1 00:00:00,100 --> 00:00:04,200 - I've been waiting for this for a long time. And I can already tell just based on the size of the box, 2 00:00:04,200 --> 00:00:08,570 that this is a lot different than the ErgoDox keyboard I used to use, 3 00:00:08,570 --> 00:00:11,960 which was the ErgoDox EZ. This is the company, ZSA. 4 00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:16,190 Sizza, zissa. And this is the new Moonlander keyboard. 5 00:00:16,190 --> 00:00:20,190 There's two, 'cause there's two colors. Thank you for supporting this company. 6 00:00:20,190 --> 00:00:26,790 You can see immediately that it comes with a carrying case. And other than that, there's just a combined keycap puller 7 00:00:26,790 --> 00:00:31,430 and key switch puller in the box. And I actually still have my old ErgoDox one. 8 00:00:32,660 --> 00:00:37,170 Ah, it's white! So there's two cables. This one is gonna be for connecting the keyboard 9 00:00:37,170 --> 00:00:41,000 to your PC. And then this one is for connecting the two halves 10 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:44,640 of the keyboard, because this is a split keyboard design. 11 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:49,610 So there's a little Allen key in here. My initial impression is this is way smaller. 12 00:00:49,610 --> 00:00:53,150 It's almost half as thick. Couple extra keycaps in there. 13 00:00:53,150 --> 00:00:56,630 Hold on. (James makes machine clicks) 14 00:00:56,630 --> 00:01:00,950 Boom. Integrated, connected, and included wrist rests. 15 00:01:00,950 --> 00:01:04,757 On the earlier one, everything was sold separately. You could buy this thing, 16 00:01:04,757 --> 00:01:07,830 and then this tenting kit was extra. 17 00:01:07,830 --> 00:01:12,100 They just help you to change the angle, so it can stand up. And then it was also extra 18 00:01:12,100 --> 00:01:16,370 to buy these completely separated, big, rubbery, 19 00:01:16,370 --> 00:01:21,720 dust magnet wrist pads. Now they've got these wrist pads just integrated. 20 00:01:21,720 --> 00:01:25,230 They just come with it. Now it comes out being the same price 21 00:01:25,230 --> 00:01:27,880 or a little more than a fully tricked out ErgoDox EZ. 22 00:01:29,575 --> 00:01:35,220 Ooh. What is that? Is it magnetic? That's just so it can click on to that. (laughs) 23 00:01:35,220 --> 00:01:39,090 Oh, it's a cover. Okay, as you can see, there's actually a little connector in there. 24 00:01:39,090 --> 00:01:43,750 Because this articulates, you only actually have one tent peg to adjust. 25 00:01:43,750 --> 00:01:47,740 Whereas on this one, you had three. Which gives you a lot of options. 26 00:01:47,740 --> 00:01:51,050 You can still decide if you want to put it there or on that side. 27 00:01:51,050 --> 00:01:54,283 And then that goes down like that. Eh, it's not too bad. 28 00:01:54,283 --> 00:01:58,440 (keyboard clacks) Cool, and the reason you wanna have that is so your hand is not flat. 29 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:01,660 When your hand is flat like that, that's called a pronated position. 30 00:02:01,660 --> 00:02:05,420 When you're in pronation, your radius and your ulna bones actually scissor each other 31 00:02:05,420 --> 00:02:09,910 and they will pinch between their tissue in your arms. 32 00:02:09,910 --> 00:02:14,510 So that's why you can get sore, and you can get RSIs just from having your hands flat. 33 00:02:14,510 --> 00:02:19,810 What is this? Does this come out? Oh, I bet my past ErgoDox feet are compatible with this. 34 00:02:19,810 --> 00:02:24,928 I can have both. But what do I get, though, if I put this over here? You can super pronate. 35 00:02:24,928 --> 00:02:27,980 (James laughs) (crew laughs) Like yeah. You wouldn't want this. 36 00:02:27,980 --> 00:02:31,100 See. This is extension. This is another thing 37 00:02:31,100 --> 00:02:35,170 that ergonomic keyboards seek to solve. So take this off, flatten that out. 38 00:02:35,170 --> 00:02:41,861 Be like that. Tent it that way. That would be better. So just like on the past one, you've got this cable. 39 00:02:41,861 --> 00:02:47,470 And then you've got the long boy. What was it, mini USB before? 40 00:02:47,470 --> 00:02:52,530 Yeah, not a Micro B. Now it's a USB type C, and a change they made is it used to plug 41 00:02:52,530 --> 00:02:56,330 into the right side of this keyboard, now it plugs into the left side. 42 00:02:56,330 --> 00:03:02,600 And that is a selling feature on their website, because you can just operate it one half at a time, 43 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:08,080 and give yourself a lot of mouse real estate on your Linus Tech Tips store.com. 44 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:12,130 It's even more compact than before, because these aren't even double wide anymore. 45 00:03:12,130 --> 00:03:15,380 So yeah, it's kinda the same on the inside. 46 00:03:15,380 --> 00:03:19,810 These are smaller. They used to be double high. And then for the thumb clusters, 47 00:03:19,810 --> 00:03:23,230 we get a lot fewer keys. 48 00:03:23,230 --> 00:03:27,600 We had two, four, six keys before, and now we just have four, 49 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:31,580 which is probably enough. I seem to recall not using all the keys in my thumb cluster. 50 00:03:31,580 --> 00:03:35,900 I had some pretty obscure keys in here. I really do use thumb clusters, 51 00:03:35,900 --> 00:03:39,286 and love ergo keyboards with thumb clusters. I wouldn't use one that doesn't, 52 00:03:39,286 --> 00:03:43,670 because there's your strongest digit, and you should be offloading as much typing as you can 53 00:03:43,670 --> 00:03:48,080 onto them. But I think that five is sufficient. They look like they're the principle buttons down here, 54 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:52,280 just 'cause they're off color. You would think that's like the main one to use, but no, you have to shift, 55 00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:57,330 and that causes you some ulnar deviation. I found that the software that they offer 56 00:03:57,330 --> 00:04:01,700 to help you configure your layout is quite good, quite intuitive, and very visual. 57 00:04:01,700 --> 00:04:04,810 I went through 11 or 12 different configs 58 00:04:04,810 --> 00:04:09,420 before I settled on what I wanted on this thing. And that all has to do with the keys on the side, 59 00:04:09,420 --> 00:04:13,690 'cause you can see, you have a lot fewer keys here than you do on a standard, even tenkeyless. 60 00:04:13,690 --> 00:04:19,250 The other thing is it doesn't have an F row. That's annoying if you're an Office or Excel user. 61 00:04:19,250 --> 00:04:23,880 I like to use F four, 'cause it repeats the last action. So I've hit insert a row in a spreadsheet. 62 00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:27,102 I can just F four, F four, F, F four a bunch of times, it'll keep doing that. 63 00:04:27,102 --> 00:04:30,380 (James sighs) But if you want this tight, minimal look, 64 00:04:30,380 --> 00:04:35,770 that's the kind of the sacrifice you have to make. These are really cool keycaps. 65 00:04:35,770 --> 00:04:40,200 They're really gritty, and like, matte, and chalky feeling. 66 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:45,710 I like them. This, I believe, I ordered with box whites from Kailh, 67 00:04:45,710 --> 00:04:49,630 a very popular switch. When we did our big key switch round up, that was one of the most popular ones. 68 00:04:49,630 --> 00:04:53,300 It's a clicky switch. And that's why this feels so awesome. 69 00:04:53,300 --> 00:04:57,300 Okay, I'm gonna, I got my laptop. I'm gonna power this thing on, and see the RGB lights and everything, 70 00:04:57,300 --> 00:05:01,230 right after this message from our sponsor, Grammarly. Thanks to Grammarly for sponsoring today's video. 71 00:05:01,230 --> 00:05:04,658 Grammarly is a digital writing assistant that helps you with grammar and spelling suggestions. 72 00:05:04,658 --> 00:05:08,412 Simply install the browser extension, log in, and start typing. 73 00:05:08,412 --> 00:05:12,980 (keyboard clacks) There's also Grammarly Premium, which provides more in-depth feedback on your writing. 74 00:05:12,980 --> 00:05:16,280 We recommend checking out the vocabulary and clarity suggestion tools. 75 00:05:16,280 --> 00:05:20,324 It helps you save time and make your writing more compelling by finding synonyms for overused words, 76 00:05:20,324 --> 00:05:23,340 and completely removing unnecessary words, 77 00:05:23,340 --> 00:05:27,640 at an epidemic among emailers, you know. Just get that crap out of there. 78 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:31,110 These features make it super easy for job hunters to save time and make a great first impression 79 00:05:31,110 --> 00:05:34,180 on every application or introductory email. 80 00:05:34,180 --> 00:05:40,090 So go ahead and go to grammarly.com/shortcircuit today, and get 20% off your Grammarly Premium subscription. 81 00:05:40,090 --> 00:05:43,575 To help you save time and start emailing and writing more efficiently. 82 00:05:43,575 --> 00:05:46,860 (keyboard beeps) Sweet retro noise. 83 00:05:46,860 --> 00:05:50,674 These nice and spread. Ah! Look at the RGBs. 84 00:05:50,674 --> 00:05:53,780 All right, let's get to typing. (keyboard clacks) 85 00:05:53,780 --> 00:05:56,790 Oh, oh, they've got this... Ha! 86 00:05:56,790 --> 00:06:01,280 If you're coming from a QWERTY, it's probably easier for you than me, 87 00:06:01,280 --> 00:06:05,790 where I have my thumbs are so... Oh no, use... 88 00:06:05,790 --> 00:06:10,300 No, it's not escape. (laughs) My thumbs are so used to doing other things. 89 00:06:10,300 --> 00:06:13,960 I don't know where they have... What do they use for space on default? 90 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:17,960 James, space. No, that's return. What do we got over here? 91 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:23,252 This is space. Oh, I don't like having space on my left thumb. Not used to it. (laughs) 92 00:06:23,252 --> 00:06:26,760 Oh no, I minimized it. (laughs) 93 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:30,010 Don't try any special functions or shifts. This is an adventure. 94 00:06:30,010 --> 00:06:33,050 See, unlabeled keys, you gotta get used to it. 95 00:06:33,050 --> 00:06:39,640 One thing that you'll have to used to, probably regardless, is this is an ortholinear or columnar layout. 96 00:06:39,640 --> 00:06:44,140 So in a QWERTY, these keys are actually staggered, instead of up and down like this. 97 00:06:44,140 --> 00:06:49,010 X and C. When I switch to a QWERTY, these days, I hit X and C differently. 98 00:06:49,010 --> 00:06:54,380 If I'm gonna write "cat," I hit C with my index finger on a QWERTY keyboard. 99 00:06:54,380 --> 00:06:58,370 But on these keyboards, you can see, it's actually underneath the middle finger. 100 00:06:58,370 --> 00:07:03,170 So on this, I would hit it like that. That'll take some getting used to, same with X. 101 00:07:03,170 --> 00:07:08,200 because the way they're staggered on a QWERTY, you kinda wanna just curl your finger down in that way. 102 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:13,420 Oh yeah, another thing that I remember is kind of a drag to get used to is having your arrow keys split out. 103 00:07:13,420 --> 00:07:18,700 So you've got left and right on the left hand and up and down on the right hand. And that's just, 104 00:07:18,700 --> 00:07:22,500 you can get used to it, but it's kinda tough. 105 00:07:22,500 --> 00:07:25,930 Oop! You can see the switches come out. You can put whatever switches you want in here 106 00:07:25,930 --> 00:07:29,693 that are compatible with this pinout. I do notice now that, build quality wise, 107 00:07:29,693 --> 00:07:34,890 there's is a bit of a weirdness. Right in there is, like, a little janky 108 00:07:34,890 --> 00:07:38,810 on both of them. So it just looks like how they're made. It gets thinner right at that point. 109 00:07:38,810 --> 00:07:42,689 There's a little bit of a concave arc. And it just looks a little rough. 110 00:07:42,689 --> 00:07:47,910 For the most part, this is pretty nice, though. Like, even other parts of this curved rest look good. 111 00:07:47,910 --> 00:07:51,650 Then you've up these threads, which I didn't notice before. 112 00:07:51,650 --> 00:07:55,211 You could actually mount these to, let's say, the side of your chair. 113 00:07:55,211 --> 00:07:59,800 So you could just be, you know, way back here. Oh, why don't we look at the black one? 114 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:04,793 Pretty badass. I will say that. This is called Dark Matter. 115 00:08:04,793 --> 00:08:11,070 (keyboard clacks) It might be more durable, in terms of discoloration and just marking it up. 116 00:08:11,070 --> 00:08:15,080 If your hands are dirty, this might look newer for longer. I don't know. I just like the white one. 117 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:20,950 I feel like the product was designed to be white. There it is. I think that's basically it for this keyboard. 118 00:08:20,950 --> 00:08:25,570 Fold this puppy up. Got one pouch for each module. 119 00:08:25,570 --> 00:08:28,930 Feel like that is a good amount of Velcro to keep everything 120 00:08:28,930 --> 00:08:33,480 in together. And so that's about it. If you're asking yourself, "Should I upgrade my ErgoDox EZ?" 121 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:36,513 It depends on what you got, because they iterated a bit, 122 00:08:36,513 --> 00:08:42,280 I believe, in terms of RGB. The one that we have here, actually, is not RGB on the keys. 123 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:46,810 It's the Shine package, which is just LEDs that are RGB on the back. 124 00:08:46,810 --> 00:08:50,720 So it's like an underglow. But they did have the Glow variant later on, 125 00:08:50,720 --> 00:08:54,222 where it's actually RGB under each key. If you wanna upgrade just for RGB, 126 00:08:54,222 --> 00:08:57,900 just looks more modern, and it's more portable. 127 00:08:57,900 --> 00:09:02,290 It's easier to fold this up and put it in the case than it is to carry around all this cumbersome crap. 128 00:09:02,290 --> 00:09:05,645 They're not cheap. They're not cheap. They've never been cheap. 129 00:09:05,645 --> 00:09:09,610 (James sighs) But they're cool. If I was still using the ErgoDox EZ, 130 00:09:09,610 --> 00:09:14,930 I would definitely upgrade to this newer one. It looks like there's no downside to it. 131 00:09:14,930 --> 00:09:18,060 Sure, this thumb clusters have a few fewer keys, 132 00:09:18,060 --> 00:09:22,410 but I don't think that really matters. This just looks cooler and cleaner. 133 00:09:22,410 --> 00:09:27,270 It's pretty sweet. I'm happy with this. This is a worthy sequel, worthy successor. 134 00:09:27,270 --> 00:09:30,790 And you know what? You can use it for gaming, too. So, subscribe to ShortCircuit. 135 00:09:30,790 --> 00:09:34,820 Thanks for watching. And we're blasting off now. 136 00:09:34,820 --> 00:09:35,653 Bye.