Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard

[Covak]

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/details/CA/EN,CRID=2166,CONTENTID=10717

 

I picked one up yesterday and I'm liking it so far. I haven't played a single game with it yet, though, so I'll post again later.

 

At first I was a bit disappointed with the feel of the keys. I guess I was hoping for something amazing. But after a day of typing with this thing I think it's the best-feeling keyboard I've ever owned (not that I've ever owned a fancy one before). I just had to adjust from my last keyboard (which was some old Logitech multimedia one that I was never too thrilled with).

 

The "Programmable G keys" are what I was most interested in, and they're great. They're configuration makes them so easy to use without looking (like using a numpad), and it seems way easier to slide the left hand over there and press whatever G key I want rather than reaching over to the right for some number or F key. When playing WoW I had my 5 configurable mouse buttons setup for 20 different things (with SHIFT, CTRL, and ALT modifiers). If that sounds like something you'd do, you might like the G keys too

 

And then there's the LCD. Before I got this thing I was thinking "Oh good, you can just flip the LCD down and never use it." But now I've got my clock on there, bandwidth monitors, CPU/RAM usage, the date, and the FRAPS framerate, all on one screen, with room to spare (I've been meaning to add weather forcasts). Pretty nifty. I'm not sure if I'll really use it in the long run, but I'm giving it a go. The keyboard comes with the SDK to develop programs for the LCD (and I think it's available online now), which even includes a full emulator for development wihout the keyboard. Can't complain about support like that. People are already doing plenty with it over at g15mods.com. There are 4 buttons under the screen, too, which the currently running program can use for whatever. And it's a shared resource, so you can have multiple LCD apps running and switch between them, and even allow for other programs to cut in with alerts and such. I suppose with a good dual screen setup the LCD could seem completely useless, but even then I think I might prefer keeping the clock and performance monitors on it.

 

The backlighting is pretty. Nice, uniform blue glow, and I think it makes the keyboard look pretty damn cool. And there's a button to toggle it on/off (which also toggles the LCD backlight), so if you like gaming in the dark without annoying little lights around (as I do), no problem. When they say "Three brightness levels, for playing in darkened rooms." they're pretty much lieing. There's off, low, and high. If high is 100% brightness then low is 99%. The LCD looks a tiny bit brighter, but it's not enough to make any practical difference at all. It's really just annoying that there's that extra mode to cycle through with the button. You can control the LCD brightness seperately via software, too, though the brightness button on the keyboard overrides that, so it's not much use if you want to toggle the backlight often.

 

There's also a funky little switch to disable the windows key. If you've ever accidentally hit that key while gaming, you know why that's there. It's not like I did that often, but I never used the windows key, either, so I don't mind the feature. Another thing that I thought I didn't care about.

 

I've heard there were "gamers" involved with the design of this keyboard. I simply ignored that as marketing BS when I read it, but now that I'm using the keyboard I actually believe it.

 

Between the Z-5500 speakers, the MX-518 "Gaming-Grade" mouse, and now this G15 Gaming keyboard, I'm loving Logitech these days.

[Thro]

But now I've got my clock on there, bandwidth monitors, CPU/RAM usage, the date, and the FRAPS framerate, all on one screen, with room to spare (I've been meaning to add weather forcasts)

 

Can you post a link to the mod you have that shows all this stuff. I just have the default software, and havent seen anything worthwhile on G15Mods.com.

 

I have had G15 for a few weeks and really like it. The keys feel great, they are somewhat low-profile, which is good. I hated how much throw there was on the spacebar, in particular, on my previous MS keyboards. The G15's spacebar is much nicer.

 

 

 

Jeff

[Orpheus]

Thanks for the reviews. I need a replacement for my aging MS keyboard and I've been debating between this and the Wolf Claw II. The G15 see,s much more practical, as long as I can readjust to not having a split keyboard again.

 

I once swore I would never buy a Logitech product again back around the time of Windows 3.1, they sure have come a long way and I certainly have a lot of their product in my house.

[Covak]

Can you post a link to the mod you have that shows all this stuff. I just have the default software, and havent seen anything worthwhile on G15Mods.com.

 

http://www.g15mods.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=94

 

It's LCDStudio with a pluging for G15 support. A few posts down there are instructions for setting it all up.

 

It's totally like Samurize, only for LCDs like the G15's. I just wish it was as light on resources as Samurize. I'll leave my little Samurize config running 24/7, because it only uses a few megs of RAM and a second of CPU time in 24 hours. You can do things to make Samurize run faster, too (make the config small, lower the update frequence, change the priority, etc). No nice options like that with LCDStudio, and it's gobbling 45 megs of RAM (for what, I have no idea!) and has logged 42 seconds of CPU use in a couple of hours. I'm hoping we see a Samurize plugin for G15 support soon (might write it myself, if I ever have time)...

[GreenMonkey]

I've got the backlit Saitek eclipse. I couldn't go back to an unlighted keyboard, not for my home PC. I personally prefer the lights out for gaming.

 

The G15 looks nice. I don't think I'd use the LCD enough to make the G15 useful, but who knows.

[Covak]

The G15 looks nice. I don't think I'd use the LCD enough to make the G15 useful, but who knows.

 

I'm keeping the LCD closed a lot lately. One annoying detail: you can't turn it off (and shut down the process that runs on your PC for it). I tried just killing the process, but then after leaving my computer alone for many hours (while at work or sleeping) it wouldn't come out of the screensaver :/

 

It's not like that process does much of anything when you've got no LCD programs running, and it only takes a couple megs of RAM, but still, I'm bugging Logitech for an option to disable it.

[Darius]

I'm looking for a new keyboard. I was thinking about getting something like this . I have never found a keyboard I liked as well as the old Keytronic one I had probably 10 years ago. It just seems that you can't get a decent keyboard anymore.