, it being pre-built, and ease of programmability.

Re: Thoughts on Mechanical Keyboards and the ZSA Moonlander

#46

Post by rovr138 »

Forgeties79 wrote: post #39
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.

I have a Kinesis advantage pro. I bought it 11 years ago (in 2 months). When you look at it over the time it’ll last.. it gets easier to swallow. It also solved a lot of issues for me.

In that time, I’ve had 3 desks, 5 computer chairs, and 7 computers.

Re: Thoughts on Mechanical Keyboards and the ZSA Moonlander

#47

Post by sshine »

Forgeties79 wrote: post #39
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.

I just got a corne split keyboard from China for a fraction of the cost. The guy who runs the webshop seemed like a legit enthusiast. $40

Re: Thoughts on Mechanical Keyboards and the ZSA Moonlander

#48

Post by BlaDeKke »

dotancohen wrote: post #27
bb88 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the trick these days is find a layout you like with hot swappable cherry mx switches that have a qmx/via style configurator. Then you can configure the buttons however you want. Or you know... go build your own. It's fun. I built my own keypad and learned a bunch of stuff.

I get that you're trying to be helpful, but I meant that I am looking for a keyboard. Not for a keyboard hobby.

Something tells me that you’re not looking for a keyboard hobby.

Re: Thoughts on Mechanical Keyboards and the ZSA Moonlander

#49

Post by UltraSane »

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.

With QMK you can essentially program your keyboard to behave exactly how you want it to. This can be as simple as creating layers or getting into combos and tap dances and more advanced features. It is actually pretty fun when you get the hang of it.

It makes perfect sense to customize the primary interface to computers.

Re: Thoughts on Mechanical Keyboards and the ZSA Moonlander

#50

Post by UltraSane »

miladyincontrol wrote: post #11
UltraSane wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

More than just one function layer at that. When customized sufficiently you can do far more, with less movement of the hands. Different actions on hold, tap dance as well as macros all really help minimize strain.

I was excited when I realized that combos and tap dance work together!
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