Thoughts on Mechanical Keyboards and the ZSA Moonlander
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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
#2[deleted]
Re: Thoughts on Mechanical Keyboards and the ZSA Moonlander
#3I owned a Moonlander before and found that the keyboard layout didn’t matter much to my productivity.
I have a Microsoft sculpt at work, and a macbook. The macbook keyboard has been great IME.
Re: Thoughts on Mechanical Keyboards and the ZSA Moonlander
#4All I want is a quality split mechanical keyboard with Function keys. I use an IDE all day, I don't want to pull quadruple buckies every time I debug.
The Matias Ergo Pro is almost perfect, but I had two of them and they both failed within one year. I had one of each switch type (low force and regular) - both were missing some button presses and repeating other button presses.
Re: Thoughts on Mechanical Keyboards and the ZSA Moonlander
#5I 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, but also make you much more productive.
I switched to a Colemak-dh layout at the same time, and it was a huge adjustment. I'm not sure it was really worth it yet. It is hard to catch up to 30+ years of QWERTY muscle memory, though. Key layout aside, the ortholinear arrangement has absolutely been worth it. It feels much more comfortable, especially with the tenting set up.
ZSA's layout editor and customer support also deserve a shoutout. Can't recommend it enough.
Re: Thoughts on Mechanical Keyboards and the ZSA Moonlander
#6I like my Moonlander, but if you want to see a real scam of a keyboard try buying (please don't) one of "WORK LOUDER"'s keyboards like the Nomad E. $350-500, gimmicks you'll never use, non-open-source firmware, cheap build quality, no refunds.
Re: Thoughts on Mechanical Keyboards and the ZSA Moonlander
#7I too have a moonlander but imo the biggest gain from most mechs isnt how they can tent but being ortholinear in nature reducing some of the more awkward directional movements of a staggered keyboard. Honestly my biggest gripe with the moonlander is its too many keys, a 40% is more than enough, less can be more in many ways.
My datahand is probably my favorite keyboard though for reducing movement while avoiding too much repetition. If it ever bites the dust beyond repair I'd absolutely move to a diy svalboard build or whatever similar alternative is it's contemporary.
Re: Thoughts on Mechanical Keyboards and the ZSA Moonlander
#8I 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 that allowed me to type for more than 5 minutes at a time without pain.
The things I think are key for people with persistent issues:
- programmable keys
- tenting
- concavity (rules out most keyboards)
- thumb clusters
- ortholinear
I know some go without the concavity but I just cannot go back. Its so much more comfortable on my hands.
Programmable keys are probably the most important though, primarily so you can pick which stretches and awkward movements to completely remove and no longer have to do.
For example I've entirely removed the need to ever stretch my pinkies and ring fingers on both hands. It destroys my hands having to do so on a normal keyboard and so many normal shortcuts require excessive pinky finger movement.
I honestly think anybody who plans on using a keyboard for the rest of their life should invest in a high quality keyboard even if it's expensive. I would not be able to continue working today without having done so.
Runner up is the glove 80, but the only thing is I don't like how flimsy it feels in my hands compared to how solid the kinesis feels.
Re: Thoughts on Mechanical Keyboards and the ZSA Moonlander
#9All I want is a quality split mechanical keyboard with Function keys. I use an IDE all day, I don't want to pull quadruple buckies every time I debug. The Matias Ergo Pro is almost perfect, but I had two of them and they both failed within one year. I had one of each switch type (low force and regular) - both were missing some button presses and repeating other button presses.
You can get a QMK keyboard and create a function key layer.
Re: Thoughts on Mechanical Keyboards and the ZSA Moonlander
#10I have two moonlanders but wound up giving up because I just couldn't adapt to it. And when writing code, finding the symbols like {, =, }, and other common coding ones was just too difficult to retain muscle memory. I tried many layouts, I tried to make my own, and at the end of the day it was just too different. I wish I had a better experience.
Any recommendations?