Logitech G15 LCD Keyboard Review - The Keyboard Layout
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Right out of the box, the G15 looks great. It is also, by far, the largest keyboard I’ve used yet. I’m pretty sure it’s wider and taller (with the LCD open) than even my Microsoft natural keyboard. Logitech did not try to change keyboards entirely; they kept the keyboard that we all have grown accustomed to and just added the extras on. With that in mind, you might want to be sure you have a large keyboard tray if you plan to use one. This is the G15 sitting next to a regular-size cheap keyboard.
They keyboard layout has some really interesting additions to what you probably expect. One of the things I was actually most happy to find was a USB hub built into the keyboard. It provides 2 low-power USB 1.1 jacks on the backside of the board. One is obviously good for your USB mouse, and the other is great for anything from a game controller to an MP3 player. Since they aren’t full-powered USB 2.0, they aren’t as good for transferring massive files as front case ports, but they are far more convenient.
Related to the USB ports are some less obvious innovations underneath the keyboard that Logitech calls “cable management.” Basically, they put grooves into the bottom that you can shove your USB device wires into. One goes from the keyboard's USB off to the right for your mouse (sorry you left handers), and the other routes the cable out to the front of the board. The second seems less useful, since it would work for a game controller, but you’d probably not want to leave a controller sticking out of the front of your board when you’re typing.
The grooves where the cables fit in are the perfect size for my mouse, but I imagine that oddball devices with thick or thin cables might not sit snugly inside.
Logitech also has a key that turns off parts of the keyboard that could ruin your video games. A regular keyboard has several spots that could drop your game out of focus, which could frustrate gamers with clumsy fingers. The G15 has a switch that shuts off the Windows keys and the right-click key.
Also for gaming (or any computer work you feel like doing in the dark), the G15 has a blue backlight to all the keys and the LCD screen. There are three light levels, but it seems more or less like it was either on or off. The levels didn’t do too much. That didn’t matter though, since the light was bright enough to light things up nicely, but not too bright in the dark.
There’s a bit more to the layout of this keyboard, including the LCD screen and programmable G keys off to the left.
Next: LCD Screen and Media Functions >>
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