Page 2: Testing and Use, Conclusion
Testing and Use
While Logitech's products are usually standard fair to receive high praise on ASE Labs, the G19 is a bit different. There are some flaws that make this keyboard less attractive than the G15 model. Witness the video review portion to see the Editor-in-Chief at it again.
Let's start with the good. The LCD is big and bright and all G15 programs will work on the G19. It would be pretty bad if all the older apps suddenly failed to function with a similar keyboard. The G19 applications include one for the LCD and one for the keyboard portion. The ability to select a backlight color is a major step forward and since you have three profiles available, you can use a separate color for each profile. Most people will stick with a single color (red being the favorite here).
Applications for the LCD range from the useful (the system monitor, clock, etc) to the pretty useless (Youtube app? Why??). The above two shots show different backlighting colors and the one of the right shows the keyboard playing a Youtube video. Yes, this keyboard can play Youtube videos. What you need to-do is install the Flash player in IE even if you have it in Firefox or it won't work. Then you can copy a Youtube video link and it will play on the keyboard LCD screen. Why is this useful? The question remains unanswered here. Thankfully Logitech updated the system monitor and clock for color use and those are fairly useful apps to have on.
The keyboard does not work in Linux (Ubuntu) aside from the generic keyboard functionality. You are stuck with white backlit keys and the standard Logitech logo stuck on the LCD. While this isn't terrible, it would have been nice to see Logitech support the operating system that makes this keyboard special. Release a SDK for Linux!
Aside from that, there is another issue with the keyboard that is unacceptable. The keyboard itself feels worse than the G15 keyboard that this is supposed to supplant. The keys feel mushy and the spacebar is the worst. If you push the center of the spacebar, it glides down pretty smoothly, but if you hit the edges of it, it doesn't glide down in place easily. For a typist that rarely hits the center of the spacebar, this is extremely annoying. Just the fact that the keyboard seems to be slowing down typing is just another flaw. The G15 felt solid while typing. The G19 feels more awkward and less responsive.
Conclusion
As with all keyboards, your result may be different than ours. You need to feel any keyboard you might consider purchasing. In our view, the keyboard isn't worth the »$200 asking price when Logitech itself makes a »perfectly good »gaming keyboard at a lower price. Even though the keyboard packs a slew of new features, the major point of the keyboard (being able to type easily) takes a backseat to that and it is unacceptable. We at ASE Labs generally like Logitech products, but the G19 is not recommended. Stick with the G15 if you want a really nice gaming keyboard.
That being said, if you feel you NEED to have the ability to watch Youtube videos on your keyboard, this is pretty much the only way you're going to do it. Is it worth dropping $200 for the ability? That's up to you.
ASE Labs would like to thank Logitech for making this review possible.
While Logitech's products are usually standard fair to receive high praise on ASE Labs, the G19 is a bit different. There are some flaws that make this keyboard less attractive than the G15 model. Witness the video review portion to see the Editor-in-Chief at it again.
Let's start with the good. The LCD is big and bright and all G15 programs will work on the G19. It would be pretty bad if all the older apps suddenly failed to function with a similar keyboard. The G19 applications include one for the LCD and one for the keyboard portion. The ability to select a backlight color is a major step forward and since you have three profiles available, you can use a separate color for each profile. Most people will stick with a single color (red being the favorite here).
Applications for the LCD range from the useful (the system monitor, clock, etc) to the pretty useless (Youtube app? Why??). The above two shots show different backlighting colors and the one of the right shows the keyboard playing a Youtube video. Yes, this keyboard can play Youtube videos. What you need to-do is install the Flash player in IE even if you have it in Firefox or it won't work. Then you can copy a Youtube video link and it will play on the keyboard LCD screen. Why is this useful? The question remains unanswered here. Thankfully Logitech updated the system monitor and clock for color use and those are fairly useful apps to have on.
The keyboard does not work in Linux (Ubuntu) aside from the generic keyboard functionality. You are stuck with white backlit keys and the standard Logitech logo stuck on the LCD. While this isn't terrible, it would have been nice to see Logitech support the operating system that makes this keyboard special. Release a SDK for Linux!
Aside from that, there is another issue with the keyboard that is unacceptable. The keyboard itself feels worse than the G15 keyboard that this is supposed to supplant. The keys feel mushy and the spacebar is the worst. If you push the center of the spacebar, it glides down pretty smoothly, but if you hit the edges of it, it doesn't glide down in place easily. For a typist that rarely hits the center of the spacebar, this is extremely annoying. Just the fact that the keyboard seems to be slowing down typing is just another flaw. The G15 felt solid while typing. The G19 feels more awkward and less responsive.
Conclusion
As with all keyboards, your result may be different than ours. You need to feel any keyboard you might consider purchasing. In our view, the keyboard isn't worth the »$200 asking price when Logitech itself makes a »perfectly good »gaming keyboard at a lower price. Even though the keyboard packs a slew of new features, the major point of the keyboard (being able to type easily) takes a backseat to that and it is unacceptable. We at ASE Labs generally like Logitech products, but the G19 is not recommended. Stick with the G15 if you want a really nice gaming keyboard.
That being said, if you feel you NEED to have the ability to watch Youtube videos on your keyboard, this is pretty much the only way you're going to do it. Is it worth dropping $200 for the ability? That's up to you.
ASE Labs would like to thank Logitech for making this review possible.