Wow, this looks like a really nice keyboard

[DeeBye]

Link



It's really pricey, at $80US.

The Logitech® G15 keyboard offers gamers an unprecedented level of in-game information, programmability and control. Its adjustable-tilt, backlit LCD display shows you crucial information during game play, and lets you set timers to keep track of game events.

The 18 programmable "G Keys" allow you to execute macros—like casting spells in World of Warcraft—with a single button press, and the backlit keys are great for lights-out play.

All of this sounds great. I've always wanted a keyboard with non-specific mapable keys. The backlighting on keys sounds a bit gimmicky, because who has time to look at a keyboard during intense gameplay? I bet it looks great though. The LCD I think I could do without, unless I had options to show me whatever I wanted it to.

My favourite part is this.

The G15 also features a switch that turns off the 'Windows' key, so hitting that button accidentally won't end your game.

And now I wonder, why don't all keyboards come with this option? Why doesn't Windows come with this option? I love the usefulness of a Windows key, but I always have to resort to rendering it unusable via the registry if I ever want to play a game that requires the use of either the Alt or Ctrl keys, which is all of them.

[Doc]

Link



It's really pricey, at $80US.
All of this sounds great.  I've always wanted a keyboard with non-specific mapable keys.  The backlighting on keys sounds a bit gimmicky, because who has time to look at a keyboard during intense gameplay?  I bet it looks great though.  The LCD I think I could do without, unless I had options to show me whatever I wanted it to.

My favourite part is this.
And now I wonder, why don't all keyboards come with this option?  Why doesn't Windows come with this option?  I love the usefulness of a Windows key, but I always have to resort to rendering it unusable via the registry if I ever want to play a game that requires the use of either the Alt or Ctrl keys, which is all of them.
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Yes, it's nice looking and all of that, but what is it's construction? Does it have good scissor action keys? Is it all soft and spongy? Can an old school typist like my self hammer away on it in frusteration in the dead of night with out destroying it?

It looks gimmicky. But it sounds like it has some nice features.

Oh, and after hearing about the blasted Windows key over and over again from Windows users, I am glad I do not have a windows button. Because the offending keyboard that did that to me, hell, probably the computer too, would be hauled outside, set on a stump, and shot to hell with whatever firearm was handy.

Any other colours?

Oh, and backlit keyboards do more than allow you to see the keys. Depending on how they are backlit, they can provide a warm ambient glow that is easy on the eyes and can even cut back on screen glare, because you can turn the lights down low but still have enough indirect light not coming from the computer screen to balance out your vision. Computer monitors can give you viscious headaches if they are the only light source in the room.

[DeeBye]

Yes, it's nice looking and all of that, but what is it's construction? Does it have good scissor action keys? Is it all soft and spongy? Can an old school typist like my self hammer away on it in frusteration in the dead of night with out destroying it?
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I have confidence in anything Logitech these days. I used to swear by Microsoft keyboards and mice because of the construction and "feel" of them. They felt solid and were (and still are) a joy to use.

I switched to a Logitech MX-510 mouse a little while ago after seeing one on sale at Staples and have since then gained a healthy respect for Logitech's offerings. I've sampled as many Logitech keyboards and mouses as I possibly could, and I think they are at least as good as the Microsoft ones. Probably more so. I lean heavily towards Logitech in the ways of keyboards and mouse these days.

For bulletproof construction and the ability to withstand a maniac pounding on keys all night long, you want an IBM type M keyboard. No Windows key either.

[ima_nerd]

This keyboard is fantastic. A friend of mine saw it and knew he had to have it. He loves it and I've tried it and it's great. The action is great which is not hard to find but the extra features make it worth it. The ability to set one button macros is very cool. Launch a game, log onto a server and join a chat channel all with one button - hella cool. The 3 levels of brightness with the lighting is a nice feature. The massive amount of extra buttons (G keys) is nice for games like WoW for instance where you have a lot of spells and not a lot of convientley located keys. Price tag is high but it's well worth it. Once I scrounge up the money I'm ordering it.

[Alram]

I'm using the N52 by Belkin in my left hand and an 8 buton mouse on my right. The N52 also allows programmable macros which can then be saved for different apps. So you could have 1 for WoW, 1 for D2, and yet another for websurfing, etc. I've been using it for a long time, and it really helps me because I type poorly.

[DeeBye]

I'm using the N52 by Belkin in my left hand.
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Wow, that IS nice. How well does that d-pad work, and can it be configured to be used as a gamepad?

[Daravos]

I'm using the N52 by Belkin in my left hand
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Holy smokes.... *whistles* I LIKE THAT THING!

[Alram]

Wow, that IS nice.  How well does that d-pad work, and can it be configured to be used as a gamepad?
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I use 4 buttons on the D-pad for 4 hotkeys. Could use 8, but i'm afraid of hitting the wrong one. It cold be used for movement of your character of course if you wanted. If I play for seveal hours sometimes my left wrist does get tired, but I really do like the gizmo.

[Doc]

I saw a keyboard I liked.

Well, it wasn't a keyboard.

It was a pair of gloves.

It worked through a series of chords. You would make finger gestures and touch your thumb and finger tips together in certain ways for imput. The whole system once it was learned could boost your words per minute up to 150 for the average user, up past 200 for the exceptional. Your thumb would touch various sections on your finger, the fleshy space between knuckles. And you could press two, or three fingers together at the knuckle for imput as well. Also, there were some combos set aside for common words like "the" "that" "this" and like words. Making a gesture would automatically imput these words, dramatically speeding up typing.

I forget who makes them, but they come in both a Mac version and a Peecee version. They cost 1500 to 2000 dollars and they are custom fitted to your hand. They send a mold kit out to your home where you press your hands in to it. And then a few months later you get these really awesome gloves. There are gloves with different options and means of hooking up to your computer.

I know they are expensive but I kind of want a pair. No more worries about carpal tunnel.

Oh, and the coolest part is you no longer need a mouse! You wiggle your finger in the air and it moves the cursor. You can tap the air to click. You can scroll in a document by moving your finger in a circle clockwise for down and counter clockwise for up. And they can even be macroed for gaming so long as you have a Mac, at least last I heard. The Windows version has some real issues. The gloves work best on a NIX based system. They do work just fine for Linux from what I read.

I think you would look like a wizard casting a spell if you wore these.

Oh, and the gloves need at least half a gig of memory set aside and dedicated for their use, so you need a pretty beefy rig to run them, with at least a gig or two of actual RAM so the glove software can set aside a RAM disk for it's own needs and still leave enough for the system and other software.

[Guest]

Its hard to think that the mouse accurracy could match a laser mouse,. Other than that it sounds cool.

[Doc]

It wasn't a laser that operated the cursor.

It's a little over my head, but one glove had a little box on the back of the hand. Small, not bulky or in the way.

In the box was some sort of gyroscope thingamajig. When you moved your hand, your finger, the cursor would be plotted based on how the gyroscope moved, there is a sensor that sits off to the side of your monitor on a long arm, and the little sensor on top of your monitor reading your finger gestures. I might be using the wrong term here, but if I remember rightly, it triangulated your cursor position based on those factors. It was designed for precise movement. They use this system in all kinds of immersive virtual reality, long distance robotics assisted surgery, you know, high tech stuff like that that buggers the mind when you think about how complicated it really is. It's a lot more accurate once you are trained to use it than your mouse. It was designed under the old human interface guidelines developed by Apple all those years ago after they picked up where Xerox Parc left off. The glove allows you to emulate reaching in to your computer screen to manipulate objects.

Essential Reality, which no longer seems in business, their old website now leads you to a game retailer site, they developed some of the software used for these gloves. Essential Reality: Live life in 3D. I did some beta testing work for them. It's sad that they went under. I didn't even realise till I went looking for info on those gloves last night.

The way things are going, keyboards will not be with us much longer. Computers as we know them have reached the peak of their evolution. What started with the Macintosh all those years ago has come to it's logical conclusion. For computers to evolve further, the humans are the ones that need to change the most, because our outdated imput practices are holding us back. The mouse and keyboard, while fine and good, have reached the end of the line. The "Desktop" theory, developed all those years ago where you interact with a virtual desktop can't go much further. We need a new Macintosh, or any computer that brings about the next phase. Computers have become like cars back in the 50s. Each new model comes out with a few engine tweaks and some larger tailfins, but not much has really changed. It's still a car, it burns gasoline, and it's stuck in a technological rut because nobody can think of the next big thing to replace the automobile.

Immersive computing. Instead of a desktop metaphor, there will be a virtual desktop. When you want a file, you will be able to grasp it. Manipulate it. Hold it, flip through it, read it in much the same way you read a book. I doubt that the spoken word will ever be a reliable form of input on the computer, but it is one way that we might do it. Chords, like the system I mentioned with the gloves, are another. There is of course direct imput from brain to computer, but that is a couple of evolutions away I think. Using the computer will be intuitive and natural. With things, documents, things like spreadsheets or even big graphic projects like making a poster or a billboard advertisement, entire groups of people will be able to work on said document, all together, all at once, in the same virtual room, interacting with one another, being able to see each other's changes in real time and being able to respond and offer feedback in real time. It will change the way we work, how we work.

I just hope I am still alive to see this happen. Very exciting times to be alive in, yes indeedy.

[Rinnhart]

It needs a cup holder.