Honestly, symbols such as (, {, [, =, <, etc... are no harder to type than CaPiTaL LeTtErS. However, I have bound countless mathematical symbols, arrows, diacri

Honestly, symbols such as (, {, [, =, <, etc... are no harder to type than CaPiTaL LeTtErS. However, I have bound countless mathematical symbols, arrows, diacritics and the entire Greek alphabet to AltGr combinations. Heck, I have even made a AutoHotKey script to let me input Unicode codes when I hold down the fn button. I'm probably not the best person to judge difficult key combinations, and I don't even use vi! The best part of using the mentioned symbols is that they are found on virtually every keyboard, you don't need a specialised input device. You mention laptops being awkward to type on and yes the travel is bad, and the layout is often cramped, but it really depends on the laptop in question. I'm not a 3d modeller, accountant, or anyone who actually uses a num pad, so I am glad to not have one. With that said, my current laptop (Lenovo U430p) has my favourite keyboard layout yet - I miss it on my desktop. It's not flawless. However, if I was to make changes I would basically change the fn modifier layout, and the labels. Reason why is that AutoHotKey is awkard compared to a custom keyboard layout. Maybe I should make a custom mechanical keyboard for my desktop.