> [B]ut the keybindings are horrendous. Even if they don't cause hand pain they're long-winded and distracting.
Ha, after 26 years using Emacs I find Vim's keybindings long-winded and distracting. To each their own. However, unlike many people I don't dismiss vi because of unfamiliarity, or use them as an excuse not to learn the editor. I try to use it all the time, but I can never seem to train myself to do non-trivial things with it.
I have the similar problem with other editors: I've seen people rave about Sublime Text, yet none of its killer features (modulo multiple selections) really strike me as worth switching. And any of its features I think I want I could (conceivably) implement in Emacs, so...