Logitech G11 - Review

So after half a year of using just a £10 keyboard from PC World, I thought it was time to invest in Logitech's G11 gaming keyboard. You might be more familiar with the G15, one of Logitech's most popular keyboards appealing to more the hardcore gaming crowd. The G11 is essentially the G15 but with one main noticeable difference, the G11 doesn't have the LCD screen! 

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When I first got the box the one thing I noticed straight away was the size. It was much bigger than my previous keyboard, thanks to the 18 Macro keys on the end which we'll come back to. Opening up the box reveals not much. All you get with the G11 is the keyboard itself, a wrist rest and a driver & software CD.

The hardware

Looking closer at the keyboard reveals your standard QWERTY layout with 18 macro keys that can be programmable for up to 54 functions! The addition of the great number of macro keys does make for a long keyboard (about 21 inches long) which makes the G11 quite a bit bigger than most other keyboards! Above the 18 G buttons you have 3 more; M1, M2 and M3. All 3 can have a separate set of Macro keys so that's 54 different macros your keyboard could do!

As well the macro keys, you also get several multimedia buttons which include; next and previous, play and pause, stop and a rotating disk for volume control! Moving right there are two more buttons that allow you to mute all sounds and to adjust the backlit keys to 3 different levels of brightness (off, dim and bright). 

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For the PC gamers here, how annoying does it get when you're playing a game and accidentally press the Windows key and your game gets minimised leaving you out of the action for quite some time? Fortunately the G11 has a switch built in that disables the Windows key so you can press it all you want mid-game and nothing will happen! 

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On the back of the keyboard we have two USB ports that are very useful. Very handy when you just need a USB accessing quickly for a pen drive or even to plug your mouse into!

That's more or less the hardware of the keyboard, and for the price the G11 has plenty of features making it, once again, worth the money. At first however it did take me quite a while to get used to the layout of the keys so that could be something to consider before making a purchase.

The supplied wrist wrist I found was very useful, typing without got quite uncomfortable after a while due to the height of the keyboard. The G keys have been very welcome, making simple tasks quicker to process.

The software

When you put in the software disk that came with the keyboard, there isn't much that you can customise. The main function of the Logitech's G-series Keyboard Profiler is to assign your G keys to specific macros! I found the software to be easy to navigate, and very simple to use.

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Built in is a Macro Manager that houses plenty of popular short-cuts, such as controls for in game situations and other every day jobs such as saving files or copy and pasting. It's very straight forward and easy to use.

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As well as the Macro Manager, you can also record short-cuts by using the Record function. Again, this is very simple to use. Select which you're assigning to, hit the Start Recording button and type whatever keys you want the G to do!

After spending a short period of time customising your G keys, the G11 does wonders. Although I'm sure if you did assign functions to all 54 possible G keys, it could be rather difficult remembering what does what!

Final thoughts

Thinking about it now, there isn't much wrong with the G11. Once you've got used to the layout and can type comfortably on it, I think it's a great keyboard for the price. I was lucky enough to be able to get my G11 from Overclockers for a special offer of just £25! Admittedly I do still make the old mistake of pressing a G key instead of Ctrl or Caps Lock, but that's something I can live with.

The design of the keyboard is nice, but nothing special. It doesn't look much like a gaming keyboard, comparing it to something like the “Steelseries Merc Stealth Keyboard”, for example.

Putting that aside, the keyboards exterior is pretty nice. With a solid feel, and comfortable keys that make typing a joy once you know your way around. Also the backlit keys make late night gaming sessions possible.

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The software makes using all of the Macro keys simple to assign, with no complaints from me. As well as the G keys, the other features such as the media controls and the Windows Key disabler are very welcome, and once again very easy to use!

Overall you're getting a great keyboard, for a great price just the few minor annoyances will unfortunately bring the Logitech g11's score down.

8/10

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