Do you really need a colour LCD on your keyboard? Logitech thinks 'yes!'...
How far is too far when it comes to gaming peripherals? Given that comparing a gaming device to a normal computing peripheral is akin to comparing a Ford Laser to a Ferrari, that can be a hard question answer. Thankfully, we now have Logitech's G19, which is most definitely too far.
We better hammer this review out pretty damn fast, as no doubt an array of Gods are lining up to punish our decadent civilisation for its over-weening hubris. The old G15 was bad enough, with its greyscale LCD, but the colour one is...
Well, actually, it's a very good little screen, and the info it can show, from PC performance details to newsfeeds and even the latest on YouTube or from your own pic and video files, is kind of handy. But still - ARE WE SO VAIN?
Further, because of the screen the G19 draws mains power. In many books, that's a killer of a proposition right there, as most serious rigs are already drawing a mess of juice from the wall. Not to mention the increase in snaking cables gathering cat fur and dead cockroaches (or is that only us?).
The G19 also comes with a full suite of software for configuring the screen, and for recording and selecting macros, which is probably what makes this keyboard really useful. The interface is one of the easiest to navigate that we've seen, and auto-detects most games - it certainly found our copy of CoD4 without trouble. Sadly, the LCD screen did not display any game data, though. There are only 'dozens' of games supported - though one of those is World of Warcraft, which combined with the macro functionality makes this a pretty good option for serious end-game raiders, PvP gankers, and other socially 'other' WoW types.
And yet... the price. For the cost of a G19 you could actually get yourself a new monitor - $300 or more is a lot to pay for any piece of kit. For a keyboard it's near extortion. Outside of the gaming extras the G19's key action is nothing to write home about - so buy this only if you MUST have that bright and shiny screen.
Issue: 133 | February, 2012