Light up my nights. (Logitech G11 Gaming Keyboard)

Member Name: thingywhatsit

Product:	Logitech G11 Gaming Keyboard
Date:	14/01/08 (1167 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very good quality.

Disadvantages: The angle of keyboard.

The G11 Logitech keyboard was intended for gamers though one of the reasons that I bought it was because of the backlighting facility, which lights up the keys in the dark. With many black keyboards these days, what happens is that it is hard to distinguish the keys at night under dim light, although this isn't the only benefit of the keyboard, and was merely my reason to buy it, together with knowing that the Logitech make was a pretty reliable one.

One of the interesting aspects of this keyboard is that in any publicity online that describes it, it is only the middle section of the keyboard that is lit up, when in fact the whole keyboard has settings whereby you can choose as a user whether to use dim lighting up, or a brighter setting for darkness. I tend to use the light up feature even in daytime as this really gives the black keyboard the edge over the competition and is very easy to use.

KEYBOARD ITSELF

Here, I was a little disappointed at first though need not have been. The keys are closer together than on a standard Microsoft keyboard, and the reason is that they have added so many feature buttons that the keyboard had to be compressed to house all the normal typing keys. I got used to it after a short space of time, though it was disconcerting to start off with. The touch is very definite and you certainly have reliability and I have not experienced any odd keys with different touch, the touch being a great uniform experience on whatever area of the keyboard I am working.

FUNCTION KEYS

As a person that does a lot of written work, I wasn't that impressed with having all the function keys, though the software that comes with the package is rather special for keyboard software and extremely easy to use, and the function keys neatly lined up to the left of the main keyboard. Here, not only do you have 18 different keys that you can program to your preference, but you have three different modes which are clearly defined at the top of the keyboard, so that the user has no confusion with which mode they are currently using.

I found by using these function keys and programming them to my everyday needs for Internet and written work, they have become an integral part of my everyday use of the computer, and it was the easy layout of the programming that lead me to experiment, using the second mode for my game play, and the third for a particular game that needs a lot of keyboard work that had always proven difficult in the past, now all neatly placed together in the same place on the keyboard.

SOUND FEATURES

The sound station on the keyboard is brightly lit and serves it's purpose, letting the user have control over playing videos and sound media, letting the user have the ability to control their video and music from the keyboard. In my case the advantage here is that the speakers are placed at the back of the desk so this feature is handy in that I no longer have to stretch over to turn down the sound or to freeze a video that I am playing if disturbed by a telephone call.

This is a step up from what I am accustomed to since this would have taken several clicks of the mouse and I find myself using it more and more each day. There is of course the normal mute button that all keyboards these days seem to have, though the feature of having more control from the keyboard is rather good.

The volume button is weird to get used to as it is a round one that needs to be rotated although the response is very good indeed.

GAMING PORTS

The ports for gaming items are at the back of the keyboard and personally, I think the designers would have done better to have had these at the sides, although this causes me little hassle other than ease of access when I want to use them. These are USB and quite handy and although you can put the cords under the keyboard, it is ungainly and difficult.

SIZE

One of the biggest bugbears about this keyboard is its size. It took ages to get used to and I certainly felt that the addition of the hand rest made it pretty much too big to fit on my desk and I have a very large desk so would imagine most people would ignore this item totally. Without it, there is a neat trim that acts equally well as a handrest. The width of the keyboard of course is much larger than normal keyboards, and those with limited space should perhaps measure their desk space to see if the keyboard can be housed on it.

KEYBOARD ANGLE

This is a weak spot with the keyboard, since the two little feet at the back of the keyboard allow you to angle the keyboard to a more comfortable position, although I believe that they should have made the feet bigger giving more angle, as the angle presented is a little uncomfortable for the hands and not natural giving me more hand fatigue than other keyboards. What I found I had to do was to adjust this myself with the addition of little blocks, but with a little more thought, they could have gotten around this problem.

OVERALL CONCLUSION

If you want a good quality illuminated keyboard, this is the best on the market. Having researched the market thoroughly and checked it against the cheap imports on ebay that I have bought in the past, this is a class act. The keys are responsive and the touch superb. The extra programmable keys are a bonus and certainly the software is the most user friendly I have ever known.

Getting the keyboard up and running was simply a matter of installing the software and then plugging in the USB. I would have preferred a normal mouse connection since this uses up a valuable USB port, though my overall impression of the keyboard is that it is quality and certainly worthy of consideration.

Made to appeal to gamers, to my mind it appeals also to those that type a lot at night, since the cheaper makes had sticky keys and garish lighting, whereas this is crisp and clear. Bought at £32.00 from eBay and even taking into account the cost of postage, I feel that the keyboard does what I wanted it to do, and does that well.

Summary: A worthwhile investment for the serious computer user.

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