freegoo's Full Review: Logitech G15 (920-000379) Keyboard
Gaming keyboards are nothing new, IdeaZon set things up nicely back in '03 with the ingenious ZBoard keyboard. The ZBoard featured removable keysets that allowed you to switch key layouts per game. The key sets worked real well for first person shooters as the up/down buttons were more comfortable to use for extended periods. Unfortunately, changing keysets was a major PITA for me, and individual keysets were overpriced and rarely distinguishable from another game (did having a Doom3 keyset AND a Half Life 2 key set offer any real advantage? No, in fact the generic FPS key set that came with the ZBoard was usually good enough.) Worse the keysets offered for online RPG's such as Everquest 2 and World of Warcraft were poorly done and offered NO advantage.
But enough about the ZBoard (which btw, mine finally broke from too many swaps - try typing without a 'T' sometime - now I know what Paul Sheldon from Misery went through!). The G15 takes a different approach to the gaming keyboard concept, and it's pretty cool. The G15 makes its mark with 3 distinctive features: 18 Macro keys (which can be rotated to up to 54 different functions), LCD screen for various game stats or miscellaneous, and a backlit keyboard. Not bad for Logitech's first forray into gaming keyboards.
The keyboard itself feels very solid with the exception of the cheap wrist pad. Visually I find it stunning, the backlit keys give it real cool look and the design is professional looking. The layout is outstanding, macro keys to the left with media controls on top with the screen. Typing on the keyboard is pretty quiet in comparison to my last couple keyboards. It's pretty comfortable, but I would prefer the back tilt lift to be slightly higher giving a little more angle when typing. Basically, as a keyboard it does very well - but then again so does a $10 Wal-Mart special. That's not a knock against this keyboard... but if a "Gaming Keyboard" doesn't function well as a standard keyboard then the rest of the stuff just doesn't matter.
The G15 justifies it's high price when you start to look at the extra game functions. Two USB ports are on the back of the keyboard, which is nice... but there's so much room on the back why not include a couple more? Also they are unpowered 1.1 instead of 2.0 which is a little lame. The LCD is a very interesting concept. It's very easy to read, even in a bright room and just a quick glance. The software allows for plugins to be added and removed, and the default stuff is pretty fun. Supported media players will show the songs title, length, and other stuff. When your computer isn't doing anything it will show you the time and date or switch to CPU and memory usage when something happens there. There's huge potential with the screen with games, but so far it doesn't look like any games are using it. This is something we will just have to wait and see what game developers do with. Meanwhile Logitech has a developer page setup for designing plugins, so regardless there should be some neat things coming for the LCD in the future. Gimick or not? Time will tell. There is one HUGE GAPING flaw with the LCD on my keyboard though, when coming out of sleep mode the LCD will sometimes light up to a blank screen and fail to function until I reboot. I've emailed technical support and after having me try different USB ports they offered to do a RMA on it. So far I am going to wait and see if a future software update fixes the problem rather than shell out money for shipping and go without a keyboard for a few weeks.
The G-keys are a first of their kind as far as I know. (Software may exist for default Windows keyboards, but this is the first time a section of the keyboard has been dedicated to that function to my knowledge. I was skeptical of Logitechs macro claims, as I was suckered by Ideazon about the ZBoards macros - a claim they made regarding keysets which was a huge stretch since keys weren't very configurable. Fortunately with the G15 though Logitech has pretty robust software for the macro keys. A keyboard profiler runs in the Windows taskbar and allows you to configure the G keys per application. Even if the profiler doesn't recognize the game you can manually add the executable file and add keys, game functions, or even timed sequences to be performed when you press a key. This is real useful with EQ2 and WOW as you can set a key to target someone then cast heal. Or setup a key to cast a buff on the entire party. The software is real easy to use and configure, and if it recognizes the game may already have some useful macros setup for the game or functions available for you to use. Even outside of gaming the G15 is handy. Keys can be setup to launch applications when unrecognized programs are loaded. I have "My Computer" fire up when I press G1, the calculator with G2. Within Notepad pressing G11 will erase all text. There is a lot of power and flexibility given with Logitech's profiler software. Frankly this feature alone sold me on the keyboard, and Logitech hit this one out of the park.
All the other stuff... In my opinion Logitech could have stopped with the LCD and macro keys and had a very solid product. But they also have the backlit keys, game mode function, and media control built in. The backlit keys are very well done and offer 2 levels of brightness as well as being able to turn them off. There isn't much difference between the brightness levels, but they are definately bright enough even in a bright room. I wouldn't recommend turning the lights off as the keys are a little hard to read when unlit in my opinion. I can't compare the back lighting to Saitek's keyboard as I have never had the pleasure of using the Eclipse keyboard. The game mode (allows you to disable Windows keys) seems pretty minor, but if you have ever acidently hit a Windows key when playing a game you will definately appreciate the switch (assuming you remember to flip it!). Finally the media functions are well done, this shouldn't surprise anyone as media keys have become a bit of a staple for keyboards as of late. The volume dial though is elegant, and each key is clearly marked with a good layout.
There are some blemishes though. The LCD failing to work after coming back from a sleep state is rather annoying. I'm reinstalling Windows in a week though (getting new motherboard) and perhaps that will solve the problem (I'll update if it does). Also be prepared, the keyboard is HUGE. Make sure you have plenty of desk space available. On the flip side, they keyboard is rather light and I find it slides across my desk from time to time as I type. I have a metal desk though, so maybe that is contributing to it. Perhaps a minor quibble, but only a USB connector is provided. This could be a pain if your motherboard doesn't have USB keyboard support (or requires you to enable it) forcing you to dig up an old keyboard sitting around somewhere.
Whether or not this keyboard is for you probably depends on what type of game you play. Where the ZBoard was ideal for first person shooters, the G15 seems to favor RPG, strategy, or real-time strategy games. If you mainly play action games or first person shooters I'm not sure you will see much benefit with the G15 as the macro keys are a little out of the way for twitch style gaming. Perhaps the ZBoard or Saitek Eclipse might be more practical for you in this instance. If you're looking for powerful macro keys, a LCD screen, and backlit keys the G15 may be just what you are looking for.
UPDATE 12/20/2005
Well I upgraded my computer and reinstalled Windows. I'm glad to report that the problem with the LCD screen blanking out after the computer returned from sleep mode has been fixed. Must have been a software conflict somewhere. Also there is now an update on Logitech's website that deals with LCD blanking out issues so it's a good sign.
Still love the keyboard, and all the keys are still showing. Maybe the other reviewer got a bad keyboard or was just unlucky - or I'm just lucky or it's just not happened to me yet. :)
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