What are the benefits of learning Vim?
As a programmer I spend a lot of hours at the keyboard and I've been doing it for the last 12 years, more or less. If there's something I've never gotten used to during all this time, it's these annoying and almost unconscious constant micro-interruptions I experience while coding, due to some of the most common code editing tasks. Things like a simple copy & paste from a different line (or even the same line), or moving 1 or 2 lines up or down from the current position require too much typing or involve the use of the arrow keys ...and it gets worse when I want to move further - I end up using the mouse. Now imagine this same scenario but on a laptop.
I've always considered learning VIM but the amount of time needed to master it has always made me want to step back.
I'd like to hear from people who have learnt it and if it ends up being one of those things you cannot live without.
At work, I use VS2008, C# and R#, which together make editing code a lot faster and easier than ever, but even so I think I could enjoy not having to use the mouse at all.
And not even the arrow keys.
Answer
I've been using vi and vim also for some 20 years, and I'm still learning new things.
David Rayner's Best of Vim Tips site is an excellent list, though it's probably more useful once you have some familiarity with vim.
I also want to mention the ViEmu site which has some great info on vi/vim tips and especially the article Why, oh WHY, do those nutheads use vi? (archived version)