Building my $800 RAMA Works Mechanical Keyboard

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Building my $800 RAMA Works Mechanical Keyboard

The mechanical keyboard world is deep, fascinating, and expensive. We take an inside look at keyboard culture and build the ultra-premium RAMA Works Koyu Haze

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Amathe

This article is amazing. Clearly a labor of love.

Amathe

GamePlay4U said:

$800... It's a fucking keyboard. What is wrong with you?

The heart wants what it wants.

GameByNight

GamePlay4U said:

$800... It's a fucking keyboard. What is wrong with you?

To be clear, I didn't spend $800 on a keyboard. I spent too much customizing it, for sure. Like, several keyboards worth of just keycaps, but the keyboard kit and switches were each generously provided by RAMA Works and Zeal PC to support writing this feature and sharing the process with you. As a school teacher, the total cost here is outside of my personal budget for sure.

Yet, there are lots of people who do spend this much. Check out those forums I linked. Group Buys often accumulate large amounts of supporters. Many of them sell past boards on r/mechmarket for $500 - $1000+ to fund their next build.

Sparka

You can get a mechanical keyboard for 39.99 now.

MightyUnclean

This would be the perfect complement to my $2,000 mouse. I used to suck at pointing and clicking on things, but since I got that mouse, it's a whole new world. I'm sure that a $800 keyboard would go just as far in helping me to hit the right keys.

achesoma

Is this the new $1k HDMI cables? 

lahnmir

Awesome stuff. 

On a sidenote, for only 250 dollars I will write you an email praising you for an 800 dollar keyboard purchase so you don’t have to feel guilty about it. All interested know where to find me.

/Cheers,
Lahnmir

Avanah

Unless it can make my Coffee, has a built in CPU,GPU and RAM the joke is on you.

Amathe

I used to be a car stereo nut. I spent a fortune on whatever was the latest cassette deck (don't laugh, it was long ago) and speakers. Something new would come out, and I had to have it. 

Of course, the car came with a stereo. I never needed to spend a dime. But I wanted what was best.

People care about details when it comes to hobbies. And it's a free country so you are allowed to do that.

No reason to hate.

emperorhades1

Hmm. And my keyboard still works faster than my fingers for under 50$. I understand the satisfaction of doing a home project, but you made a simple keyboard. Custom would have been stainless steel with flames hand embossed with a grinder or for 800$ having Bill Gates sign it with his last bowel movement. This is asinine.

GameByNight

emperorhades1 said:

Hmm. And my keyboard still works faster than my fingers for under 50$. I understand the satisfaction of doing a home project, but you made a simple keyboard. Custom would have been stainless steel with flames hand embossed with a grinder or for 800$ having Bill Gates sign it with his last bowel movement. This is asinine.

Gross.

MightyUnclean

Aori said:

It's your money, so do what you want. I just think writing an article about such an expensive hobby during the current times is going to draw more ire than usual. Bit bad taste considering.

You do have a point.  30 million Americans have filed for unemployment, and people are happy in their own little worlds building $1,000 keyboards.  Of course, I'm typing this on a $2K PC, so I guess it's all relative.

GameByNight

Aori said:

It's your money, so do what you want. I just think writing an article about such an expensive hobby during the current times is going to draw more ire than usual. Bit bad taste considering.

I hadn't even considered that, but you do have a point. Thanks for raising that. It certainly wasn't my intention.

MightyUnclean

GameByNight said:

Aori said:

It's your money, so do what you want. I just think writing an article about such an expensive hobby during the current times is going to draw more ire than usual. Bit bad taste considering.

I hadn't even considered that, but you do have a point. Thanks for raising that. It certainly wasn't my intention.

Eh, it's OK man, we know it wasn't your intent.  Just unfortunate timing.

Jamar870

The cost aside, how long do you expect to use this keyboard?

GameByNight

Jamar870 said:

The cost aside, how long do you expect to use this keyboard?

This will be my daily driver for the foreseeable future. I would feel profoundly guilty if I did anything less.

seraphis79

You're taking too much shit for this article. If someone doesn't feel the price doesn't match the product they don't need to buy one. They don't even need to read the article if it doesn't interest them.

I had no idea custom built mechanical keyboards were even a thing. I wouldn't pay over $250.00 for a keyboard personally, but it was still interesting to check out their sites.

My "silent" mechanical keyboard is nice, but it sure isn't silent and is a pain in the ass when I have to constantly mute my phone during meetings because of the sound of the clicking. I'd love a mechanical keyboard as quiet as a traditional keyboard or even my Surface Book 2's keyboard.

zerocount

achesoma said:

Is this the new $1k HDMI cables? 

I have some 1k HDMI cables for you, paypal the cash and I will send, postage free!

Panther2103

Plenty of people spend this much on keyboards, I personally haven't but I have been on the subreddits of people who do and it's always been interesting to see. Like any hobby you can take it as far as you want (hell I have friends who have upwards of 5 thousand dollars into Warhammer armies)

Very cool write up.

Samhael

That's a lot for the keyboard -- but you've now explained a bit more behind it and that's cool. I get where you're coming from. I definitely overspend for PC components but I'm pretty rough on keyboards and go through about one a year. (not even counting how quickly my fingers remove the letters... it's been a very long time since ASDF lasted more than a few months!) However, I wouldn't even look at a keyboard unless it's a 110. I do way too much numeric entry to skip the number pad.

superhealysorcer

Not something I would ever do myself but very interesting article and to know about how in depth people get with building their own keyboard.