logitech g19 tft display price

We were big fans of Logitech"s two-color LCD-equipped G15 gaming keyboard, but we can"t say we find that the addition of a color screen justifies the $200 price tag for the updated G19 model. Yes, it"s neat to put a full-color image or even a video up on the screen while you"re playing a game (imagine watching YouTube clips during a long griffin ride in World of Warcraft, without alt-tabbing out). With time, the G19 user-developed software library might even come to thrive like it did for the G15. But with relatively few color-specific apps available even a few months after its release, we can"t recommend spending more than twice the price of the G15 for the G19"s color screen and a few design tweaks. Until the software comes around, the G19 is mostly a well-designed, expensive novelty for the PC gaming elite.

Logitech"s $200 G19 Gaming Keyboard boasts a built-in color LCD with exciting capabilities, as well as lots of little improvements over previous models. But with few apps--thus far--that take advantage of the screen in a meaningful way, the G19"s potential remains largely untapped. Until the community software effort gets rolling, we can"t recommend spending this much on a keyboard that, while flashy, has yet to realize its full potential.

Setting aside the screen for a moment, the G19 keyboard itself is only slightly more impressive than the most recent version of the G15. The core key design provides the same crisp keystrokes, with the same 12 "G" keys on the left edge. As with the G15, the G19 gives you three different switchable modes, so you end up with 36 effective customizable keys, along with on-the-fly macro recording. Logitech also includes another hallmark of its G-series keyboards, a switch that lets you disable the dedicated "Windows" key, so you don"t accidentally switch to your desktop screen during gameplay with an errant key press.

New to this model (aside from the color LCD) is its capability to recognize five simultaneous key presses. Macro-happy gamers and digital artists, in particular, should appreciate that feature, which opens up a greater level of mastery to run repetitive commands. We"re also glad to see that the G19 now has two powered USB 2.0 jacks. The G15 is stuck with USB 1.1, which is not as fast. Anyone who regularly transfers large amounts of data between a PC and a portable storage device or media player will benefit from that added bandwidth.

Other features include a smart drum-style volume control above the G19"s number pad, on top of which you"ll also find a set of easily accessible media play controls. As before, the G19 ties into iTunes, Windows Media Center, and other media software apps. Last but not least among the new, non-LCD-related highlights is the option to select from 16 million different colors for the backlit keys. You customize the colors through the only-somewhat-intuitive Logitech Profile software, which lets you tie three different colors to the three mode buttons for the programmable "G" keys. We wish it had a dedicated button to scroll through at least a few preset colors, though. We also wish Logitech would consolidate its configuration software into one application. Instead you have to bounce around between the G-series Key Profiler for setting up the G keys, and a separate LCD Manager app for the built-in screen. Which brings us, finally, to the color LCD.

As with the G15, the G19 provides you with a secondary display, ostensibly to minimize the number of times you switch out of a game to the Windows desktop to check the time, your in-box, or get other information. Unlike the G15"s two-tone model, the G19 gets full color output and a larger 320x240 screen size. Logitech includes 11 different applications you can use on the screen of the G19, among them a clock, a system performance monitor, an RSS reader, photo and video players, and an app that lets you play YouTube videos. All of those programs have option screens--accessible through both the LCD Manager software and through a set of screen menu controls on the keyboard itself--that let you change content source folders and make other adjustments.

The G19 also comes with built-in support for 46 PC games, and four different applications, including Ventrilo, the popular third-party voice chat software favored by many PC gamers. "Support" for those various titles means essentially that the screen will display different information, such as character stats and ammunition counts. We haven"t tried every game on the list, many of which are outdated, but we never found the game-specific information that handy during gameplay. We can see a few possibilities that would make the LCD screen more useful, such as giving you an extra inventory screen or showing an in-game map, but we haven"t seen those kinds of features implemented in the handful of titles we"ve tried. We do, however, like the Ventrilo plug-in that lets you know who"s talking, which can be useful if you don"t know everyone in your World of Warcraft guild by voice.

Potentially more exciting is that, as with the G15, Logitech also includes a software development kit for the G19"s LCD. It took a while for the enthusiast community to embrace the G15"s kit, but once it did, all kinds of mini apps became available for public download. We don"t expect the G19"s software library to have blossomed in the three months since the keyboard"s release, but without a critical mass of homemade applications, it"s hard for us to say what kinds of programs might come from the community. You can use some of the homebrewed G15 apps on the G19, but not all of them work on the new color screen. We also can"t help but wonder what effect the G19"s high price will have on the adoption rate among the enthusiast community. If fewer people buy the G19, that will surely affect the amount of collective effort behind any software development.

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 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.

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.