I've never tried sam, but I used to do all my unix coding in nano, because it was simple enough that I never had to think about how to use it. I prefer simpler tools, generally, since I don't want to think about the tool; I want to think about the work I'm doing with the tool. People do amazing things with emacs, and to a lesser degree also with vi, but I simply don't want to spend the time it would take to learn such a complicated interface when I clearly don't need such a powerful tool to get my job done.

I eventually wrote my own editor, which is effectively just a text-mode window manager wrapped around a simplified nano clone which uses the control key bindings I'm familiar with from non-terminal environments. I'd be reluctant to recommend it to anyone else, since it's such a specific implementation of my own personal taste, and it has a handful of minor problems I've never bothered to fix that might cause someone else significant irritation; but it suits me. It's a very comfortable feeling to know all that can be known about the tool; I never have to waste a moment trying to remember how any of it works, and can direct my full attention through the tool to the work I'm actually trying to do.