Logitech G19 Keyboard Review

Peripherals designed explicitly for gaming have a pretty long history in the technology sector, going all the way back to the first Razer mouse released in 1999. Since then, many manufacturers have begun developing mice, WASD pads, and even keyboards designed with gamers in mind. Only one company however, has actually designed an LCD into the keyboard, the most common of input devices.

Logitech's G15 was released back in 2006 and has slowly but surely built up support not only in big-name releases like World of Warcraft and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, but also in more functional applications like Ventrilo and Everest. The G15 remains popular amongst enthusiasts as well, thanks to 3rd party applications like LCDStudio which allow you to easily make your own visual plug-ins.

Logitech is prepping to release their newest gaming keyboard, the G19, and have made some interesting improvements to the G15 formula. Let's take a quick look at some of the features of the G19 before we delve a little deeper into what sets this apart from its older sibling.

Features

The G19 shares many similarities with its predecessor, both in design and function. The keys are half-height, soft touch keys, so noise is kept to a minimum when typing or playing games. In fact, the feel of the G19 is almost exactly the same as the G15. One of the biggest issues we had with the G15 when it was first released, was the increased width due to the 18 'G' macro keys. Logitech has eliminated a row of keys and tightened up the layout a bit, in an effort to allow the G19 to fit into most keyboard trays.

The keys on the G19 feature backlighting similar to the G15, although Logitech has designed in a feature that lets you customize the color. Colors are adjustable in the software and are dependent upon the profile and macro mode you have active. As a nice bonus, you aren't limited in what color you
want to set the backlight too. While there are predefined colors, Logitech has included a color wheel so users can designate any specific shade they are looking for. You could potentially have a color for every game you own, giving you instant recognition of what profile is active at the current time.