[HN Gopher] Thoughts on Mechanical Keyboards and the ZSA Moonlander
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Thoughts on Mechanical Keyboards and the ZSA Moonlander
Author : TheFreim
Score : 19 points
Date : 2025-09-26 22:17 UTC (43 minutes ago)
(HTM) web link (www.masteringemacs.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.masteringemacs.org)
| thorncorona wrote:
| I 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.
| dotancohen wrote:
| All 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.
| UltraSane wrote:
| You can get a QMK keyboard and create a function key layer.
| kayson wrote:
| 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, 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.
| landr0id wrote:
| I 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.
| miladyincontrol wrote:
| I 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 datahand 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.
| Jcampuzano2 wrote:
| 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 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
|
| 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 gave 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.
| andrewjf wrote:
| I 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?
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