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Gaming Keyboards
One of the Logitech G19's strongest selling points is its ability to record and perform macros, handled by a section of "G-keys" on the left side of the keyboard. Despite using the same 19.5" footprint as the G15 rev 2, Logitech was able to successfully squeeze in a second column of G-keys for a total of 12, falling in-between the G15's 18 keys and the second generation's meager 6. This should strike an even compromise between the macro-loving MMO crowd and the first person shooter crowd that's less concerned with macros than they are with the LCD display.
Above the G-keys is a row of three M-keys that are used to specify which color and set of macros is in use for the current profile, making for a total of 36 keys per profile. Each profile is tied to a specific application or game and is automatically loaded whenever that application is in the foreground. It's also possible to bind multiple profiles to a specific application and then cycle through them with a user-defined keystroke, allowing for an infinite number of macros per game. The Logitech G19 gaming keyboard's LCD will automatically display a notification when a new profile is loaded.
The G-series Key Profiler software included with the keyboard allows for some interesting and complex macros to be created. A simple keystroke, complex macro, duplicate M-key, Lua script, application shortcut or text block with return character support can all be assigned to the individual G-Keys. The Key Profiler will automatically scan a computer for known AAA games and install corresponding profiles that have basic game functionality such as movement and weapons already mapped. Though, these predefined functions could to be too simplistic and you may end up creating your own macros anyway. It'd be nice if Logitech were to implement a database for user-created macros to simplify finding and sharing profiles between gamers.
Of course, the main draw to the Logitech G19 is its iconic LCD display. Out of the box, Logitech ships with nine color LCD applets: a clock, countdown timer, CPU/memory monitor, media display for iTunes/WinAmp/WMP, movie player, picture viewer, POP3 checker, and YouTube player. All of the applets are bright and colorful, serving up bite-sized chunks of information that are best suited for an external display. That being said, a few of the apps could still use a little more work from the developers. The RSS reader, for example, will usually show the headline but not an excerpt of the news clipping in most tested RSS feeds. Likewise, picture scaling isn't the greatest, the POP3 reader requires a hack in order to support SSL connections (necessary for Gmail), and Media Display's volume indicator will not appear unless a recognized media player like iTunes is running. Truth be told, only the clock, countdown timer and CPU monitor feel rock solid at this point. At least, the core functionality is there for the rest of them.
The YouTube applet is a bit more refined, serving up links to the popular categories on YouTube's front page along with related clips and videos by the same author. The applet can also interact with the clipboard for custom searches as well as automatically playing any YouTube video URL's that are copied into the clipboard. This is especially handy for previewing YouTube spam sent by friends over Instant Messenger without minimizing work, and it's possible to quickly load the currently playing video in a web browser for a better look. Extra URL commands that control the time position and audio/video quality are not parsed.
The Movie Viewer applet isn't quite as powerful as the YouTube player, but still gets the job done. Using the pre-installed codec pack (CCCP), Moview Viewer it seems to be able to handle practically any video so long as the extension is .avi, .mpeg, .mpg, .mp4, or .wmv. Matroska (.mkv) and Ogg Media (.ogm) containers are not supported. The biggest drawback to the video player is the lack of on-screen folder navigation, making it necessary to specify a directory deep within a folder hierarchy if you happen to have a lot of videos stored on your hard drive.
Still, the video quality for such a tiny screen is quite impressive, and the embedded controls for play/pause/skip work exactly as you'd expect them to. The video framerate is exceptionally smooth, and there isn't any color banding except in the darkest of blacks. Audio playback through the Windows default device is also handled well, complete with independent mute and volume controls. Hopefully, all of the minor issues that mentioned above will be addressed in a future GamePanel software update, so cross your fingers. Speaking of updates, a new software patch was just released during the course of this review that provides official support for Window Vista SideShow, so be sure to check out the Windows SideShow gallery for all the free gadgets there are to download. Vista Home Basic users need not apply.
The Logitech G19 is powered by the same GamePanel software as the G15 keyboard, Z-10 speakers and Dell M1730 laptop, thus making it backwards-compatible with virtually every applet created for those devices. As of May 2009, over 45 commercial games officially support the GamePanel display either out of the box or with a patch. There's also a large wealth of user-created applets to be found at G15mods and G15Forums, so be sure to stop by those two sites since together they're essentially the heart of the GamePanel display.
Which commercial games will support the GamePanel display - and how - is entirely up to the game developers, not Logitech. Historically, commercial developer support for the GamePanel display has been spotty at best. On one hand, some games such as Prey and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars make excellent use of the display by respectively showing the orientation of gravity and progress towards the next rank.
On the other hand, titles like Crysis Wars make such poor use of the second display that it's simply more convenient to use the on-screen HUD. There are also times when a developer will embrace the mini display in one game, only for the sequel to abandon it as was the case Unreal Tournament 3. Some game developers Valve Software have yet to make any GamePanel-enabled titles whatsoever. In these cases it's best to look at the community forums for user-created applets like TF2Stats that can report on vital statistics, but these programs may not always be available or as well-maintained.
A number of utilities also make use of the LCD display; Ventrilo will display the name of who's talking, Fraps can display framerate statistics, LCD Studio can report on computer vitals such as temperatures, network utilization and etc. In essence, you need to search around to see what the G15/G19 is really capable of. Because the G19 is so new, there's not many games or applications available yet that make use of the color display's extended capabilities. Even so, the existing black and white applets available are just as useful and not to be discredited.
So far there's only one commercial game that supports the extended capabilities of the G19, and that's World of Warcraft. There isn't much to say about this game, but from briefly installing the demo, this game made good use of the screen's 320x240 real estate: chat, player stats, and battlegrounds. As for other titles, some will eventually make good use of the real estate by highlighting important events on a mini-map. That'd be pretty cool if if it was pulled off correctly in an RTS-type game.
One last plugin that was deserving of attention is Okio's G19 video output module for VLC. That's right folks, the most versatile media player known to man complete with subtitle and codec support up the wazoo is now compatible with the G19 gaming keyboard.
The Macintosh sticker on the Logitech G19's box was quite a surprise after having seen countless forum posts begging for Mac support with the G15. Yet, the G19's software's design and functionality seems almost identical to that on Windows. Macros can be just as complex with lengthy commands and variable time delays, the GamePanel software works and includes an SDK to be used with XCode, and the media applets integrate perfectly with iTunes and Quicktime.
There are a few minor differences to note between the Mac and PC versions, however, such as the different LCD fonts and lack of fine-grained LCD brightness controls. What's more likely to cause heartache though is the lack of a RSS, POP3 and YouTube applets, though it's possible that we'll see these released in a future update. Not all differences are bad, as the Media Display applet for Mac has the new ability to display iTunes album artwork. There's a bug with this applet that can prevent it from showing ID3 tags on a very small subset of a MP3 library, but overall, Logitech's effort is a very welcome change for gamers who choose to think different.
If you're a PC gaming enthusiast, Logitech G19 is the gadget to have. Powerful macro scripting, customizable key backlighting, and the best external LCD platform on the market make for a great keyboard. The powered USB 2.0 hub and stylish design is just icing on the cake. The only two major drawbacks that the G19 suffers from are its bulky AC adapter and high suggested retail price in a time of economic downturn. Is the G19 worth $200? Yes. A more appropriate question would be whether or not you're able to justify the purchase. It's up to you to deliberate on, but if any more killer LCD apps like Okio's VLC plugin are released, there might not be much left to deliberate about.
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Gaming Keyboards 
INSIDE THIS REVIEW ▼
Macros and Profiles
One of the Logitech G19's strongest selling points is its ability to record and perform macros, handled by a section of "G-keys" on the left side of the keyboard. Despite using the same 19.5" footprint as the G15 rev 2, Logitech was able to successfully squeeze in a second column of G-keys for a total of 12, falling in-between the G15's 18 keys and the second generation's meager 6. This should strike an even compromise between the macro-loving MMO crowd and the first person shooter crowd that's less concerned with macros than they are with the LCD display.
Above the G-keys is a row of three M-keys that are used to specify which color and set of macros is in use for the current profile, making for a total of 36 keys per profile. Each profile is tied to a specific application or game and is automatically loaded whenever that application is in the foreground. It's also possible to bind multiple profiles to a specific application and then cycle through them with a user-defined keystroke, allowing for an infinite number of macros per game. The Logitech G19 gaming keyboard's LCD will automatically display a notification when a new profile is loaded.
The G-series Key Profiler software included with the keyboard allows for some interesting and complex macros to be created. A simple keystroke, complex macro, duplicate M-key, Lua script, application shortcut or text block with return character support can all be assigned to the individual G-Keys. The Key Profiler will automatically scan a computer for known AAA games and install corresponding profiles that have basic game functionality such as movement and weapons already mapped. Though, these predefined functions could to be too simplistic and you may end up creating your own macros anyway. It'd be nice if Logitech were to implement a database for user-created macros to simplify finding and sharing profiles between gamers.
GamePanel - Stock, 3rd Party Applets
Of course, the main draw to the Logitech G19 is its iconic LCD display. Out of the box, Logitech ships with nine color LCD applets: a clock, countdown timer, CPU/memory monitor, media display for iTunes/WinAmp/WMP, movie player, picture viewer, POP3 checker, and YouTube player. All of the applets are bright and colorful, serving up bite-sized chunks of information that are best suited for an external display. That being said, a few of the apps could still use a little more work from the developers. The RSS reader, for example, will usually show the headline but not an excerpt of the news clipping in most tested RSS feeds. Likewise, picture scaling isn't the greatest, the POP3 reader requires a hack in order to support SSL connections (necessary for Gmail), and Media Display's volume indicator will not appear unless a recognized media player like iTunes is running. Truth be told, only the clock, countdown timer and CPU monitor feel rock solid at this point. At least, the core functionality is there for the rest of them.
The YouTube applet is a bit more refined, serving up links to the popular categories on YouTube's front page along with related clips and videos by the same author. The applet can also interact with the clipboard for custom searches as well as automatically playing any YouTube video URL's that are copied into the clipboard. This is especially handy for previewing YouTube spam sent by friends over Instant Messenger without minimizing work, and it's possible to quickly load the currently playing video in a web browser for a better look. Extra URL commands that control the time position and audio/video quality are not parsed.
The Movie Viewer applet isn't quite as powerful as the YouTube player, but still gets the job done. Using the pre-installed codec pack (CCCP), Moview Viewer it seems to be able to handle practically any video so long as the extension is .avi, .mpeg, .mpg, .mp4, or .wmv. Matroska (.mkv) and Ogg Media (.ogm) containers are not supported. The biggest drawback to the video player is the lack of on-screen folder navigation, making it necessary to specify a directory deep within a folder hierarchy if you happen to have a lot of videos stored on your hard drive.
Still, the video quality for such a tiny screen is quite impressive, and the embedded controls for play/pause/skip work exactly as you'd expect them to. The video framerate is exceptionally smooth, and there isn't any color banding except in the darkest of blacks. Audio playback through the Windows default device is also handled well, complete with independent mute and volume controls. Hopefully, all of the minor issues that mentioned above will be addressed in a future GamePanel software update, so cross your fingers. Speaking of updates, a new software patch was just released during the course of this review that provides official support for Window Vista SideShow, so be sure to check out the Windows SideShow gallery for all the free gadgets there are to download. Vista Home Basic users need not apply.
The Logitech G19 is powered by the same GamePanel software as the G15 keyboard, Z-10 speakers and Dell M1730 laptop, thus making it backwards-compatible with virtually every applet created for those devices. As of May 2009, over 45 commercial games officially support the GamePanel display either out of the box or with a patch. There's also a large wealth of user-created applets to be found at G15mods and G15Forums, so be sure to stop by those two sites since together they're essentially the heart of the GamePanel display.
Which commercial games will support the GamePanel display - and how - is entirely up to the game developers, not Logitech. Historically, commercial developer support for the GamePanel display has been spotty at best. On one hand, some games such as Prey and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars make excellent use of the display by respectively showing the orientation of gravity and progress towards the next rank.
On the other hand, titles like Crysis Wars make such poor use of the second display that it's simply more convenient to use the on-screen HUD. There are also times when a developer will embrace the mini display in one game, only for the sequel to abandon it as was the case Unreal Tournament 3. Some game developers Valve Software have yet to make any GamePanel-enabled titles whatsoever. In these cases it's best to look at the community forums for user-created applets like TF2Stats that can report on vital statistics, but these programs may not always be available or as well-maintained.
A number of utilities also make use of the LCD display; Ventrilo will display the name of who's talking, Fraps can display framerate statistics, LCD Studio can report on computer vitals such as temperatures, network utilization and etc. In essence, you need to search around to see what the G15/G19 is really capable of. Because the G19 is so new, there's not many games or applications available yet that make use of the color display's extended capabilities. Even so, the existing black and white applets available are just as useful and not to be discredited.
So far there's only one commercial game that supports the extended capabilities of the G19, and that's World of Warcraft. There isn't much to say about this game, but from briefly installing the demo, this game made good use of the screen's 320x240 real estate: chat, player stats, and battlegrounds. As for other titles, some will eventually make good use of the real estate by highlighting important events on a mini-map. That'd be pretty cool if if it was pulled off correctly in an RTS-type game.
One last plugin that was deserving of attention is Okio's G19 video output module for VLC. That's right folks, the most versatile media player known to man complete with subtitle and codec support up the wazoo is now compatible with the G19 gaming keyboard.
Macintosh Support
The Macintosh sticker on the Logitech G19's box was quite a surprise after having seen countless forum posts begging for Mac support with the G15. Yet, the G19's software's design and functionality seems almost identical to that on Windows. Macros can be just as complex with lengthy commands and variable time delays, the GamePanel software works and includes an SDK to be used with XCode, and the media applets integrate perfectly with iTunes and Quicktime.
There are a few minor differences to note between the Mac and PC versions, however, such as the different LCD fonts and lack of fine-grained LCD brightness controls. What's more likely to cause heartache though is the lack of a RSS, POP3 and YouTube applets, though it's possible that we'll see these released in a future update. Not all differences are bad, as the Media Display applet for Mac has the new ability to display iTunes album artwork. There's a bug with this applet that can prevent it from showing ID3 tags on a very small subset of a MP3 library, but overall, Logitech's effort is a very welcome change for gamers who choose to think different.
Recap
- User-configurable backlighting
- Intuitive creation of powerful macros
- Vibrant and responsive LCD display
- Backwards-compatible with G15 apps
- Open SDK for developers
- Powered USB 2.0 hub built-in
- Supports any six simultaneous keypresses
- Gaming Mode disables the Windows key
- High MSRP
- AC adapter hates vertical power strips
- Limited backlighting brightness
- Cable routing is ineffective when the G19 is propped up
- Keys are responsive, but aren't mechanical in design
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