This Homemade Raspberry Pi Laptop Features a Mechanical Keyboard

Raspberry Pi makes, without a doubt, the most popular single-board computers (SBCs) on the market. For about $35 you can purchase a capable computer that fits in the palm of your hand. But as with any other computer, you’ll need a few peripherals to actually use it (unless you’re planning on running it headless). At the very least, you need a keyboard and a monitor. Those can add a lot of bulk to your tiny Raspberry Pi computer, but Imgurian sghf managed to cram everything into a homemade laptop that even features a mechanical keyboard.

All of the components for this laptop are housed within a jatoba wood enclosure that sghf built themselves, and then finished with Danish oil. A brass latch on the front of the enclosure keeps the laptop closed when it’s not in use. Some particle board panels on the inside of the enclosure hide the electronics and keep everything tidy. When closed, the enclosure resembles a nice backgammon case, but opening it up reveals the power within.

The laptop is built around a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B, which provides plenty of horsepower for basic computing tasks. That’s paired with a 7” Raspberry Pi touchscreen LCD, which sghf chose because it was the largest display available that didn’t require a separate driver board or additional power. That power comes from a set of four Samsung 25R 18650 lithium-ion battery cells. Each of those stores 2,500mAh, so this laptop has a total of 10,000mAh. That is delivered through an Adafruit Powerboost 1000C module, which also handles recharging. Best of all, the laptop has a mechanical keyboard built with a Magicforce 68% board, Gateron Red switches, and double-shot HyperX pudding keycaps. That surely provides a better typing experience than the vast majority of laptops on the market.