My Das Keyboard shipped. I should be receiving it on Thursday.
I are excite.
The Logitech G15 v2 has proven to be a horrible keyboard to both type on and game on. There is absolutely no tactile feel to the keys (even the Logitech Elite, another rubber dome keyboard, feels better, and its keys are stiff as hell), and they have a very mushy feel to them. Even the media buttons feel mushy and unresponsive. The backlighting looks nice and the LCD is a nifty feature, but those do not a good keyboard make. I've gotten much more development work done on my significantly slower laptop because its scissor-switch keyboard has a significantly better feel to it. That's just sad.
The key matrix for the G15 is also kind of bizarre. Playing Binding of Issac was a nightmare, because literally only two combinations of the up, down, left, and right arrows can be pressed at once. If you accidentally tap down while you're holding up and left, BAM. You stop moving/shooting. Not that it would be any fun playing it in the first place. I gave up trying to play Super Meat Boy on that rig because of that. I plugged in my old Elite into another USB port and my success rate at SMB was closer to that of my laptop since you can actually feel the keys bottoming out on the Elite (which is how a gaming keyboard
should be. You don't have to guess the trigger point on a controller button, after all).
I should also note that the legs that prop the keyboard up broke within two months of normal use, and Logitech offers no replacement parts for sale on their web site.
Strangely enough, the original G15 keyboard is actually a significant improvement to the shit-tastic v2. The keys are light and have a crisp, responsive feel. The LCD is bigger, making it easier to steal a quick glance at it (though the dull backlight is a very large problem for that model). There are 18 G-keys which, while excessive, is better than the G15 v2's paltry 6.
Oh yeah, did I mention that the ports are USB 1.1? Really, Logitech? REALLY? I have a fucking Apple keyboard right next to me from September 200-fucking-3 that has a USB 2.0 hub built-in. There is no excuse whatsoever for a modern $100 gaming keyboard not to have USB 2.0 ports. It seems like a petty thing to bitch about, but for the price it's hard not to expect something that's at least practical.
Long story short, I'm not going to miss it. The only thing I'm going to miss is writing programs to use the LCD display, but even then you're very much limited on resolution (unless you really, really want to spent $200 on the G18 keyboard, which most likely offers the same typing "experience" as the G15).
Another thing that's pathetic: at work I use a Dell keyboard, which uses low-profile keys. It doesn't feel like it uses scissor switches, but rather low-travel rubber domes (maybe I'll pry one of the key caps off tomorrow, if I'm feeling adventurous). It's easily the best "cheap" keyboard that I've ever used. Dell sells it for $20 (
I believe this is the one that I'm using) and it's significantly better for typing than a keyboard that's five times its price. Pathetic.
I don't know what's worse. The fact that it sucks so hard at being a keyboard or the fact that I bought it in the first place.
But, thankfully, I will be liberated on Thursday. Rejoice!
Edit: Strange how many people seem to find the G15 G2 to be a "pleasant" keyboard to type on. I normally manage 100-120 on both my laptop and work keyboard with a low error rate. I have a very hard time breaking 100 on the G15 without having a plethora of errors. Different folks, different strokes, I guess.
Also, I am very amused by this:
http://lowendmac.com/fishkin/08af/leopard-vs-vista.html. A web site focused on Macs essentially saying that OS X and Vista are on equal footing with a fair and balanced review of the two operating systems. What the flying fuck? I didn't think such a thing existed! Andrew Fishkin of Low End Mac deserves serious kudos for that, even if some of the comparisons are a little strange (many of the comparisons, while valid, are a bit like apples and oranges -- Office and Office: Mac are produced by different teams, for instance). I suppose in terms of user performance, it's far better than spouting out XYZMark results.
And yes, OS X really shuts down that quickly. My 1.25GHz G4 iMac, running 10.5.6, shuts down in seconds.
