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.
I don’t have a moonlander but I did get one of their ergodox keyboards after noticing an increase in pain myself. I tried using it in querty and my experience was unless you type with proper hand position and finger movements (and possibly not even then) querty on an orthinear was even more painful than on a regular keyboard. I tried colemak for a while but something about the layout didn’t feel comfortable still. I landed on using “middlemak” [1] which at least for me has been much more comfortable. It preserves a decent bit of qwerty placement to help with muscle memory, but I’ve also found that only using it on the ergodox keyboard and keeping qwerty on all of my “normal” keyboards has also helped the muscle memory a lot.
QWERTY with "proper" hand placement isn't too bad, but I've been typing like this since I was 4 years old and have never tried another layout, so I might just be missing out. Still, it took me more than a year to really get used to the Ergodox... I shudder to think how long a new layout would take to get used to!
I like my moonlander. Feels great and now that I'm used to ortholinear, I can't go back. The ZSA layout editor is awesome. I just wish it had more keys so that I could have an F row and dedicated keys for modifiers. Yes I can use the various features to get them and yes I know it'll be allegedly faster once I train myself. But I'm a busy middle aged man now. I float back and forth between Windows (home), Mac (work), and Linux (Steam deck) and having to keep all the keyboard shortcuts straight on top of having blank keycaps for modifiers makes my head hurt.
I briefly looked for labeled keycaps that let the light shine through but couldn't find any.
Where did you get your coiled cables? I bought one from Aliexpress. It took a month to arrive and then didn't work.
I use long press on the number keys for function keys (F11 and F12 on the inner columns) and I'm pretty happy with that setup.
I got my cables on etsy. There are tons of US-based makers who have large selections of colors, connectors, etc. I got my connectors cerakoted and they're really nice. It's pricey though.
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.