logitech g19 tft display quotation

For now i use Logitech G19 LCD that i extracted from the keyboard, but this is a temporary solution and needs Logitech keyboard drivers and software installed. (i already have a Razer keyboard, so current solution is not the best)

External LCDs with small colour graphical screen and an interface that can be directly handled by AIDA64 with no special API are quite rare actually. AX206 hacked firmware picture frames come to mind, but I"m not sure if you can still buy one on eBay. Then there"s Digital Devices USB SideshowTouchDisplay, but that may also be a thing of the past. LCDInfo may still produce USBD480, it"s a great display, but it may be too large (it"s 4.3") and too expensive for your project:

The never-ending quest for the ultimate gaming gear has fueled the peripheral war for decades. Established in 1981, Logitech has been a pioneer on many fronts of this battle. From the humble mouse to massively powerful speaker systems, their product range has not left us lacking.

Gaming keyboards are big business and the release of the G15 V1 model in 2005 changed the way we looked at this overlooked device. We were given a nice little display that proved to be quite useful whether gaming or just surfing the web. The SDK was free and open-source, which allowed many custom applications to take advantage of it. A revised version, aptly called the G15 V2, was released in 2007 and addressed the size issue of the original.

2009 brought us the next evolution of the G series keyboard, the G19. Packing an LCD screen, user adjustable back-lighting and powered USB 2.0 ports amongst other features, the G19 was designed to surpass its older brothers. With a price tag of $199.99 US, there seems to be some big shoes to fill. Let’s take a closer look and see just how well it meets our expectations.

Out of the box and onto our desk, we get our first glimpse of the G19. The overall width is just over 19″, so it should keep within the keyboard tray on nearly all desks. This time around, we’re given two rows of programmable macro keys, as well as multi-media controls. The USB cable that goes to the tower also has an A/C power line that supplies the LCD with whatever juice it needs.

For most gamers, the keys themselves are going to be the perfect size and height. They have an excellent feel, and also resistance, and the spacebar isn’t fussy with regards to where you hit it. The typical QWERTY keyboard layout is maintained here, so shortly after hopping on the G19, you’ll be a pro at using it.

Above the backlit G19 logo, we see the usual suspects. LEDs for the Caps Lock, Scroll Lock and also the Num Lock are found at the top of the board, and are easy to notice if you need to check the status quickly.

To the direct left of the LCD screen, its controls can be found. Logitech has chosen to keep things simple here and as you’d expect, they’re all easy to access and push. Within 5 minutes, I was right at home with them and able to effortlessly scroll through all of the available choices. Note that the sliding key to the upper left de-activates the “Windows” key. Anyone that has accidentally hit that key while in the middle of an intense gaming session will surely appreciate the inclusion.

A familiar sight on the left side of the board are the macro keys. The first revision of the G15 included three rows, while the second dropped it to just one. The G19 has settled right in the middle with two, but because you can switch between three complete macro setups (with the M1 – M3 buttons), you essentially have 36 macro buttons at your perusal.

The backside of the G19 is somewhat uneventful. There are rubber feet at the bottom to prevent it from sliding around, and adjustable feet towards the top to angle the board for those that prefer it.

The G19 is one expensive keyboard, but what it does get you is a very bright, clear and easy-to-read LCD screen. The colors are great and the overall functionality is thoroughly enjoyable. What we’re given is a 320×240 resolution, which, believe it or not, can even handle some streaming video. This is a great upgrade from the G15’s monochrome display.

The G19 is probably the second most anticipated keyboard of all time, after the infamous Optimus Maximus. The inclusion of a separate full-color LCD screen (an update to its predecessor, the G15) was like geek candy, but the question secretly on everybody’s mind was “is it actually going to be useful?” And as it turns out… not really. Let’s explore that right off the bat so you don’t have to read the rest of this review.

Well, the screen has a few basic “channels.” YouTube, RSS Feed, song display, “my videos,” a clock, a performance monitor, a picture viewer, and a timer. Of these, the performance monitor is really the only useful one, because I can’t think of a reason you’d want or need to navigate YouTube or your pictures and videos via this tiny screen. The onlysituation I can think you’d do it is while in a full-screen app or game that doesn’t minimize or alt-tab well. The RSS reader is adequate, but only displays one story at a time. You’d really have to try hard to make use of this thing.

Where’s my bandwidth monitor for uTorrent? Where’s my ammo readout in Counter-Strike or my mini-map in Assassin’s Creed? Of course, it’s on the game and app developers to make that happen, but it’s on Logitech to press them on it. If Logitech is going to roll something like this out, they needed to roll out big or customers are going to see that they’re paying for a fantasy device.

So unfortunately, that’s the G19’s primary selling point, and it’s not very convincing. Maybe in a year there will be more support for it, or a touchscreen, or what have you, but at the moment it’s just not worth it. But what about the rest of the keyboard?

The G19 is, aside from the screen, a very competent keyboard. The keys are big, well-spaced, and have a pleasant resistance to them. They seem to project further from the base than other keyboards, but I have been using the very flat Lycosa for months, so that could just be a bad comparator. The backlighting is the best I’ve seen, and covers the entire rainbow; you can set colors to profiles so you know which you’re in. All illumination turns off with the touch of a button so you don’t have to fiddle with anything if you want a blackout while you watch a movie.

Like the G19’s predecessor, the G15, you’ve got macro keys on the left side and a hard profile switcher — work, play, movie editing, or what have you. Plus, like most gaming keyboards, it detects games you start and will automatically launch a macro/key profile. The macro editor worked well and I use it for blogging shortcuts (inserting image code, signatures, etc) and that sort of thing. I’m not a big macro user but if you are I think you’d enjoy this. The macro keys themselves (G1-G12) are easily available and organized into little blocks of four, excellent for finding without looking (the F-keys are also blocked, thank god).

So what we’ve got here is a failure to launch. The LCD screen has a lot of potential but is only used for mundane tasks which have no real reason to be on there, or at least don’t justify the cost. Other than that, it’s a great keyboard. I enjoy typing on it, the macros are handy and responsive, and everything works perfectly well. It’s just not worth dropping $200 on because it has a screen. Logitech makes great keyboards, and you’d be better off going with another one, at least until this one has adequate support from the community and industry.

The 320x240 LCD display that hovers over the keyboard is really the G19"s raison d"tre. After incarnations of its G15 keyboard with a monochrome display for game stats and system info, it was really the only place left to go, and for the most part, it"s a comfy place with silk sheets and free Coke in the minibar. I mean, you can watch YouTube or movies while you frag.

What"s frustrating is that so much of the display"s potential is still untapped. Logitech so far only provides a handful of applets and "can"t comment on unannounced projects/products." It doesn"t even do cool things with other Logitech products, like their G35 headset. It is open source, so anyone can develop for it, but we are talking about trying to build a development community around a $200 keyboard. The list of PC games that take advantage of it isn"t mindblowing, so you might wanna check if your favorite is on board (mine weren"t). So the currently anemic selection of software you can run on it might be a dealbreaker, at least for now.

If you"ve used a higher end Logitech keyboard before—especially the G11 or G15, you roughly know what you"re getting. Logitech"s keys are a perfect balance of punchy and squishy and just really feel fantastic—it"s why they haven"t messed with the formula in a long time. Overall the G19 a solid piece of hardware, though you might expect something less plastic-y and more tank-like for $200, if only so it felt more likely to survive the onslaught of sweaty hands pummeling keys and Cool Ranch Doritos. The wrist rest is unacceptably cheap and crappy, though.

But Logitech adds a lot of value with little (and big) touches. There are a total of 36 possible macros (you can instantly switch between three sets of 12, which are color-coded. There are media controls galore, as you"d expect from Logitech. I really love the heavy spin wheel for volume, which matches up with the one on their G35 headset (more on that soon). You can make your backlight any color of the rainbow you want (or turn it off). And there"s a toggle to deactive the Windows key, so you don"t accidentally crash your game by popping up the Start menu.

Even with its handful of flaws, it"s a fantastic keyboard that builds on what Logitech"s been doing well for a long time, and it"ll get better as more software is developed for it. But it"s also $200, and its headlining feature isn"t fully fleshed out yet. I love it, but practically speaking, I"d wait a couple of months for the price to come down and more software to make it more excellent.