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Building my $800 RAMA Works Mechanical Keyboard

SystemSystem Member UncommonPosts: 12,599
edited April 2020 in News & Features Discussion

imageBuilding 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

Read the full story here


Comments

  • AmatheAmathe Member LegendaryPosts: 7,630
    This article is amazing. Clearly a labor of love.
    GameByNightJeroKane

    EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests

  • AmatheAmathe Member LegendaryPosts: 7,630
    $800... It's a fucking keyboard. What is wrong with you?
    The heart wants what it wants.

    EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests

  • GameByNightGameByNight Hardware and Technology EditorMMORPG.COM Staff, Member RarePosts: 793


    $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.
    MightyUncleanJeroKaneAmathe
  • SparkaSparka Member UncommonPosts: 52
    You can get a mechanical keyboard for 39.99 now.
  • MightyUncleanMightyUnclean Member EpicPosts: 3,531
    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.
    achesomaonelesslightSovrathmmolouSamhaelstrawhat0981[Deleted User]
  • achesomaachesoma Member RarePosts: 1,726
    Is this the new $1k HDMI cables? 
    Preaching Pantheon to People at PAX  PAX East 2018 Day 4 - YouTube
  • lahnmirlahnmir Member LegendaryPosts: 5,041
    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
    GameByNightTacticalZombehSovrath[Deleted User]Samhael
    'the only way he could nail it any better is if he used a cross.'

    Kyleran on yours sincerely 


    'But there are many. You can play them entirely solo, and even offline. Also, you are wrong by default.'

    Ikcin in response to yours sincerely debating whether or not single-player offline MMOs exist...



    'This does not apply just to ED but SC or any other game. What they will get is Rebirth/X4, likely prettier but equally underwhelming and pointless. 

    It is incredibly difficult to design some meaningfull leg content that would fit a space ship game - simply because it is not a leg game.

    It is just huge resource waste....'

    Gdemami absolutely not being an armchair developer

  • AvanahAvanah Member RarePosts: 1,615
    Unless it can make my Coffee, has a built in CPU,GPU and RAM the joke is on you.

    "My Fantasy is having two men at once...

    One Cooking and One Cleaning!"

    ---------------------------

    "A good man can make you feel sexy,

    strong and able to take on the whole world...

    oh sorry...that's wine...wine does that..."





  • AmatheAmathe Member LegendaryPosts: 7,630
    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.


    GameByNightBabuinixstrawhat0981

    EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests

  • emperorhades1emperorhades1 Member UncommonPosts: 310
    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.
  • GameByNightGameByNight Hardware and Technology EditorMMORPG.COM Staff, Member RarePosts: 793


    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.
  • MightyUncleanMightyUnclean Member EpicPosts: 3,531
    edited May 2020
    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.
  • GameByNightGameByNight Hardware and Technology EditorMMORPG.COM Staff, Member RarePosts: 793

    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.
    Samhael
  • MightyUncleanMightyUnclean Member EpicPosts: 3,531

    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.
  • Jamar870Jamar870 Member UncommonPosts: 570
    The cost aside, how long do you expect to use this keyboard?
  • GameByNightGameByNight Hardware and Technology EditorMMORPG.COM Staff, Member RarePosts: 793

    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.
  • seraphis79seraphis79 Member UncommonPosts: 312
    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.
  • zerocountzerocount Member UncommonPosts: 200

    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!
  • Panther2103Panther2103 Member EpicPosts: 5,766
    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.
  • SamhaelSamhael Member RarePosts: 1,498
    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.
  • superhealysorcersuperhealysorcer Member UncommonPosts: 9
    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.
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