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Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard

by Matthew Perry
09/22/2006

Let me open up this article by bluntly stating that I'm a bit of a Logitech fanboy. Now, this isn't some senseless fanboydom, it's because I've been using Logitech products since my dad got a PS2 Logitech Mouse that had three buttons, and I schooled everyone in Quake II DM with it. Since then I've moved onto bigger and better toys... currently I've got a Logitech MX1000 Cordless Laser Mouse, a set of 500w 5.1 Logitech Z-680 Surround Sound Speakers, and most recently, the subject of this article, the Logitech G15 Gamer's Keyboard. Like many other high-end keyboards, this baby is backlit for gaming in the wee morning hours, but the G15 has something that no one else can offer - an attached LCD screen that you can configure out the wazoo, and three clusters of six G-Keys, configurable side keys that can fall into three separate M arrays, giving you 6 * 3 = 18 * 3 = 54 different configurable macros for... any application you want. Now I'm sure I sound pretty excited about this, so read on for the rest of my thoughts on this beast of a keyboard.

Pricing:

First off, I'll tell you about the price of the G15. It retails for around $100, but if you use our Amazon Link above, you can get it for a smooth $70 and some change. This does seem like a good bit of dough, and I'll flat out tell you that if you're not going to be using the G15 for what it was made for, it's probably not worth the money. But if you're h4rdc0r3, then you're looking at the keyboard of your dreams.

Features:

The first thing you'll notice about the G15 is that it incorporates one of the more popular features in gamer's keyboards nowadays; back lit keys. Each and every key on the board has a slight bluish glow shining through the letter, great for gaming with the lights off or typing up a paper when you realize that it's due in three hours and your roommate is dozing. (Side Note: Who sleeps? C'mon. Seriously.) The brightness of the keys can be toggled at three levels, off, dim, and bright. I usually keep them on dim unless it's late and I'm trying to save a bit on my electric bill. With the lights totally off, the keys can be a bit hard to see, mostly because the letters are all translucent, but considering the long life of LEDs, it's not like having the lights on all the time is going to kill the board anytime within the next hundred years.

The other main selling point of the G15 is the adjustable tilt LCD screen. While this seems like nothing more than a gimmick to justify the hefty price tag, it's a really cool tool. The out-of-the-box support is only for a few games, but a lot of developers have been adding in compatibility with the screen. Unreal Tournament 2004 displays your ammo stats, which isn't all that special, but the LCD really shines (pun intended) in games like WoW and Prey, where their is some truly unique functionality; in WoW, the keyboard keeps track of your current characters stats, from the durability of armor to the chance of scoring a critical strike, which is especially handy for me since my main character (Shinkath, on Zul'Jin) is a rogue. In Prey, the G15 throws up a sort of compass to show you the orientation of Tommy in the current environment, helping to eliminate a good deal of the confusion of the topsy-turvy alien environment you find yourself in. Outside of games that support the G15 specifically, the LCD can display a good deal of information with its out of the box apps, such as a clock, performance meter, media display, etc. Beyond that is the fact that with the right programs, which Google can pull up for you in a matter of milliseconds, you can design your own tools for the G15. You do need some programming experience for this, but it's not that hard to figure out the basics.

As far as the rest of the keyboard goes, it has your standard multimedia buttons, as well as the G keys, 18 keys, and three 'M' modes, toggled by a row of keys above the G-section (click the link above to get a better view - the are on the left side of the keyboard) that give you pretty much 54 possible macro keys. These can be individually programmed to do whatever you see fit, and you can create application-specific profiles. To give a specific example, I've got it set up on my keyboard so that if I launch WoW, I can use the keys to manage any of my inventory or any number of combos or text macros. In UT04, I have the G-Keys mapped to various console commands and team orders. In my compiler (Bloodshed C++) I have them mapped to various strings of code that I use a lot. Beyond that is the default profile, for when you're just browsing in Windows or using an application that has no specific profile, and I have those keys mapped to various functions from Alt-F4 to application launches. Overall, the G-Keys add a level of functionality and customization that few other keyboards can begin to think of.

Comfort:

To go over the general comfort of the keyboard, if you're not sold already, the keys are quiet but the springs have enough resistance to give a satisfactory feeling with each press. The included palm rest is rather small, and more of an aesthetic touch rather than something to give your wrists added ergonomic comfort, but it does a fine job as far as I'm concerned. The color scheme is pleasantly neutral, and while I wish there were more options for the LED color scheme (I've got a black-and-red scheme with my computer) I understand that the blue-LED is a good standard for visibility. Also, the layout of the Home, P. Down, Delete, etc keys is in the original QWERTY format, which I like more than the modern push for a more vertical layout for those keys.

Conclusion:

Overall, the G15 is a worthy purchase, if you've got the dough to drop on it. The macro buttons alone make it a sweet piece of hardware, but with the backlit keys and the LCD screen, this keyboard is a beast for all computer task masters. Best of all are the two USB slots in the back of the keyboard; while they don't provide enough power to operate a paper shredder, you can plug in thumb drives, cameras, or anything else that's a low power consumer to the hub. Aside from the fact that the keys are hard to see without any backlighting and that the palm rest seems like it was a last minute 'looks cool' addition, I give the Logitech G-15 a big, nerdy stamp of approval, and a score of...

Overall Score: 9 / 10

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