Any G15 users on the boards?

[Commonmind]

I've been an avid fan of Razer's Tarantula since it hit the market, but my son felt it was necessary to beat the ever-living out of it every day and has thus rendered it, in his own words, poo-poo. As a result of this unfortunate passing, I was forced to go out to a local B&M to pick up a temporary keyboard and decided, against my better judgment, to grab a G15.

It's a bit difficult to get used to, considering the very low profile keys of the tarantula, which more match that of my laptops than traditional keyboards; the rather tall, very insubstantial feeling keys of the G15 are a bit too large for my liking. I'm honestly trying to get used to it and make the best of the situation, but I'm not sure if it will ever feel comfortable to me.

However, it does have this nifty LCD and is completely backlit (and has arguably more scalability where the macros are concerned), so maybe someone that frequents the forums has used one of these monsters and could point me in the direction of some cool LCD applets. Or, maybe someone could just give me a hug and tell me it will all be okay

 

[Lenny]

Which G15? The original blue one with the 18 programmable G keys, or the orange one?

I've had the blue one for over a year, and I have to say, it's the best keyboard I've ever had.

As for applets, I've never really played around with them (I've been telling myself I will do for over a year, though, if that counts? ). However, a friend who has the same keyboard sent me this link. Don't know if you've ever come across LCD Studio before, but it lets you create your own things to display on the LCD screen. Again, I've not really played with it, but by all accounts it's supposed to be rather good.

 

[Commonmind]

Yeah, I've actually used both LCDStudio and LCDHype for my Asus G1S-B2, which has a game panel as well. I have the newer version of the G15, the older one had too large a footprint to even consider buying so I've always steered clear of it. I keep both my mouse and keyboard on my desk's keyboard tray since I have to keep my Wacom on the top of the desk; as a result I need to make sure I can fit both mouse and keyboard with no issues. The original G15 ate up that entire space, lol, leaving me with a full two inches of mousing space.

Fortunately I used some sense and called another store on a whim, and found out they had Tarantula's in stock, so I returned the G15 and picked up another Razer. I've been using these low profile keyboards so long that I just can't deal with the taller keys. I spend the majority of my day typing on two different laptops, so it makes the jump between those and my desktops that much easier.

Definitely happy you're enjoying yours, though. I just wish I wasn't so picky.

 

[Lenny]

Is that the Tarantula? On first look I thought that it didn't look that much smaller than the G15, but then I realised that the G15 curves out at the sides.

What speed are the USB ports on the Razer?

 

[Commonmind]

Yeah, that's it. And unfortunately the Tarantula's USB ports are only 1.1, and anything that draws power from them causes the ports to flop. I don't really mind so much; my monitor has a 4-port hub built in, which is all I need.

The Tarantula doesn't look that much smaller in the pic, but it does allow me adequate and comfortable space, where the G15 did not. (The newer one was relatively similar in size to the Tarantula, a bit smaller actually, and wouldv'e been perfect had I been able to deal with the keys).

 

[Commonmind]

And as a side note, I did like the G15's older design that allowed you to adjust the LCD. The new G15's have static panels built into the actual board, and it was at an angle which was a little uncomfortable for me -- probably another reason I felt compelled to take it back.

 

[Lenny]

What is the difference between the two sets of keys? On the photos of the Tarantula, the keys look no different to the G15. Well, maybe a bit closer together, but that's it.

 

[Commonmind]

They're extremely different, hands-on. The G15's keys are more akin to a traditional desktop keyboard, whereas the Tarantula's keys are very shallow and mimic the style and design of laptop keys -- they're not 100% flush with the keyboard's chassis, but pretty damn close.

 

[Lenny]

Ah, fair enough. Light like a laptop keyboard, too?

Did you get to do much typing with the new G15, out of interest? Just wondering what you thought about the key action.

 

[Commonmind]

It's not light, unfortunately; it's actually quite a bit heavier than it looks.

And I did some writing with G15 while I had it. Though I did complain about the height of the keys, they're far less "clicky" and feel really soft while typing, which was a plus. My Tarantula is rather loud and can sometimes be distracting. Actual key response was supposed to be better on the Tarantula, as stated by most of the review sites out there, but I couldn't tell a difference (and I think anyone would be hard-pressed to do the same).

(Edit: How in depth have you gotten with the macro system? I've owned a Nostromo N52 for some time, and most of my macro'ing was done on that; my Tarantula's macros were used as a last resort. One of the G15's better features is its macro system, which trumps the Tarantula's, by a good degree.)

 

[Lenny]

Ah, good to know that they've not killed the keys with the new model.

There's another question. This one was £60 when I got it, which I thought was expensive for a keyboard (then again, it is a good quality keyboard). Is the orange G15 about the same?

 

[Commonmind]

In the US, if you can find the older model in stores, they're roughly the same price. The Blue model was 89.99 the last time I spied it in Circuit City, while the Orange model was 99.99 (in a normal brick and mortar).

(I'm not smart enough to do the conversions so let me know if that sounds about right)

Edit: The Tarantula is also 99.99, but has far less features, so I'd have to say the G15 wins out in the price category.

 

[Lenny]

Sounds about right, yeah. At least I know I wasn't being fleeced.

To convert just halve the dollar figure. Simpul, in'nit.

 

[Commonmind]

Wow, the American dollar is that strong right now, huh?