The G15 Keyboard

Lifting the keyboard out of the box and putting it on my bed, I gave it a good look. Hey, it doesn't look half as bad as I expected.

The LCD screen can be flipped up and down. That is a nice feature, because you are more likely to break it than not if you transport it around with the screen up.

The keys are all standard, with no unnecessary enhancements or gimmicks within the main 101-key block area. The gaming keys have their own separate block on the left side of the keyboard.

One gripe I always had with many gaming keyboards is their need to over-emphasize or over-enhance the WSAD block. I understand that many gamers use that block. So do I. But what most of us gamers want is a consistent experience on all fronts, rather than better performance in one aspect and confusion in others.

As far as typing goes, I have to say that it is a great pleasure to just type those keys. The tactile feedback is amazing. Maybe it's just me being enthusiastic from the years of being chained to my Logitech MX Elite. Yes, that was a great keyboard but to be frank, there was just something lacking in those key presses.

The LCD Screen

Since I had a friend around to help me take some of these pictures, I decided to kick back with some music.

When I opened iTunes and double-clicked on one of my favorite pieces, much to my surprise, the keyboard's LCD screen kicked in and displayed details about the song without any intervention at all.

Not bad. Well, at least it gave me a good first impression of the keyboard's capabilities.

However, the LCD is a tad bit too small, if you ask me. I don't know what you can display on that tiny thing without it becoming illegible.

A center console provides all the media functions I need for my regular gaming session. There are also two USB ports on both sides of the LCD screen. Pretty smart of them although many other keyboards also have this feature.

Anyway, that's enough of my initial impressions. I'm gonna hook up this bad boy and start this review for real!

Setup

There's nothing much to it really. Just plug it into an available USB port and Windows XP will load the standard keyboard driver for it.

Of course, the LCD panel won't work until you have installed the specific driver for the G15. But that was simplicity in itself - pop the CD in, install the G-series keyboard software and hey, you're good to go.

The question you're probably asking me is, "Isn't there anything else I need to do?" Nope, nothing, nada. I just installed the software and it worked. If things get any simpler than this, I bet even snails could use a PC. Yes, all you need to do is follow and the instructions on the CD and you're basically ready to go about your business.