| Logitech G15 vs. G19 Keyboard |
| Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R38V8VFSGQLGK2 The video I uploaded shows a quick unboxing and showing the G19 with the previous G15 keyboards, and the color LCD displaying some YouTube videos.
** Review Updated: 8/16/09 **
Short Review (if you don't want to read all that):
======================================================
I give it a 4 1/2 stars. The keys feel nice and mushy. The LCD is no doubt really awesome to have for any multi-tasking person. I feel the features on the video player/YouTube player is missing some basic options and that is why I'm not giving it a 5-star (although this could all change with new apps or updates). Overall, the keyboard is for any gadget lovers/video enthusiasts/YouTube fans -- not just gamers. The macro G-keys, as usual in previous keyboards, is also a powerful tool for anyone wanting to work more efficiently, and again, not just for gaming.
======================================================
[2005 model] G15 v1 (Blue LED) has 18 G-Keys x 3 modes = 54 programmable.
[2007 model] G15 v2 (Orange LED) has 6 G-Keys x 3 modes = 18 programmable.
[2009 model] G19 (White is the default LED) has 12 G-keys x 3 modes = 36 programmable.
THE KEYS ON THE KEYBOARD:
G15 v1: It's small and spread apart.
G15 v2: It's larger and close together.
G19: The size is in between those two keyboards; it's also close together like the v2. Overall, I like typing on this the best.
Some positives and negatives of each keyboard...
G15 v1 (2005 - Blue LED):
+ Has the most G-keys (most people didn't seem to need/use this much, including myself, hence why v2 had so little)
+ Volume/media control wheel is nice
+ LCD can be closed shut completely
+ Has handles on the top of the keyboard for carrying it easier.
+ Lots of custom apps to be found on the net.
- Takes up the most desk space
- USB 1.1 (okay for plugging USB headphones and gaming controllers)
G15 v2 (2007 - Orange LED):
+ For those that don't need that many G-keys and prefer larger keys.
- LCD cannot tilt (already fixed)
- Volume control is just a plain button
- USB 1.1
G19 (2009):
+ Color LCD (biggest selling point and biggest upgrade) - what keyboard has a color video display?! Any geek's dream come true. It's great for multi-tasking and time flies even more now that you don't waste a second even on game loading screen or spectating a game.
+ USB 2.0 (all previous G15's were USB 1.1, so now it is suitable for even connecting flash/hard drives and not just game controllers) -- this is why it also requires an AC adapter to the keyboard. The USB ports are both on the same side now, which makes it a little easier to locate than the previous keyboards having it one on each side; however, it can be a problem when connecting flash drives or SD card readers that really stick out to the side)
+ Custom backlight colors
+ Volume scroll (although I wish it turned smoother) / some custom apps for the G15 uses the volume up/down to select menus/songs, so the new up/down scroll volume control on the G19 works out perfectly for that.
+ The keys have a nice clean feel and layout (as mentioned before, the keys aren't too spread out and still large enough, so there's less strain on the fingers for me)
- Requires AC adapter (although it is understandable, some may not have a plug open)
- Lack of app support for now.
- Price is a killer! (considering there isn't really any other keyboard with a video display, it is slightly understandable... but the apps still needs work.)
====================================================== ISSUES FOR ME:
* I have to say the documentation is very poor for this keyboard. I had no idea what the "Clipboard Commands" (10.4 on the readme file) was all about for playing a YouTube video -- that I actually want to watch. The only option you get when you enter the YouTube Video Player is viewing "Top Rated, Top Favorites (not your own), Most Viewed, Most Popular, Discussed, etc." -- of all time, this month, this week, or today (default) -- Sure, sometimes some interesting videos may come up, but I honestly never really care for those "RANDOM" videos anyway; I prefer watching videos that I actually WANT to watch (not some "YouTube Celebrity" talking about their life all the time).
I mean, the dedicated YouTube viewer is definitely a nice idea, but I don't know why they couldn't just add a simple built-in search to toggle between typing on the LCD and out of it! (Hopefully some talented people can make some custom app to do this; for the G15, the custom app music players, such as the myLCD WVS, are far superior to Logitech's Music Media player)
It has the usual LCD Clock, Performance Monitor, Countdown Timer, but having an LCD screen, it would have been useful and nice if it at least had a built-in notepad to type out codes and other memos! (this would have also been a great workaround for using the "clipboard command")
Basically, you first have to enable "automatic playback of YouTube video URLs" in the advanced tab options, and whenever you copy (Ctrl + C) a YouTube URL, it will automatically end up on the LCD screen. So if you're in a game and you can't type and highlight/copy text, then you really can't search anything.
And to actually search for videos, you have to use their "clipboard command" (you'll want to macro this instead of having to remember and type this command every time):
======================================================
lcdyoutube:search=
======================================================
So for example, if you want to search Logitech videos, you have to type
======================================================
lcdyoutube:search=Logitech
======================================================
AND THEN you have to highlight all that and COPY (Ctrl + C) it to actually execute the search. I believe in games like WoW and Counter-Strike, this is OK for now and not completely useless, since it lets you type and highlight in-game for games such as those.
* You cannot navigate to different video folders through the LCD. You have to keep setting one video directory/all sub-directory and it will list all of them.
* Would be nice to change aspect ratio/stretch/zoom/fit when viewing videos, and especially for pictures. Since it has directional controls, they should allow you to zoom in on pictures. The picture viewer is pretty useless for me.
* It needs a quick jump to top/bottom or multiple files instead of scrolling through all the files one by one, especially if you have lots of videos. It would be nice if the volume control scroll could be temporarily toggled into acting as navigating up/down menus because it's so much easier than the buttons.
* I find it odd that it allows you to go quickly back to the top/bottom if you get to the end of the list for the main 'Switch to Program' menu screen; however, for the video/YouTube player list, once you get to the top or bottom, you're stuck and have to scroll all the way back up/down yourself! Personally, I find this inconvenient, especially since the navigation buttons aren't necessarily easy to keep pressing. For the YouTube search results, it does not allow you to HOLD-scroll either.
* For YouTube search results, it only displays the first 25 video results.
* It would be nice to be able to have a video playlist or be able to access your YouTube account's favorites. I would love it if it had a Winamp support so that it plays videos from the Winamp list too.
* Fast forward is already determined depending on the video duration. If it's a really short clip, like less than 10 seconds, then you can fast forward/rewind at 1sec intervals. However, if it's an hour long clip or so, it's already set to fast forward at 5 minutes. It doesn't matter how long you hold the button or release, the speed is not variable and is already set. This makes getting the precise spot of the clip impossible.
* It only looks for common video extentions. I have some .flv files that I saved directly from YouTube, but I have to rename them to .avi for the LCD to pick it up.
* If you searched several YouTube videos on the LCD, then you can press the Logitech-back arrow button key to see the previous results/videos, but once you go back, you can't go forward!
* Once a current YouTube-sent video ends playing, it ends up going back to the menu screen and there is no quick video repeat option. It really would be nice to have a history of viewed YouTube videos played on the G19 LCD!
====================================================== OTHER THOUGHTS:
* The install CD that came with mine was an older version 3.0.1 (but the website had a 3.02), so you should check that before installing.
* As long as if the video plays fine on the main system player, such as Windows Media Player, having the right codecs and everything on the system (not built-in codecs like VLC), then it should play on the G19 monitor.
* If the person uploading a video on YouTube doesn't allow external linking, it will not be playable on the LCD; you will get that error message instead and ask if you want to play directly on a browser.
* Sometimes the YouTube Player may not respond to your clipboard commands; you'll either have to restart the Logitech LCD Manager or just kill the "LCDYT.exe" process and open just that YouTube software (LCDYT.exe) again, which is located at "C:\Program Files\Logitech\GamePanel Software\Applets\ColorOnly\LCDYT.exe" (at least for XP, that's the default location.)
* It would be awesome if there was an option to view comments for YouTube videos also on the LCD; and again, if it had a toggle built-in key input for the LCD, it would be even more awesome if it were possible to comment on YouTube videos while still running a video game too. (how about it developers?!)
* Would be nice if there was a small LED above the USB ports to indicate when USBs have successfully connected (I like USB hubs that have this, which allows me to know that a USB is successfully powered and connected; I notice there's a small orange LED on the keyboard near the USB ports, which indicates that the AC is powering the keyboard, so I wish they added something similar for the USB ports)
Cons:
- The video player is cool, but it's still missing some key features! (fast forwarding speeds, YouTube searching - and other suggestions in my rant)
- MSRP is asking too much for what it does for now. (I can understand Logitech's leather racing wheel costing this much, but $200 for a keyboard? Maybe Logitech tried to target the Alienware buyers, since the LCD shape design seems like it would match great with those systems, and you know people who buy Alienware already spend a lot of money...)
- Menu buttons/arrows need to be pressed hard
The original G15 has had a lot of enthusiastic custom app developers and it has made the G15 keyboard better than what it was out of the box. For now, I give this keyboard a 4 stars. I really wanted to give this keyboard a perfect 5-star; I mean, come on... a color LCD video player on a keyboard?! This keyboard definitely has potential to be a 5 star, but that all depends on the apps. The keyboard is nice, but the app features that comes with it is just a little too basic (the video function); it's missing some key standard features, so in that aspect, that needs more improvement. Hopefully, the cons can be addressed and the color LCD can be taken more advantage of. I hope future games (like StarCraft 2?) would really take advantage of this keyboard LCD feature. It would be cool if game characters displayed as a video on there talking directly to the player whenever you accomplish a mission or something; something that really makes use of the game exclusive to the keyboard.
It's a no brainer, the G19 is the best out of the three. If you have money to throw away, then obviously this is the best one to get. However, for the LCD to really benefit over using an actual -- larger -- dual monitor, the features (ie: built-in YouTube searching) on the 320x240 LCD need to be addressed to win over those alternatives.
I found a workaround for having a playlist in video; If you use VLC Media Player, there is a third-party G19 plugin to send the video directly to the LCD instead of the VLC player. (However, when it goes to the next video on the playlist, it doesn't work perfectly because there's a minor nuisance where you have to hit the 'switch to program' button on the keyboard to get the player in view again. Moreover, you can't control with the Logitech keys, so you'll need to set up global hotkeys if you want to control during a video game. See 'Comments' for the link, since I can't post links in this review. And if you know any other good plugins for the G19, be sure to comment too.
** Update: The plugin called "LCD Miscellany" just made this keyboard x1000 times better! It's a must-have plugin if you want to get the most out of your G19 keyboard! This plugin had the perfect by-product tool of what I wanted this keyboard to do. 'LCD Miscellany' has a built-in Calculator tool, which allows copy and pasting text -- WITHIN THE LCD (you can toggle in and out of it) -- so it's a really great workaround to search specific YouTube videos -- while in games or in other applications that don't have any text input/highlighting! The plugin also has a Text Viewer, so if you just create a text file with URLs of your favorite YouTube videos, save it; and then access the text file within the LCD, you can then highlight (using the arrow keys while HOLDING the shift key), and then do the routine Copy (Ctrl + C) to execute the videos -- a pseudo-YouTube playlist!. This plugin also contains displaying your local weather and forecast, controlling your task manager, and more details about your CPU/memory/bandwidth usage/graph/volume/time/date all on one screen -- and much more! This plugin supports the G19, so the display is in color and the Logitech control keys work with it!
| | The Logitech G19 keyboard is perfect for 1: Serious gamers 2: Serious Geeks or 3: Seriously rich people who have nothing better to do with $200.
There is no instruction manual included with the G19, everything you need to know is included in the software, including a video guide to get you started.
Comes with a wrist rest that can be attached if desired, but it is made of hard plastic and is therefore not comfortable and of little use.
The following is an outline of the pros and cons I have found while using the G19.
Pros:
-The backlit keys are completely customizeable. You can choose any shade of any color including white.
-Awesome LCD with many applets and features including: CPU/RAM monitor, clock, RSS newsfeeds, Youtube feed for viewing Youtube videos,picture slideshow, and video player. Also works with supported games giving you in-game info.
-12 G keys each capable of storing 3 different functions acessed by the M keys.
-Media controls (Play/pause, stop, next, back) mute button and volume roll wheel.
-Windows key disabler switch which is standard on the G series keyboards.
-2 USB ports on the back of the G19 allow you to plug in and power any USB devices you want.
-Up to 5 keys can be pressed down at the same time and still register.
Cons:
-Needs to be plugged into both a USB port and a outlet. Extra power is needed of course for the LCD panel.
-What, you expected there to be more cons?
Conclusion:
Overall it is a wonderful keyboard that comes equipped with a not-so-wonderful price. Is it worth the dough? You be the judge.
Now if you'll excuse I shall wath a Youtube vid on my keyboard... because I can...
| | Impressive LCD, mushy membrane keyboard |
| The G19 is a nice membrane keyboard. The keys have a fair amount of play, but they push down regardless of how squarely you hit them - exactly what you need for gaming. Membrane keyboards are fairly quiet, and the G19 is no exception
Where the G19 really shines is in its mini-LCD display. After installing the driver, the keyboard immediately displayed dual CPU meters for my mac as well as a free memory bar. It immediately found the videos and images I have in the default apple folders, and was able to play videos without problem. It is worth noting that the keyboard doesn't have speakers itself - audio plays through your main speakers as you would expect.
Another great feature is the smooth-rolling volume control. The detents built into my G35 headset's volume control result in sound settings that are too coarse. The G19's volume control is perfect.
Overall fit and finish almost measures up to the high standard that Logitech has set with other G-series products. The wrist rest is rigid rather than soft, and its connection to the keyboard is tenuous at best. I expect that the pins that connect it to the keyboard will break off fairly easily. At that point, it will be a simple matter to replace the rest with a softer unit. I was also surprised to see that Logitech has dispensed with the usual G-series braided cord. Instead, you get a long plastic double cord that terminates in a power terminal and USB end. The power cord plugs into the power brick. This allows you to keep your computer several feet away from the keyboard, and the power outlet a few more feet from the keyboard.
From a gaming perspective, you get a lot of convenient function keys, and you get exactly the key action that you'd expect from a membrane keyboard. I'd like to be able to do an in-depth game review, but since I only play a few of the (currently) supported games, I would be biasing this review towards my preferences. Instead, I suggest that you check out the forums for your favorite games, and see what other players think of the G19.
For the general user, take a look at the LCD apps. For me, the performance monitor is very useful. I'd like to be able to add network statistics and other data, but I imagine that enhancements will come with future software updates.
** UPDATE **
With a little help from the excellent people at Logitech, I've discovered that the LCD SDK is included with both the Windows and OS X driver install. The API is C, and it looks very reasonable at first glance. Don't overlook the SDK, there are a lot of cool apps that could be built for the G19!
| | Great keyboard, lots of extras |
| Before I received the G 19 I was using the Logitech Wave. Overall, I have to say I've always been impressed and admiring of Logitech products. Aside from the products themselves, their customer service is also excellent (found out first hand when I had a problem with a gaming mouse). The G19 is without a doubt an excellent keyboard. The keyboard is solidly built but the wrist extension is plastic and on its own seems flimsy. But when put onto the keyboard it provides a good amount of support for your wrist. Typing on the keyboard, if you'll be doing some of that aside from gaming, is a nice experience in and of itself. I enjoyed the keys on the wave but the keys on the G19 are a bit different yet wholly functional. They go down softly and are moderately quiet.
The LCD screen is great, it will probably take some time to get used to it but there are quite a few applications it can run, including videos, which make it a nice additional feature that no other keyboard has at this point in time. Controls for the LCD are fairly simple to figure out, overall just a very nice set up. But, this also means that, as pointed out, you will need to connect the keyboard to both a USB and an outlet. Having a bunch of wires running around the keyboard (you can also include the two USB ports that are located on the keyboard itself) is not fun but it is practical and gives you an additional USB port aside from the one the keyboard itself takes up. The wires running from the keyboard are quite long so that the keyboard does not have to be stationary but, obviously, it isn't as comfortable as a wireless keyboard. On the other hand, there's a reason for that, the response time on this keyboard is excellent when compared to my wireless wave which at times lags when I'm typing quickly.
The customization options for this keyboard are great. 12 programmable G keys multiplied by three, each of the three can have a different color configuration for the keyboard itself (A LOT of choices as to colors) so when you switch between games you can program different colors for different games, hopefully that will help you remember which color applies to which game and thus which key configuration you've set up.
In the end, a great keyboard. But does this justify the price? Honestly, if you can remember all of what this keyboard offers and put to use the lcd and all of the other features offered, then you'd probably agree that the price is justified. If you're like me, someone who probably won't use half the features of this keyboard but likes to know if they're there just in case, then the price is a bit too much.
| | Pros:
- It does have a nice, deep key feel but doesn't have the feel of an IBM.
- Great Logitech build quality.
- Has two USB ports.
Cons:
- Wide footprint. I have the Razer Tarantula, and this is several inches wider than that. Kinda makes gaming awkward if you're using wasd keys, and your right hand has to be 3-4 inches farther out to the right.
- Exceptionally expensive! $180 for a keyboard?
- Requires a separate power source. My power strip is already cramped, and I really don't think the benefits of a keyboard warrant it.
| | More Info and All Reviews |
| | Customers bought this item also checked these items | |
|
