Owners of the G15 Keyboard?

G

Gutspiller

Gawd
Joined
Oct 19, 2005
Messages
576
I'm thinking about getting one. Are there any downsides that users of this keyboard have noticed?

I've never owned a keyboard capable of doing all the macros and stuff. I am looking forward to using them in some FPS games which will be it's main purpose other than a regular ol' keyboard for computer work.

One of the reasons I want to get this keyboard is that I'm tired of my keys wearing off of my keyboards and I'm hoping that with the purchase of this keyboard it will solve this problem.

Is the lowest level the lights go on the keyboard low enough? I'm a little concerned that they will still be bright and will bug me while I'm trying to focus on my monitor.

I've looked at others with lights behind the keys like the ones from Razor and without the lights the keys look very black and unreadable, but the G15 at least looks like you might be able to make them out even with the lights off (just incase it's too bright in some settings).

Another aspect that I'm concerned about is that speed that it sends the signal of key touches to the computer. I've read somewhere, that that can be an important part of a keyboard while gaming as well as that the keyboard can recognize multiple keys being pressed at the same time.

Recommendations or anything I should know, good or bad about the G15 keyboard?

Has anybody used the G15, but prefers something else?

Thanks for any help on this purchase.
 
Okay to the keys wearing off, mine are fine after TONS of heavy use.

I have NEVER used the macros. EVER. They don't support mouse clicks and stuff, which kinda sucks...

the highest backlighting level is dim enough that it will not bother you.

You won't have to turn the lights off, so non issue :)

LCD Apps are amazing, flat out, they have tons of useful info if you get the right ones :D
 
10 out of 10 for me. i also never used the macros. correction, i used them about a year ago to make an anti-AFK WoW macro to farm honor points during my high warlord grind. lasted all of a week before i stopped using it. nveer had a reason to use macros since.

the backlight is fantastic. the LCD is great. i have over 6 programs that natively support it, not including various games. games support is rather useless. it shows info thats easier seen on your screen. my keys arent rubbing off after 1 year of extremely heavy use. one spot of the grey finish is wearing off, but it's wear my left hand rests. the wrist rest is still fully functional. the media keys are great and backlit. the Windows key toggle is fantastic, i used to pry the windows keys off, now i flick a switch.

best keyboard ive ever seen for gaming and works great with overall PC tasks.
 
i love mine! i have the macros as shortcut to open apps, thats all i use it for. i love all the LCD apps out there. that's the main reason i bough it. The highest LCD brightness is dim enough not to bother.


10/10
 
try to get the original one if possible, i have the original (blue) and my buddy has the new version (orange). the orange just isnt as great or impressive, esp considering the lcd screen is like half the size and you cant rotate it, no spin wheel for volume control (only buttons) and 1/3 as many macro keys just to name a few reasons.

i will be keeping this keyboard forever, i absolutely love it, and i wouldnt trade it for anything
 
Is there any place to get the old G15 other than used from somewhere? I know the new models been out a while, and I'd prefer the older version.
 
my buddy just ordered the g15 a couple months ago and was tricked into getting the new one, he though he was getting the old one. i dont think you will be able to find an old one NIB unless you hit up ebay or the forums FS/FT threads. Just wanted to warn you that some etailers might 'trick' you into thinking your getting the old version
 
ADRENALIN_2099 said:
i love mine! i have the macros as shortcut to open apps, thats all i use it for. i love all the LCD apps out there. that's the main reason i bough it. The highest LCD brightness is dim enough not to bother.


10/10
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Same here...bought it for the addon lcd and the keyboard backlight. It is also a decent typing keyboard as well (the original G15, not the v2).
 
The G15 is great..... macros run EXTREMELY fast and I'm pretty sure they do support mouse clicks too (I also use a n52 for macros, so I may be confused on that point).

The only downsides are it's a bit large (my keyboard tray is cramped with my n52, G15, and Ratpadz XT on it, but meh), and it's a bitch if you want to take it apart and clean it due to the number of parts involved. On the other hand, after taking it apart to clean it, I can say that I'm very impressed with the quality of the construction and I'm rather confident that it will hold up for many more years (plus, it looks almost new after cleaning :))
 
I love the original G15. I actually have some macros set up to do copy, cut, and paste. I also have one set up to type [H] :p
 
I've never used the macros either, one reason I almost switched to the smaller Rev 2 G15, but I like blue LEDs too much. I'll just wait for this one to die someday and switch to the Rev 2. Also the Rev 2 is easier to read the keys with no backlighting. On the Rev 1, if the lights are off, like when in BIOS, then it's a slight drag to make sure I'm hitting the right key.
 
Somnambulator said:
10 out of 10 for me. i also never used the macros. correction, i used them about a year ago to make an anti-AFK WoW macro to farm honor points during my high warlord grind. lasted all of a week before i stopped using it. nveer had a reason to use macros since.
Click to expand...

LOL Same here :p
But yea my original G15 is still in tip top shape just like it was when it was new. No keys missing paint or anything.
 
I have had mine for a couple years now. It has held up great, no worn keys or any burnt out lights or broken keys. The only thing is I accidentally sucked the G15 emblem on the right above the num pad off with a vaccum cleaner :(
 
SouLXIV said:
lol what's with the hate on the new g15? I love mine.
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Me too. I like the blue of the original better, but otherwise the v2 is sleek and refined looking compared to the v1 that looks like someone modded it in their basement.

Having said that, I've seen the v1 for sale in Canada recently . . . and costing more than the v2 :D
 
blue is kinda getting old for me...everything is blue now. The orange actually look really nice up close and less distracting.
 
As an avid gamer, i have never used the macro keys (except for in City of Villains for a quick lazy ass buff macro). Other than that, i love it. The applications are amazing and allow excellent multitasking capability. The backlit keys are not bothersome at all (unless you look at the keys when you type?!), and they can be turned off so that's not even an issue. Feels nice too, have yet to experience faded keys.

One problem though is that i can't seem to press more than two arrow keys at once, which owns me in Stepmania. That the same for everyone else on the G15 v2?
 
I use the macros all the time...

...just not for games :p

But I prefer the key feel of the ridiculously named Reclusa (I know it's a snake but still...).
 
I like my eclipse II i know there are no macros, but when it comes to the light it isnt overbearibly bright even when it is completely dark and even with out the lights on you can see the keys and such quite well. I have used a reved G15 but i have the orginal i just thought it was wayyyy to big. Also how you cant change the light color on the g15 is a let down because you can get board of a color veryyyyy quickly. Lastly the g15 can only be set to three light levels with the eclipse you can do as many as a 270 degree knob will let you. But thats my opinion. GL with what ever you chose (dont go razer terrible keyboards.)
 
2 more questions...

1. People talk about "paint" wearing off. I was under the impression that the keys don't have paint on them and that it's the light shining threw the letter. Is there something that could wear off on the keys to make them unviewable of what the character is? Could you wear off the actual key coating so that instead of a letter you have a faded blob on the key?

2. One person mentioned that they can't press more than 2 arrow keys at the same time. Is this a problem with just the arrow keys or just a unique problem for this person? Playing FPS with this I need it to allow a decent amount of different keys to be pressed together or very close letting others go. Can anybody confirm multiple key presses for this keyboard?

Thanks for all your comments. Other than these last 2 questions I think I'm ready for it.
 
1. Thats exactly what happens, you end up with a nice bright blob.

2. Can't saw I've ever noticed this problem before, but I'm not exactly a hardcore FPS player, so someone else could probably give a better response.
 
darkpaw said:
1. Thats exactly what happens, you end up with a nice bright blob.
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Well that's dumb, that's my main purpose of wanting to upgrade. I need a keyboard that WONT wear off... I mean for at least a good 5 years of use.

Does anybody know of a keyboard that is like a console controller that has a good thick plastic coating over the letters so that what I am wearing off is just a see-threw plastic coating and not the actual key lettering? This and multiple key presses at the same time are my two main concerns. I've never used a macro keyboard before and if I can find one that has it, great, but these two other features are really what I am looking to resolve with this upgrade.

Suggestions? (No I don't want to do a mod of coating a keyboard with clear spray :p)
 
I had problems with the keys wearing really badly on my original G15. The newer version is showing very little signs of wear. I like it quite a bit but I miss my mechanical keyboards.
 
The key wear problem was fixed a couple months after release TMK. My G15 is over 2 years old now??? Some smart engineer somewhere had the keys painted on the outside on the original release.
 
rls669 said:
Me too. I like the blue of the original better, but otherwise the v2 is sleek and refined looking compared to the v1 that looks like someone modded it in their basement.

Having said that, I've seen the v1 for sale in Canada recently . . . and costing more than the v2 :D
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The switch to amber lights is probably due to the same reason many aircraft and vehicles use amber backlighting. It is much better at preserving your night vision, as your eyes stay more dilated with the less intense amber color. Fun fact: the old amber screen CRT monitors back in the 1980s were MUCH better on the eyes than the green screens were. As a matter of fact, the amber displays were better from an eyestrain point of view than the latest and greatest color displays. Some early VGA monitors had a color/green/amber switch on them, so one could use the 'color' scheme they preferred.
 
can someone tell me where to get some good plug and play apps for the LCD. Preferably a temp monitoring app. I have the G15 v2 orange backlight. Thanks!
 
Have one, and as others have experienced, I've found the macros to be underused. Most game-related panel apps are less than whelming, but there are some good ones out there. The orange isn't very distracting, and I haven't worn through any keys yet.

I love SirReal's g15 panel app, nice one-screen memory, cpu, network monitoring with a clock and everything.
 
I don't use the lcd screen for much more than the clock, as I generally have a real monitoring utility up on a secondary monitor.

I do use the crap out of the macros though. Everything from launching apps, opening folders, and other stupid stuff in games. (Item hotkeys in DotA for instance)
 
i know what DoTA and that scares me when its in an unrelated forum....


anyway i use both the lcd and the macros. My macros are primarily for non time sensitive stuff, such as certain functions in mmorpgs. i love the applets i can get for my lcd and when i'm really bored I can tweak applets to meet my needs.

I have the revision 1 and prefer it. But if i absolutely couldn't get the rev1 anymore i would move to the rev2 instead of a different keyboard
 
I had one, though I managed to break it:) Here's my list:

Pros-
1. Keys are positioned well, they offer good tactile response and are positioned where I expected them to be.
2. LCD screen can be useful for info such as ventrilo, quick leaderboard stats in games, and other such "quick glance" information
3. USB hub with two extra ports, comes in handy when you use as many USB devices as some of us do.
4. Software to support heavy keyboard customization and macro programming.
5. Media keys are probably the greatest.

Cons-
1. Very big, if desk space is at a premium, it's tough to fit.
2. A bit heavier than a normal keyboard due to the lighting and extra keys
3. Extra vulnerable to liquid damage(I found this out the hard way)


Basically I enjoyed the keyboard, though I don't think its worth the extra cash necessarily. I didn't find that I missed any of the extra features too badly in any of my games, what I did really miss was the volume dial and the media keys, those were darn handy and worked very well on the G15.

The one weakness? Liquid damage can seep into the extra cracks if you are careless like I was and damage the keyboard. I spilled such a small amount that I didn't see it on the black of the keyboard, but it seeped into the cracks and ended up wrecking my keyboard.
 
Quick question for all the G15 v2 users out there: How tall is the keyboard? If you could, I would like the 'tallness' both with the feet out and in. My desk will only allow me to have keyboards that are 2" tall or less, and my current keyboard is ~2.25" :mad:
 
The G15 V2 with feet out is about 2.25, and about 1.83 or so with feet in
 
With feet out:
dscn0732ub4.jpg



With feet in:
dscn0724pz2.jpg


Two inches tall would just barely fit, with the feet in no problem.
 
honestly if you are buying one, get the newer version. It's sleeker, more compact, and it is HIGHER quality. A couple of my friends have the older version, and one of them broke, the other the paint is wearing off and the LCD is getting flimsy.
 
I have had the Old Style G15 for 3 years and I use it every day. From typing papers to gaming. I have never had a problem with it. No keys paint peeling off or anything. My friend has the new style and although I love mine, I would highly recommend the new style. People have said its smaller and more compact but it still has the same feel as the larger one. I only use maybe 4 macros total so the other 14 aren't really needed. The LCD is one of the best features on this keyboard. Although the noise of the keyboard can be a little loud at times. The key stroke and feel is just natural. If you need someone to tell you whether or not to buy this keyboard than let me tell you that you would be making the right choice in purchasing one. Either the old or new style. Either will be great.
 
Hey, OP. From the looks of this thread, it appears as though you have decided on the G15.

How do you like it? How's the build quality of the keyboard (like any other plastic keyboard)? For me, it's a toss-up between the G15 and the Enermax Aurora keys.. they're both around the same price, but I just don't know which one to pick.

I just thought i'd ask somebody who has a fresh opinion on the keyboard.. let me know!
 
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