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View Full Version : my logitech G510 arrived, my thoughts



burningforce
07-21-2011, 01:01 PM
Hello all,
My new G510 gaming keyboard arrived a few days ago and I would like to share my thoughts on it with you.

Product page : http://www.logitech.com/en-us/keyboards/keyboard/devices/7246

wikipedia page : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logitech_G510

Ok from what I can tell, this is the successor for the discontinued logitech G11 keyboard. I have owned the G11 keyboard and used it for a year and a half until it broke recently. I decided to just buy this model instead of going to ebay looking for a another G11 because I got a %50 discount off the retail price of the G510.

I will be comparing the G510 to the G11.

Pro's of G510 :
1 - has monochrome LCD screen that can list what profile you are using, what your HP/MP is in a game, computer performance info, etc. You would have to push a few buttons and then select what info you would like the LCD to show.

2 - nice and big keyboard. I really like the size of the G510 keyboard, some would say it is too big, but I think it is a decent size when you add up all the features it has.

3 - buttons galore!! the G510 has 18-programmable G-Keys that you can use the logitech software to program what key does what in you're operating system or game or program. I believe the logitech SDK uses scripting language Lua to make applets or form advanced macros, but you do not need to do this unless you need something advanced. Note, isboxer/innerspace can take advantage of the G-Keys if you would like to map to any of these keys. All you need to do when choosing the key you press to activate the mapped key, just choose any G-Key you like in the dropdown menu.

4 - Nice media buttons. I like the size and look of the media control buttons, they do not take up much room and they are easy to press. The volume button is neat as it is not really a button but a scrolling wheel, easy to increase/decrease volume.

Now for the cons:

1 - the keyboard sits lower then my G11 used to, I even have the little "keyboard raisers" open and still the angle is weird as the keyboard is not lifted as high as I would like it.

2 - lack of USB hub. Nothing too serious, but the G11 had a USB 2.0 slot on each side of the back of the keyboard. This was very useful for me as I could just plug my multiboxing usb hardware into the usb slot or I could plug in my ps2 controller to pc hardware into the usb slot instead of going to the back of my computer and routing the cables to where I am sitting. The G510 has a headphone/mic input instead of USB, which, in my opinion is quite useless these days.

3 - Buttons do not press down fully. You actually have to push the keyboard key in the middle part of the key to get the button to go down fully. If you hit the key toward the edge of the button, the key(s) sometimes get stuck and get caught on something not allowing the button to go fully down. This is hell when typing, I am always having to go back and correct my typing as I may have missed a few letters.

4 - smaller keys then the G11. I had a problem with the G11 keys being somewhat small, but the G510 keys are even smaller. I find myself hitting multiple keys at once or hitting the wrong keys that I wanted. Combine this with the button pressing problem and you have an annoying time, especially when you are gaming or need to type something fast.

5 - lcd screen buttons. there are 5 buttons under the lcd screen, but they are not labeled. When you are looking at the lcd screen, it will tell you what button to press to scroll down or accept. Though I would of just preferred to have dedicated keys that allows you to scroll down and or accept. just a nitpick here.

6 - key lightning effects. The cool thing is you can change the color of the key backlight in the logitech software. The problem is when you change the color of the keys, the lcd turns that color as well. Not sure if there is a way to separate the two. Another problem is it does not matter what color you set the keys to, the lights just are not that bright and is so dim that in the dark, I still can barely see the lights.

7 - pain in wrists. because of the lower height of the keyboard and the use of the wrist rests, I am finding myself rubbing my wrists and taking more frequent breaks as my writs are very sore and stiff. I will have to find a way raise the height, might have to mod something to the bottom of the keyboard

overall this keyboard is decent if I paid $30-$40 for it. But this keyboard retails at a whooping $100 + tax + shipping in most online and brick and mortar stores. I paid $64 for this keyboard and I feel I did not get what I thought I was going to get. in a way you can say I feel jipped. comparing this with the G11, this is not the successor of the great G11, but rather a version of the G11 where they seemed to fix a few problems but ended up making more problems.

If you are in the market for a keyboard like this, try to find a new boxed G11 if you can find one. although you may be paying more for the G11 in the long run seeing as it is discontinued and stock is low. If you can not find a G11 anywhere and would like the 18 g-keys on a keyboard, then I would look into one of the cheap "x-keys" keypads and a $20 multimedia keyboard.

I can not really recommend this keyboard for multiboxers and gamers who rely on perfect timed and accurate key presses. You may end up just getting frustrated and trashing the keyboard and going back to look for another keyboard.

remanz
07-21-2011, 02:57 PM
3 - Buttons do not press down fully. You actually have to push the keyboard key in the middle part of the key to get the button to go down fully. If you hit the key toward the edge of the button, the key(s) sometimes get stuck and get caught on something not allowing the button to go fully down. This is hell when typing, I am always having to go back and correct my typing as I may have missed a few letters.



this
seems like a pretty serious issue. Even my old cheapo keyboard doesn't have this problem.

I am using Razer Anansi, which is pretty good. It is a little pricy. But I am really happy with it.
http://store.razerzone.com/store/razerusa/en_US/pd/productID.220723800

Plus it looks good paired with naga :O

burningforce
07-21-2011, 03:46 PM
yeah it really is a serious issue. if and when this keyboard breaks down, I am just going to get a cheapo media keyboard + cheapest x-keys i can find.

that razer anasi looks sexy, but I think I am done with $40+ "gaming" keyboards. What has me interested is getting that x-keys matrix circuit board or something like it and making a nice keypad or even making a keyboard. It will be one hell of a lot of soldering, but I think it would be fun and educational.

Lax
07-21-2011, 07:50 PM
I picked up the Anansi recently for adding support to IS/ISBoxer, but was as disappointed as I am with a lot of keyboards and mice: the buttons don't function as individual extra buttons. Sad Panda :(

Logitech's G-series keyboards (none of the mice) all make the cut as far as that goes, but as an owner of a G15 v1 and a G510, I agree that some of the physical characteristics of the G510 could be better. If you liked the G11 I would have suggested the G110 ;) Personally I just need the added buttons to function as added buttons instead of emulating an entire keyboard, and I could care less about most of the lighting effects and the LCD.

What I am kind of partial to these days is my Logitech G13 + Razer Naga combo. Keyboard is mostly irrelevant with this combo, which is good since I am usually on my laptop at the moment. G13 thumbstick moves all my slaves, Naga buttons power my tank's action bar (or whoever I'm leading with, usually the tank), etc. The layout of the G13 is meant to fit your hand, so you shouldn't get this pain issue. The combo works out pretty well. I need to put up some info somewhere ;)

Final note on mice... the only mice I've found so far that get the damn buttons right are the Steel Series WoW and Cataclysm mice. If only the Steel Series keyboards also got them right.

burningforce
07-21-2011, 08:43 PM
i have not thought about a g13 + razer naga combo, but will check into it in the future.

also never heard anyone chat about it, but is isboxer able to utilize the buttons on the naga mouse, or do I have to use the software that came with the naga?

oh and I checked all current keyboards with extra keys, the G510 was the only one that had enough buttons on it. I wish I would of thought about the naga at the time, but whatever. maybe I can just sell this keyboard for cheap or something and try to make some money back. :P

Elgert
07-22-2011, 09:55 AM
hmm ... never noticed any problems with the key myself.

Anyways, a very nice thing is using the color-shift intelligently(ish). I use the "mr" buttons to toggle ISBoxer mouse broadcast, so when broadcast is on the keyboard lights up in red. Never once forgot to turn it off when done :p

Sam DeathWalker
07-22-2011, 04:17 PM
All my stuffs in logitech right now but if I get my usb splitter working I am moving to this:

http://shop.steelseries.com/us/index.php/keyboards-us/merc-stealth-illuminated-gaming-keyboard.html


Just to many keys (34) without shift compared to anything else.

Kedash00
07-22-2011, 04:27 PM
i ended up getting the G15 v1 G13 and Razer Naga, i had to get used to them one at a time before adding more to the other deivces, but i've got extra buttons even 10 boxing.
I use it the same way as Lax, Naga controls the tank, G13 controls the slaves movement and G15 controls everything else, i rarely use the keyboard buttons.
But it's 46 keys that a are customizable not counting keybinds, so more than enough.
The only thing was with the Naga it took a while to get used to because the buttons go so far back it stil feels wierd hitting them on the back row.

Lax
07-22-2011, 10:27 PM
i have not thought about a g13 + razer naga combo, but will check into it in the future.

also never heard anyone chat about it, but is isboxer able to utilize the buttons on the naga mouse, or do I have to use the software that came with the naga?

oh and I checked all current keyboards with extra keys, the G510 was the only one that had enough buttons on it. I wish I would of thought about the naga at the time, but whatever. maybe I can just sell this keyboard for cheap or something and try to make some money back. :P
ISBoxer unfortunately does not natively support the Naga. I use it in the default 1 through = mode, but yeah if you dont want the default 1 through = or the numpad modes, you will currently need to program the device through the Razer software. (Run it as Administrator)