The Logitech G15 was initailly created in 2005. They decided the design just needed a bit of tweaking as it was a profitable product. In 2007, they "Revised" the original keyboard ( hence the name Rev.2 ) and this is what we'll be discussing in this review. I never own the original product, however, that won't deter me from making a few comparisons never the less.

 I don't like keyboards that feel cheap, nor do I like ones that have non-traditional layouts that force me to re-learn key locations. I'm a Traditionalist. 

The original Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard appealed to me for these reasons:

 Besides having all sorts of extra geek-friendly features such as backlighting, extra gaming macro keys and an LCD, it featured a full-size, traditional key layout. No cramped arrow keys, no re-arranged keys and no compromises. However, what you do have with the G15 v2 is a backlit keyboard and LCD and extra macro-ready keys. What you can do with these extra features is quite impressive, thanks to the software, as we'll see.

The G15 is strictly USB-only; this is because of the LCD, which also must receive data from your PC. Sotware must be installed ( comes with keyboard ) to make it functional. More on that later...

Left pic - 2005 Model / Right pic - 2007 Model

The major difference between the original and the new G15 is the reduced number of extra macro keys ( left hand side of keyboard ). These are referred to as 'G keys', and are meant to stand for "Gaming". Either way, the original had 18 G-keys; the original has only six, a third of the original. There are also three mode buttons - M1-M3 - above the G-keys that allow you to switch between sets of functions for the keys, effectively giving you 18 different macros. However, the original G15 also had these for effectively 54 different key assignments.

Compare below paragraghs with pic

The other major difference is the LCD. Though it retains the same dimensions (160 x 43) as the original, it is noticeably smaller and is fixed in position, unlike the original LCD, which was mounted on a hinge and could be closed, covering up the LCD and media-related buttons. Additionally, the backlighting for the unit is now orange rather than blue.

The most important thing to me was the standard layout of the G15. No surprises here, just a standard, full-size layout. The extra G-keys are to the left of the standard keys, and form a vertical row of three groups of two. The M1-M3 keys and the Macro Record keys are above, and distinguish themselves from normal keys by being shorter; the currently active mode key will be lit up. The Macro Record key is for quickly recording a macro and then storing it into one of the G-keys. It's handy when you're in a game and quickly need to redefine one of the G-keys to perform a new function. Lastly, the silver sliding switch just above the F3 and F4 keys can be used to deactivate the Windows keys on the keyboard; this prevents you from accidentally bringing up the Start menu while in a full-screen game, only to return to the game to find yourself dead.

The LCD area features two groups of buttons. First are the media buttons - you have the standard play/pause, stop, forward/reverse and volume control buttons, all arranged around the LCD. The major difference from the original G15 is that the volume control used to be a dial. I personally prefer a dial (the classic approach) as it's more intuitive. There's also a mute button, but it's off to the right, above the Print Screen key.

The second group of buttons is those that directly control the LCD. There are four buttons below the LCD and one just to its left. The function of these buttons depends on the applet that's currently running/being displayed on the screen but they can be used for things like cycling through the running applets and so forth. They become very useful for developers who want to add functionality to an applet they're making for the G15, since Logitech has encouraged third party development by releasing an SDK for the LCD.

The back of the keyboard has two USB ports, like the original. These can be useful for plugging in a mouse or a USB drive, since they're close. While they're okay for these sorts of devices, you probably cannot plug in devices that draw a lot of power, since the USB hub is not powered.

Though you can turn off the backlighting (there are 3 settings: dim, bright and off), without the lighting the keys become difficult to read. I leave it off during daytime use switch back and forth between dim and bright for evening use. But thta's more of a mood thing.

There's not much to say of installation, other than the software was pretty easy to install and use. Normally, I recommend going to Logitech's site to download the latest software, but as of this writing, no newer versions of the GamePanel software are available, so I just used the provided version on the installation CD. After installation, you'll find two new programs ( and tray icons ) on your system - the Profile Manager, which deals with key assignments for the G-key, and the GamePanel Manager, which controls what's displayed on the LCD.

The Profile Manager is fairly intuitive; after installation it'll scan your HDD for any games that are on its list and then create profiles for each one. It won't automatically fill in key assignments - that's up to you - but you don't have to go through the trouble of manually finding each game's executable and creating a profile for it. Additionally, the currently active mode (M1, M2 or M3) will be displayed on the Profile Manager.

Not only can you assign keystrokes to a G-key, but you can also assign entire macros, using the software or the quick-record macro key on the keyboard. You can also have it record the specific timing you used to create the macro, if that's essential for the game/application you're using the macro in.

The LCD Manager is where you can customize the display to suit your needs. You can set things like brightness, contrast and invert the image (an 'on' pixel becomes 'off' and vice versa). The real fun comes in configuring what applets can be run on the G15. In addition to the support from various games, since Logitech released the SDK for the G15 LCD, many third-party applets have also been created, and can be found on sites like G15Mods and G15Forums.

www.g15mods.com  /  www.g15forums.com

In conclusion, this keyboard is designed with the Gamer in mind. The G15 is designed to look up available games on your PC and decifer which ones it supports automatically. Once decifered, it will allow to to assign the G-keys for shortcut in game commands via a listing from a drop down menu for whatever game it allows. For me, it saw Lord of the Rings Online, World of Warcraft, UT2003, and  Vampire : The Masqurade. The G-keys in game worked quite well and were assigned to key strokes that I frequently used. A bit of memorization is involved. I configured all my games to use the same G-key(s) to aid in memorization.

A neat feature I enjoyed while gaming is the LCD. In RPG's, it would tell you what sector you were in ( map wise ) while playing. I didn't have to refer to the World map as often. It also states what Stats you current character possesses in the way of hit points, armor, intelligence, constitution etc. So that was one more thing I didn't need to refer to and it aids in upgrading your character at a later date as you can see exactly what their weak points are.

The G15 is overpriced for a keyboard IMO. I bought mine on sale ( or I probably wouldn't have bought it ). The LCD is more of a gimmick more than anything else, however it is handy for it's few supported games. In non-supported games, the keyboard works like a regular one. Handy features that I use it for is the LCD date and clock and the backlite keyboard. For everyday use outside of gaming, I have assigned the G-keys for Desktop, Webpage, Calculator, Windows Media Player and Email.