March has been a weird month, but it's about to get weirder. Razer, a company known for its gaming accessories, will be shifting production from gaming mice and headphones, to surgical masks. The CEO of the company took to Facebook to announce a new initiative that will see Razer step up to help produce masks during the shortage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Each region that Razer has offices in will receive a donation of surgical masks, with Singapore (Razer's HQ) receiving the first shipment. This will be, according to the CEO, the first step of many that Razer will be taking to help, with plans to donate 1 million masks to various countries in need.

So I haven’t had much sleep over the past couple of days to get this initiative up and running, but I’m happy to be able to announce this on behalf of the team here at Razer

With the worsening of the COVID-19 situation, health authorities worldwide are facing an extreme shortage of surgical masks used by the frontline healthcare staff in the battle against the virus. Some countries have even banned the export of masks in face of the dire shortage.

While there has been incredible demand for our products during this time with many staying home to avoid the crowds (and to play games), the team at Razer understands that all of us have a part to play in fighting the virus – no matter which industry we come from.

Over the past few days, our designers and engineers have been working 24-hour shifts to convert some of our existing manufacturing lines to produce surgical masks so that we can donate them to countries around the world.

We intend to donate up to 1M masks to the health authorities of different countries globally. For starters, we’ve been in touch with the authorities in Singapore (where Razer SEA HQ is based) to donate some of the initial shipments to assist their fight against COVID-19.

The rest of our Razer global/regional offices will also be reaching out to their respective governments/health authorities to see how we can prioritize our support and donations of surgical masks in the various countries and regions where we have a presence.

All of us have a part to play and we should be doing whatever we can with the situation getting more serious. Please keep yourself and your family safe – and do lets support each other in these trying times. The team at Razer is stepping up to do what we can.

This emergency conversion of some of our lines and donation of masks is the first step of many that Razer will take. We are committed to contributing our extra time, resources, effort and talent toward the fight against COVID-19.

If you’d like to get involved with our fight against the virus, please follow the Razer social media channels. If you’re a corporate or an individual who just wants to help– do reach out to us. We need all the help we can.

#razerforlife #covid_19 #forgamersbygamers #razermask

tl;dr:

We've converted some of our manufacturing lines to making surgical masks and will be donating up to 1M to health authorities worldwide.

Source

 

[Foxi4]

Sick, RGB rave masks, where do I pre-order?

 

[Leen]

Interesting Idea

 

[gamesquest1]

cool, always though doctors needed more RGB lighting and cooler designs

Spoiler

 

[Bladexdsl]

masks with color changing led that you can sync to your computers neons!

 

[FAST6191]

Sick, RGB rave masks, where do I pre-order?

If you got one of those and turned up at a rave it would be like turning up... [thinks of an analogy that would resonate with the average gbatemp member]
To a furry convention with some animal ear headbands and a tail belt. Which is to say more than walking in off the street* but hardly taking it seriously.

Granted looking at the likes of

it would probably be the safest place around.


*let us not talk about the pirate rave I went to once in a Halloween mummy themed tshirt and jeans thinking it was just a piss up in the woods.

 

[Viri]

Hopefully the quality of the masks aren't as bad as the quality of their gaming products.

All jokes aside, this is pretty great, though. People need masks, and they're donating them. Good on Razer.

If I buy one, will my Razer Synapse tool nag me every week about a driver update for the mask?

 

[Deleted User]

Nice. Razer has plenty of experience manufacturing disposable, single-use products.

 

[Dr.Hacknik]

Hopefully the quality of the masks aren't as bad as the quality of their gaming products.

All jokes aside, this is pretty great, though. People need masks, and they're donating them. Good on Razer.

Why does everyone say Razer is trash? I don't get it. I've used Razer keyboards and mice for years and they've been fantastic. Eh, guess it's just subjective.

 

[Foxi4]

Why does everyone say Razer is trash? I don't get it. I've used Razer keyboards and mice for years and they've been fantastic. Eh, guess it's just subjective.

They're very flashy and "gamery", but it's one of those cases where you're paying a premium for the brand, not for the materials. Any keyboard with original MX switches will eat a Razer with its proprietary switches for breakfast. Although I will admit, their 5G mouse sensor is pretty good, the rest of the build... eh. Subjective, I suppose.

 

[codezer0]

Why does everyone say Razer is trash? I don't get it. I've used Razer keyboards and mice for years and they've been fantastic. Eh, guess it's just subjective.

their warranty support is great, so I can't fault them there. but the build quality of their products, especially for the asking price, is horrendous.

 

[Ericthegreat]

Do they come with the razer logo?
Nice to see how companies are stepping up to help out.

Yea if they do, it would be an awesome collectable.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

their warranty support is great, so I can't fault them there. but the build quality of their products, especially for the asking price, is horrendous.

What device has bad build quality? They seem pretty good to me as far as PC accessories go.

 

[codezer0]

Yea if they do, it would be an awesome collectable.

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What device has bad build quality? They seem pretty good to me as far as PC accessories go.

I went through about four sets of mice in less than two years because they all developed either one of two issues: either the switch on the primary button stuck so everything was treated as a double click, or it would flat out refuse to work on any usb port of the pc in question after one of their forced synapse software updates.

 

[FAST6191]

All the ones I have had a look at are better than most modern OEM (old school OEM often had nice things -- most things you will have read from me for years now have been done on a Acer mechanical ps/2 keyboard, and IBM's are some of the gold standard here), TRUST and Belkin rubbish. However price wise they are a far cry from professional tools (which they share a price and volume with) and some of their competition. Granted I don't necessarily expect nice glass fibre reinforced plastics as I don't tend to chuck my mouse off a ladder but I would expect something for $100+
Instead fancy shapes with LEDs and bad software seems to be the order of the day. Competition wise I would probably place them in line with the likes of Tecknet which are delightful (£10 gaming mouse with all the buttons and all the fun? Yes please).

 

[Haloman800]

Don't trust government officials saying "masks are useless for you simpletons, but are absolutely essential for healthcare professionals". I'm not going into high risk areas without one.

 

[FAST6191]

Don't trust government officials saying "masks are useless for you simpletons, but are absolutely essential for healthcare professionals". I'm not going into high risk areas without one.

Assuming you are not going to get a big boy mask with proper filtration then if you want a placebo then so be it. Someone aerosolising little virus particles (coughs and sneezes and all that) is going to go through gaps in paper like nobody's business. Little experiment if you want -- get a smoky candle and hold one above it, far enough away that it does not catch or mar, and watch all those nice visible smoke particles go through it.... what do you think is going to happen to virus particles that are far far far smaller than that floating about on the wind?
The masks are mostly so medics don't drip whatever they are already carrying, or when they almost inevitably get infected then that, into patients. If medics don't want to get infected they have nice rebreather suits, serious filtration and other PPE gear that they would be in. If someone hocks a loogie onto you and it lands on the thing then if you got rid of it immediately and washed accordingly it might do some good, but probably not much.
If you get it, or something else that sees you coughing and sneezing, then it will also help you not spread it about as much which is about when non medic/related fields would care for such things.

 

[Haloman800]

Assuming you are not going to get a big boy mask with proper filtration then if you want a placebo then so be it. Someone aerosolising little virus particles (coughs and sneezes and all that) is going to go through gaps in paper like nobody's business. Little experiment if you want -- get a smoky candle and hold one above it, far enough away that it does not catch or mar, and watch all those nice visible smoke particles go through it.... what do you think is going to happen to virus particles that are far far far smaller than that floating about on the wind?
The masks are mostly so medics don't drip whatever they are already carrying, or when they almost inevitably get infected then that, into patients. If medics don't want to get infected they have nice rebreather suits, serious filtration and other PPE gear that they would be in. If someone hocks a loogie onto you and it lands on the thing then if you got rid of it immediately and washed accordingly it might do some good, but probably not much.
If you get it, or something else that sees you coughing and sneezing, then it will also help you not spread it about as much which is about when non medic/related fields would care for such things.

"the particles are small enough to pass into the mask you're wearing, so don't wear one, but they'll stop particles from leaving the mask if you're sick, so wear one" got it.

Also, you fail to take into account the face touching, which is a huge way people contract it. Ie they touch a contaminated surface, then their nose/lips and get it. The mask prohibits this, as the wearer is more likely to wash their hands before removing it.

 

[FAST6191]

"the particles are small enough to pass into the mask you're wearing, so don't wear one, but they'll stop particles from leaving the mask if you're sick, so wear one" got it.

Also, you fail to take into account the face touching, which is a huge way people contract it. Ie they touch a contaminated surface, then their nose/lips and get it. The mask prohibits this, as the wearer is more likely to wash their hands before removing it.

There is a massive difference between aerosolised particles and dripping because you have a snotty cold and humans are generally disgusting (talking over an open wound and all that does a nice line in spittle into it).

I suppose I did fail to account for face touching in normal people -- spent enough time inside engines, oily machines and on building sites that I don't do it any more outside of when it is safe. That said are we still going with the face touching approach? Some that could question it did indeed question it.

If you want to get a real mask, and wear it properly, then that is a different discussion entirely.

 

[Haloman800]

Thr

There is a massive difference between aerosolised particles and dripping because you have a snotty cold and humans are generally disgusting (talking over an open wound and all that does a nice line in spittle into it).

I suppose I did fail to account for face touching in normal people -- spent enough time inside engines, oily machines and on building sites that I don't do it any more outside of when it is safe. That said are we still going with the face touching approach? Some that could question it did indeed question it.

If you want to get a real mask, and wear it properly, then that is a different discussion entirely.

I'm glad we agree it prevents face touching (and therefore chance of infection).

The amount you're exposed to also matters. If you're exposed to a "low dose" of covid-19, your immune system will be able to fight it easier than if you're exposed to a "high dose" of it.

I'm totally fine with masks going primarily to medical providers, but to claim masks don't help the "average person" is dishonest & breeds distrust.

 

[FAST6191]

Thr

I'm glad we agree it prevents face touching (and therefore chance of infection).

The amount you're exposed to also matters. If you're exposed to a "low dose" of covid-19, your immune system will be able to fight it easier than if you're exposed to a "high dose" of it.

I'm totally fine with masks going primarily to medical providers, but to claim masks don't help the "average person" is dishonest & breeds distrust.

I am actually not convinced face touching is a problem, and if it was then again there are far better ways of doing things here than a bit of fabric.

Amount wise when coupled with mode of exposure then sure. Still not going to do much for you.

Join the people being needlessly paranoid if you want, however do it properly if you are going to -- get a proper mask of suitable rating, learn to wear it properly (may have to lose any facial hair as well and otherwise ensure a good seal). Or you can be like the guy I saw wearing a nice grass cutting/machinist mask that is great when little bits of metal and plastic are flying around but you tip your head back and I can probably get both clenched fists in the hole.
Fortunately all the morons panic buying things around here don't have a clue and I can still get stuff that would actually be useful if this was going to be more than the sniffles is slightly more potent this year. Hopefully it is the same for you.

Or we can go another -- why would you seek a mask when you can spin a few loops of a scarf around you (which is going to block off much more than a )? Or use some cotton/paper if you think such things have some kind of serious negation. If pure disposability is their only perk..

I would however +1 the "masks don't help the average person" -- they are great if you are medic seeking not to spit and snot in an open wound of a patient, or if you are assuming you will get infected but still have to treat people then limits yours from getting about as much. If medics want to prevent infection or bodily fluids from getting on them then the equipment looks vastly different.
I think my favourite phrase I heard about these sort of masks is they help in the same way a thong helps prevent a woman's arse from being looked at, which is to say barely.

 

[USUKDecks]

WOW this is a great story! Well done Razer!