The world famous company Logitech does not very often indulge fans of its products with novelties, and even more so with gaming-grade keyboards. In fact, over the past few years, there have been only a few such new products - the Logitech G11 Gaming USB and Logitech G15 keyboards, which in fact did not have significant differences between themselves, the only thing that was present in the G15 model and was absent in the more budgetary G11 model was a small screen ... Last year, Logitech tried to change the situation somewhat and released two new products at once, this is a model with a color screen Logitech G19 and a slightly cheaper model Logitech Gaming Keyboard G110. However, the first one has too high a cost, more than two hundred US dollars, and is clearly aimed at a minor category of users, while the G110 has half the cost. However, taking into account the fact that at present the model G15, which has an LCD screen, costs only 10 US dollars more than the similar in functionality G110. So the question immediately arises about the advisability of purchasing the G110 keyboard, whether it has advantages and how justified is its purchase.
Overview of appearance and equipment.
The keyboard is packaged in a rather impressive cardboard box, decorated in traditional for Logitech products black and green colors. This style of design has been present in the company's products for several years, and I must say that it is quite successful. The front side of the package traditionally has a large image of the product, in our case the keyboard.
The box contains a completely traditional package, besides the keyboard itself, the box contains a CD with drivers, instructions and a detachable ergonomic wrist rest.
The look of the G110 keyboard fits well with Logitech's line of gaming keyboards. Compared to the G11 and G15, the keyboard layout has remained virtually unchanged. There is still a group of G buttons located to the left of the main keyboard buttons, to which the user can assign various functionalities. Above the M buttons there are three M buttons that allow you to set three options for each of the G buttons, switching between which is done by pressing the corresponding M key. Thus, on 12 G keys, the user is given the opportunity to record 36 macro functions. There is also the function of recording a macro on the G key "on the fly" directly in the game. To do this, press the MR key, then press the corresponding M1, M2 or M3 key and then the corresponding G key for which the key combination will be recorded. Then the combination required by the user is pressed and to confirm the end of the recording, press the MR button again, which will complete the process of recording the key combination.
In the uppermost row, located above the row of function buttons F1-F12, in addition to the three M-keys, which switch sets of specified G buttons, there are also other auxiliary keys. So there are buttons for controlling the functionality of the multimedia player, a button for turning on / off the backlighting of the keys, as well as a pair of keys that disable additional audio connectors located on the keyboard and a special key for disabling Win-keys. It is also worth noting the volume control unit, which allows you to adjust the volume level or completely mute the sound, which is located between the numeric keypad and the multimedia player control keys.The keyboard layout has a traditional key layout for Logitech keyboards.
The upper part of the keyboard, on the side of the cable connection, has two 3.5 mm jacks for connecting a microphone and headphones, as well as one USB v2.0 jack. Since the keyboard is connected to the computer with just one USB cable, but at the same time it has audio connectors, therefore the keyboard has a built-in sound card. It is easy enough to make sure of this, for which it is enough just to connect an audio device (headphones or a microphone) to the connector, as the task manager immediately detects the connection of a USB audio card.
The backlighting of the keys on the G110 keyboard follows the same principle as on the G15 and G11 models. The keys, made of transparent plastic, are painted with a rather thick layer of black paint with a symbol mask applied. Under the keys there is a common plate of light-scattering material, which is illuminated by several LEDs from the ends of the light-guide plate. This lighting technology has been used by Logitech for quite some time, but it is not without its drawbacks. So in the previous models G11 and G15 there was a problem of lack of uniformity of illumination of long characters, and irregularity of the degree of luminescence of the Latin and Cyrillic characters on one key. In the G110 we are considering, this drawback in the inhomogeneity of the backlight has been eliminated. Moreover, in comparison with the previous versions, in the new version the backlighting is made with LEDs of two colors - red and blue. However, it should be noted right away that backlighting one key in different colors (for Latin and Cyrillic) is impossible, there is only the ability to select the backlight color for all keys, either red or blue.
From the point of view of mechanics, the key has not changed. All the same sleeve on which the key itself is put on and is spring-loaded with a rubber membrane.
Logitech has made the user experience more comfortable with its G110 keyboard with a removable wrist rest. The stand adds ergonomics and greatly reduces the strain on the user's hands during prolonged use of the keyboard. But there are also some drawbacks from this brush stand, with its installation the keyboard becomes a significant size, and may not fit on all computer tables anymore, so this factor should also be taken into account when choosing in favor of this keyboard.
On the bottom side, the keyboard is equipped with four legs, two of which are folding, allowing you to slightly raise one edge of the keyboard by a slight angle, to improve the comfort of work, and two rubber feet.
General G110 Keyboard Experience Description
First, it is worth dwelling on the capabilities of the keyboard in typing. The keyboard has a fairly comfortable key layout. The keys have a long and soft stroke, while they do not have characteristic clicks. In practical terms, even a fairly long typing does not cause discomfort in the wrists. This is largely due to the presence of an ergonomic stand. An inconvenience when typing is the lack of color contrast between the Latin and Russian keyboard layouts, although in the absence of external lighting, typing does not cause difficulties due to the backlighting of the keys. However, the G110 keyboard has slightly different uses.
The cover of the keys is quite durable, and active use of the keyboard in games for more than half a year left absolutely no traces, in the form of peeled paint from the keys.
Also leaves a pleasant feel and use and special G keys. Installing macros will be very useful not only in gaming applications, but will also be very pleasant for users who use repeated key combinations (a set of terms or names) when writing text.In general, even in spite of the gaming orientation declared by the manufacturer, the use of G keys will be very useful not only when playing games, but also when performing standard office work.
In addition to programmable buttons, a very useful function will be the ability to disable Win-keys using a special slider.
Next, we will consider the features of the built-in connectors. Let's start by describing the audio connectors present on the keyboard. There is no need to create illusions about the excessive sound quality that can be obtained from the audio chip built into the keyboard. The most that the keyboard is capable of, in terms of producing a high-quality audio signal, is to show results at the level of built-in audio solutions of budget-priced motherboards. The convenience of using these connectors will no doubt be appreciated by users using VoIP telephony services. For example, using Skype, the user will be able to connect headphones and a microphone directly to the keyboard without performing any manipulations with re-switching stationary acoustics and headphones. Moreover, by setting the built-in audio board as a sound source in the client settings in the audio settings, it will be possible to use the 3.5 mm connectors on the keyboard without interrupting listening to music on large speakers connected to the audio output of the motherboard.
Next, let's dwell on a detailed description of the capabilities of the USB port located on the keyboard. Taking into account the fact that the keyboard is connected only to a computer using a USB cable and does not have an additional power supply. The absence of additional power supply imposes a limitation on the list of devices that can be connected. So, for example, a simple USB drive can be connected without fear of overloading the line, while an external 2.5 ”hard drive should not be connected. It is worth remembering to limit the load on the USB line to no more than 500 mA.
Output
So, summarizing everything described above, we can say the following. A truly decent gaming keyboard is now available in the Logitech product line. It incorporates all the advantages of previous models, while getting rid of problems that were in previous models, such as uneven key backlighting. It is worth noting the ease of use of the keyboard both when typing and during games. The quality of Logitech products has been a benchmark for quite some time now. It is worth noting positively the presence of a USB 2.0 connector and programmable keys.
The disadvantages include the fact that we would like to see more from a keyboard of this level than a simple design update and fixes of some functions. And the insignificant difference between the G110 and the G15 and the absence of an LCD screen casts doubt on the advisability of purchasing this device. In general, there is no universal recipe in this case, and the choice in favor of purchasing a new model G110 or an old G15 will depend on the need for the user to have a USB connector or an LCD screen.
