Logitech G15 Keyboard

Testing & Use:

We had connected the Logitech G15 keyboard to one of our test systems using Ubuntu 8.10 with the Linux 2.6.27 kernel. The standard keyboard functionality had worked "out of the box" as expected. To take advantage, however, of the added functionality, some additional packages need to be installed. G15Tools is a third-party open-source set of tools that allows the advanced functionality of this keyboard to be exposed under Linux. These packages are available in Ubuntu's repositories and include libg15, g15daemon, g15composer, and g15lcd. The libg15 is a low-level access library for the G11/G15 keyboards and g15 is the daemon that allows the extra G15 keys to be used, provides multiple simultaneous LCD client support, provides programming bindings, an interface for LCDproc to talk to the GamePanel, and provides other features. The g15composer package is a scripting interface for graphics/text rendering on the GamePanel LCD. Once installing these packages (and optionally LCDproc), the Logitech G15 keyboard will fully work under Linux. The additional G option keys can also be added to the keyboard layout and binded to other keycodes. The GamePanel LCD is able to display whatever you would like since these G15 Linux packages are open-source and through LCDproc you can access a number of other packages.

We have been using the Logitech G15 keyboard for several weeks now and it has worked out quite well under Linux. Thanks to the community-spawned open-source support, the possibilities for this keyboard and its LCD panel under Linux are near endless. This is in starch contrast to some other keyboards on Linux where their extra functionality will not even work on Linux. Aside from its Linux compatibility, the Logitech G15 felt great when being used, was quite durable, and had no operational problems with this keyboard.

Conclusion:

The Logitech G15 keyboard costs about $80 USD, which is more than most PC keyboards. However, the G15 has an integrated LCD panel, programmable G-keys, multimedia functionality, and is backed by the Logitech brand that gamers and enthusiasts have become to know and trust. With the Logitech G15 working under Linux when installing the additional packages, we have no major complaints about this keyboard. It's a truly excellent and well-designed keyboard that should fulfill the needs of Linux gamers and enthusiasts.

Among other Internet stores, the Logitech G15 is available from Xoxide.com.

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