3 ms·

Neat! If you're interested in this kind of thing, I recommend also checking out the Kinesis Advantage.

mellavora 6y ago
Yes, I love my Kinesis. Looks line ZSA is borrowing Kinesis's idea of putting a number of special keys into a "thumb-bar". Not sure if Kinesis actually invented that idea, but I think they were the first to bring it to market. And yes, the Moonlander looks very interesting!
- noelwelsh 6y ago
  I believe Maltron did it first and Kinesis stole the idea from them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maltron https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maltron Maltron keyboards are excellent but expensive and hard to source, particularly outside of the UK.
  - azinman2 6y ago
    I've had both and the kinesis def feels more solid. The Maltron probably came up with the original design, and they're great for that, but the keys of the Kinesis feel better/sturdier. I've had to resolder connections in the Maltron several times; luckily its easy to do... they're just unshielded wires going everywhere!
ahelwer 6y ago
Kinesis Freestyle Pro is more similar, except for the ortholinear layout.
- samgranieri 6y ago
  I switched to an Ergodox EZ from a Kinesis Freestyle 2 bluetooth. It basically took me a month to get used to an ortholinear layout, but it's been working great so far
  - StavrosK 6y ago
    I had a slightly different experience. I don't like Bluetooth (too much fiddliness, especially when batteries are running low, and I'm always at my desk so I could just use a cable), and I don't like the ortholinear layout, I think it's too much hassle for no benefit at all.
ubermonkey 6y ago
YES YES YES. I've had an Advantage as my daily driver for 14 years. I've only ever had to replace the rest pads. It's a fantastic and VERY VERY comfortable keyboard, but you do have a little bit of a learning curve due to the unusual layout. It's also wired and has no backlight, but simple is sometimes better.
yodon 6y ago
The Kinesis Advantage is the gold standard here. Have been using Kinesis keyboards for many years. Kinesis could of course have gone with an ortholinear layout but they didn't because the layout they chose much better maps to the actual geometry of the hand. Yes, it takes a few hours to learn to adapt, typically spread out over a couple days, but no that's not difficult and no it doesn't impact your ability to jump over to a normal keyboard. 100% stop to serious repetitive stress injury problems I had been experiencing with other keyboards, fully programmable layout, and a great high grade mechanical design that's lasted a decade or more without complaint.
SloopJon 6y ago
I used a Kinesis Advantage for a few years before switching to the Kinesis Freestyle Edge RGB. My main complaint about the Advantage is that I kept hitting the arrow buttons in the bottom row unintentionally. Partly poor typing form, I'm sure, and of course I could have remapped them. The other thing is that the Advantage is tall, so it's not great up on a desk, and it's not that comfortable on your lap. I think it's best in a tray, although some trays may not be tall enough for it. As for the Freestyle, I like the split design, the customizable layout, and the customizable lighting (I have a different color for QWERTY and Dvorak). Add a couple of USB ports, and it would be nearly perfect. The "6" key is on the wrong half, and I might experiment with a layout that isn't staggered typewriter style. I do tend to fidget with the position of the Freestyle throughout the day. This is another keyboard that might work better in a tray. I don't know if I'd call this Moonlander "next generation," but it's an intriguing combination of what I like in the Advantage and Freestyle.
- azinman2 6y ago
  I have an advantage as well, and I've never accidentally hit the arrow keys or any other keys to be honest. How are you doing so? They're in a pretty out of the way location if you let your hands rest on the home row.

Yes, I love my Kinesis. Looks line ZSA is borrowing Kinesis's idea of putting a number of special keys into a "thumb-bar". Not sure if Kinesis actually invented that idea, but I think they were the first to bring it to market. And yes, the Moonlander looks very interesting!

noelwelsh 6y ago
I believe Maltron did it first and Kinesis stole the idea from them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maltron https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maltron Maltron keyboards are excellent but expensive and hard to source, particularly outside of the UK.
- azinman2 6y ago
  I've had both and the kinesis def feels more solid. The Maltron probably came up with the original design, and they're great for that, but the keys of the Kinesis feel better/sturdier. I've had to resolder connections in the Maltron several times; luckily its easy to do... they're just unshielded wires going everywhere!

ahelwer 6y ago

Kinesis Freestyle Pro is more similar, except for the ortholinear layout.

samgranieri 6y ago
I switched to an Ergodox EZ from a Kinesis Freestyle 2 bluetooth. It basically took me a month to get used to an ortholinear layout, but it's been working great so far
- StavrosK 6y ago
  I had a slightly different experience. I don't like Bluetooth (too much fiddliness, especially when batteries are running low, and I'm always at my desk so I could just use a cable), and I don't like the ortholinear layout, I think it's too much hassle for no benefit at all.

ubermonkey 6y ago

YES YES YES. I've had an Advantage as my daily driver for 14 years. I've only ever had to replace the rest pads. It's a fantastic and VERY VERY comfortable keyboard, but you do have a little bit of a learning curve due to the unusual layout. It's also wired and has no backlight, but simple is sometimes better.

yodon 6y ago

The Kinesis Advantage is the gold standard here. Have been using Kinesis keyboards for many years. Kinesis could of course have gone with an ortholinear layout but they didn't because the layout they chose much better maps to the actual geometry of the hand. Yes, it takes a few hours to learn to adapt, typically spread out over a couple days, but no that's not difficult and no it doesn't impact your ability to jump over to a normal keyboard. 100% stop to serious repetitive stress injury problems I had been experiencing with other keyboards, fully programmable layout, and a great high grade mechanical design that's lasted a decade or more without complaint.

SloopJon 6y ago

I used a Kinesis Advantage for a few years before switching to the Kinesis Freestyle Edge RGB. My main complaint about the Advantage is that I kept hitting the arrow buttons in the bottom row unintentionally. Partly poor typing form, I'm sure, and of course I could have remapped them. The other thing is that the Advantage is tall, so it's not great up on a desk, and it's not that comfortable on your lap. I think it's best in a tray, although some trays may not be tall enough for it. As for the Freestyle, I like the split design, the customizable layout, and the customizable lighting (I have a different color for QWERTY and Dvorak). Add a couple of USB ports, and it would be nearly perfect. The "6" key is on the wrong half, and I might experiment with a layout that isn't staggered typewriter style. I do tend to fidget with the position of the Freestyle throughout the day. This is another keyboard that might work better in a tray. I don't know if I'd call this Moonlander "next generation," but it's an intriguing combination of what I like in the Advantage and Freestyle.

azinman2 6y ago
I have an advantage as well, and I've never accidentally hit the arrow keys or any other keys to be honest. How are you doing so? They're in a pretty out of the way location if you let your hands rest on the home row.