Hardware Logitech G19 Review

[Tim S]

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/per...h-g19-review/1

The G19 is the successor to the excellent G15 gaming keyboard and boasts a full-colour LCD screen, a new media key layout and a bunch of new LCD applications. Is it honestly worth the £110 price tag though, or is it all just a bit of a gimmick? We put the G19 through its paces and find out.

[yakyb]

i just started using the macro keys on my G11 last week they are a big help at times

i would love macro keys on a Unicomp keyboard however that is very unlikely to happen (if it did however i would pay £300 for it )

[crompers]

just too expensive, they've priced themselves out of the buying for gimmicks market this would appeal to. surely a touchscreen for this money?

[Jozo]

I have a G15 and the display and all is very useful ( I can see my FPS graph, CPU usage, chat on MSN and much more)

But I have a feeling they maybe overdid it with the color display.
Also why is that "gaming" slider/button made like that?
They made two keyboards where it was simple and now it's a key sized box that slides. I wonder how many people will manage to accidentally break it.

[Vode]

With the latest software version at least the G15 comes with a RSS reader too, pretty simple but gives me something to page through during load screens and has a open in browser option to see the full page not just the RSS summary etc.

I reckon I get enough usage out of my G15 LCD, but don't see any advantages to the larger and more expensive colour LCD for keyboard purposes... Why spend so much on the G19 when you could save some money and get a G15 instead, I just don't see much advantage over it's littler brother.

[mjm25]

And again... have they fixed the BSODS that used to occur when booting and shutting down with the software?

did you have any problems with that Joe? it was specific to Vista SP1 but its a bit of a gamble to spend over a hundred quid to find it does the same on Windows 7... what operating system were you using it on?

[DragunovHUN]

I still don't get why they dropped a third of the macro keys for the G15 revision.

[Rkiver]

BSODs? Haven't ever had one. I've got the G19 and personally I love it. No issues, the screen is wonderful and can be used to play my music playlists from youtube when gaming without exiting out of a game.

Sure it's pricey, but I still have my original G15 also, and it was expensive also. But you are paying for the quality. I for one am happy to spend it. Also no issues on Windows XP, Vista, or 7.

[Jipa]

I have a G15 rev2, and am liking this. I like the general touch more than, say flat keyboards in general, or the Razer Tarantula (from which I swapped to this, actually). Anyway I have absolutely no clue why I, or anyone else, would want to pay for the color screen? I'd much rather have a larger B&W-screen than a puny color screen with boxy aspect ratio. After all, most of the uses I've come up with include text, graphs, or both, and in those uses it's the length of the screen that counts.

[B1GBUD]

Pah!!

This IS the only keyboard to have!! though I've not seen it on sale anywhere yet.

http://www.artlebedev.com/everything/optimus/

[DragunovHUN]

Originally Posted by B1GBUD

Pah!!

This IS the only keyboard to have!! though I've not seen it on sale anywhere yet.

http://www.artlebedev.com/everything/optimus/

Check the Q&A section, it's available from them for the low price of 1700 USD or 1260 EUR

[So3oL4Nu]

Logitech got some good KB, but this KB is to much for me....200$ is to much...i got a Logitech G15 Rev 1 for about 2-3 years...

[lewchenko]

I have the original 'blue lit' G15 version, and love the display... it has an earthy 8bit feel to it, but is immensely useful - I run CoreTemp, which shows the temps on each CPU core on the screen, and some other system utils to show CPU speed & utilisation %, plus network bandwidths up/down going via the network cards. Showing FPS data via fraps is also useful..

so the LCD screen was really useful , and worth the money for that reason alone. I have not really used to macro keys .

I do not rate the actual keyboard itself though. The keys are slightly too small for my liking, and having since bought an iMac for general purpose use, I much prefer flat 'chicklet' keyboards now. I also found the build quality of the screen controls to be sub par, but it looks like they have improved matters in this version.

Would I upgrade to it....? Afraid not. My ultimate keyboard would be a flat chicklet keyboard with an LCD screen that has a simple plug/play language/ builder that would allow me to add 'widgets' to it easily and configure how they should be displayed - a monochrome , but bigger screen would be fine... like on those old programmable calculators.

The price is also not reasonable for the G19, and price isnt something I would normally worry about if the item itself does EXACTLY what I want. This doesnt. Biggest disappointment in the review was when you said 'the keyboard feels exactly the same'..... sale lost !

[M7ck]

I have the G15 v2 and absolutely adore it. I could see me treating myself to the G19 and retireing the G15 to the bedroom. However I would like to see one in the flesh and if it feels as solid as my G15 I will without a doubt buy one.

[The_EXorcist]

well, im sticking with my G15v1, love my LCD screen on it, coretemp and fraps always running, the "G" keys are invaluable and get use in all my games, and when im just in windows, havnt had to use my mouse at all to get to my movies\games\music\TV show folders in years, but, the G19... just too damn expensive, far too much for nothing really new

[B1GBUD]

Originally Posted by DragunovHUN

Check the Q&A section, it's available from them for the low price of 1700 USD or 1260 EUR

Oh bargain!!! I'll have two then please!

[DriftCarl]

I have the blue lit original G15 and have had it for years, it is still fantastic, I use it for hours every day.
I guess my main use for it is seeing who is talking on vent during our WoW raids, I find it comforting knowing who is talking. I havn't updates the software for a while and forgot about it so I guess I will see whats new since the last year or so
as for the G19, well I dont really like it that much, they have changed some nice parts of the keyboard, I like the G15 flush media buttons, and i like my 18 G-keys too. The G15 build quality is so good that I cannot justify buying the G19, as my G15 still works just as it did when it was new.

[rainbowbridge]

Wow what a terrible terrible review, were to start.

I purchased my G19 some two weeks ago and have nothing but joy using it, it is beautyfull.

You are TOTALLY incorrect regarding the scroll wheel.

I am a computer engineer for over a decade and I know build issues and that roller is SOILD, there is no give in the body either downwards or side to side, It responds perfectly when using for audio control when in a movie, how perfect that I can reach down and adjust the audio like that, I appericate small functional features like that, that just work when needed.

You have completely missed one of the most interesting and beautyfull aspects of this keyboard, which I am writing on now, it has a gorgeous responce in feel, ever so slightly soft when first depressed but yet responsive and rewarding.

The aspect you have totally missed that needed an illustrated was that all keys can be assiged bright warm colours, such as RED, GREEN or BLUE, or any other colour you can mix from a photoshop type mixer (sliders).

All electric features,lights/pannel can be swiftly turned off with one press of the sun icon power button which is just to the right of the main screen.



Since we are being open about your review Ill be honest and say I was expecting the screen and onboard technology to handle a you tube video on my slow 2Ghz box which fails to mulitask well, I thought it was the perfect test, load a you tube video and use my computer but no there is not real processing power or I expect memory on board the keyboard.

Inspecting the list of games the keyboard supports shows Crysis and falcon 4 but were is FSX? where is ARMA or ARMA 2 or any other host of great games that could use the colour pannel, is that not the perfect rear view mirror?

No lets be honest its a wounderfull keyboard except for two things.

1-The price is totally outragious but building a beautyfull gaming workstation area is not cheap,

2-The pannel is there for a reason, a big wounderfull eye and brain catching amazing totally must have reason, and you know what that reason is.... no nor do I, logitech needed to have put as much thought into the use of the pannel as they have heart and passion in their up coming g940.


Since I have defended the G19 a ways let me ask some questions.

-Why can't the G19 user define which you tube video he wishes to watch?
-Why is the price so high?
-Why is the price so high yet there is no touch screen?
-Since the price is so high and the uptake is so low? Will this endanger future gamer pannel development?
-What is the future of the G19 in regards to new games.

Will games support it which logitech fund or is it a case of game devs whating to use the features of the G19?


I think the G19 could be a real benifit to gamers and computer enthusiasts, I would recommend adding it to your desk but I think there is a leap of faith for us that the screen is going to come alive with some kind of killer apps?



Were is the gamer pannel killer apps and for such games as it does support were is the online flash videos illustrating just how wounderfull and helpfull the G19 is for gaming or even general work/web use.

Sell the keyboard guys, sell it... lets go pump the units out and modernize gaming and technology.


Go and take a look at Razors wounderfull web site for some presentations ideas.

Finally, I am glad I purchased it and if you do want your room to have that extra bit in life, get the keyboard for all its sins, its plush soild warm with high feature celing going forwrad or as girls say LUSH.

Buy the G19.

[Neil McLachlan]

Just wanted to point out a little error at the start of the review. You say that there used to be 18 programmable keys, but now there is only 12.

In fact, the original G15 (the grey one) had 18 keys, and 3 M buttons to switch profiles for a max of 54 unique macros.
The refresh G15 (the orange one) only had 6 keys, a single column, and with the 3 M buttons you had 18 possible macros.

The new G19 is in between, having 12 keys and 3 M buttons for 36 possible macros.

Anyway, I noticed the G19 recently and as my G15 is extremely ratty (5 keys are missing and another 4 are melted/broken) I was seriously looking at it, but then I remembered how many times I had really used the G15's LCD, which was zero. Seriously, it's just too small to be able to focus on and read during any kind of action game. And if you are playing something that's not time-critical, then you can probably just tab-out to the desktop and look up whatever anyway.

I think the LCD needs to be detachable, and able to clipped onto the bottom of your monitor frame, to be any use. I would probably buy one if they did that.

Also, to the guy getting wet over the optimus keyboard, don't waste your time. They are a terrible keyboard to type on, I haven't read a single review where they actually liked it.

[thehippoz]

the build quality? I'd expect this keyboard to be perfect for that kind of cash.. shame a color lcd would be sweet without the few issues.. maybe you could super glue the casing around the plug- bah that's weak though for that kind of money