Logitech G13 Programmable Gameboard with LCD Display

by Logitech

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 9.1 x 3.5 inches ; 2.1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B001NEK2GE
• Item model number: 920-000946
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (222 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #3 in Electronics > Computers & Add-Ons > Game Hardware > PC Game Hardware > Gaming Keyboards
  • #8 in Electronics > Computers & Add-Ons > Game Hardware > PC Game Hardware > Controllers
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 14, 2004

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Game-Changing Comfort and Control Whether you’re rescuing hostages, on a quest with your guild, or saving humanity, you don’t want to worry about hand fatigue or hitting the wrong key. Introducing the Logitech G13 advanced gameboard--a hybrid gaming keyboard designed to complement your Logitech gaming keyboard and mouse--giving you game-changing comfort and control on a Mac computer or a PC.  Unlike other gameboards that focus only on programmability, the G13 advanced gameboard incorporates the principles of our award-winning Comfort Wave design. So whether you’re getting into World of Warcraft or walking into your next LAN party, the G13 gameboard gives you a powerful advantage over those forced to work with less. Change your game and play with the best. Winner of CES 2009 Best of Innovations Award

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Key Features

Naturally Contoured Design Delivering increased comfort during long sessions, the iconic contoured design complements the natural shape of your hand and fingers, while the smooth, concave home-row keys make it easy to locate buttons by touch. Onboard Memory A handy solution for the laptop gamer, the G13 gameboard includes onboard memory, letting you program up to five ready-to-play profiles and take them with you to your next LAN party. The G13 gameboard also offers pre-configured settings for many popular games, including World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade, Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and many others. Customizable Backlighting Backlit keys will help you easily locate the right key in low-light conditions or lights-out play. And you can select from hundreds of available backlight colors, so your gameboard looks just the way you want it. 25 Programmable Keys With three game modes, 25 programmable keys, and a programmable analog stick, the G13 gameboard offers up to 87 ways for you to control your game (software installation required). And you can set up custom button-profiles for each one of your favorite titles. You can even create macros on the fly without having to pause your game. High-Visibility GamePanel LCD And for another tactical advantage, the 160-by-43-pixel GamePanel LCD shows live game stats, system info, and even messages from other players.

Suggested games for the Logitech G13 Advanced Gameboard:

• Logitech Wireless Microphone
• World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
• Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning
• Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures
• The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria
• Left 4 Dead
• Call of Duty: World at War
• Crysis Warhead
• Fallout 3
• Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway
• Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3

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Check out the G-SERIES from Logitech:

Logitech G51 Surround Sound Speaker System Bring your games to life with 360-degree surround sound--for amazing audio clarity that lets you hear your enemies sneaking up behind you.	Logitech G25 Racing Wheel With simulator-grade force feedback, 900-degree of wheel rotation, and a true six-speed stick, this high-performance racing wheel lets you feel every inch of the road for maximum control.	Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard Get an edge over the competition with unprecedented communication and control, thanks to programmable G-keys and an integrated LCD that displays key game information.	Logitech G11 Gaming Keyboard The G11 Gaming Keyboard features 18 programmable G-keys that let you create useful macros on the fly--and then play them back with just one, time-saving keystroke.	Logitech G9 Laser Mouse With interchangeable grips, customizable weights, and adjustable mouse settings that are stored in onboard memory, the G9 Laser Mouse lets you personalize your entire gaming experience.	Logitech G7 Cordless Laser Mouse Featuring blazingly fast wireless technology and a high-resolution 2000 dpi laser engine for extreme precision, the G7 mouse gives you wireless freedom without sacrificing performance.

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What's in the Box

Package Contents Logitech G13 Advanced Gameboard Quick-start guide Software CD 1-year limited hardware warranty

System Requirements Windows XP and Windows Vista Mac OS X 10.4 and later

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Product Description

The Logitech G13 advanced gameboard gives you game-changing comfort and control. Naturally contoured design follows the natural shape of your hand and fingers for increased comfort during long sessions. Onboard memory lets you program up to 5 ready-to-play profiles, so you can take your personal preferences with you. Customizable backlighting lets you choose your colors and easily locate the right key in low-light conditions or lights-out play.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

287 of 291 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Logitech G13 vs. Belkin n52te, July 30, 2009

By 

C Cougar (Vermont) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Logitech G13 Programmable Gameboard with LCD Display (Personal Computers)

I have used both the Logitech G13 and Belkin n52te extensively, so I thought it would be useful to write a review comparing the two products.

Usage
I have used both keypads to play World of Warcraft (WoW) extensively. Typically I use the mouse to steer my character, and the keypad to do the actions on my action bar. I use the joystick to move forward, back, and strafe left and right. My hand is average to small in size.


Keys
The Logitech G13 has more keys than the Belkin n52te. In fact the main reason I bought the G13 was because I ran out of keys on the n52te. The G13 has 22 keys plus a joystick button, and two extra buttons near the joystick for a total of 25 programable items. The n52te has 14 keys, a scroll wheel up-down-click button, and two buttons by the joystick for a total of 19 programmable items. When you get advanced in WoW, the more buttons you have, the better your game will be since you can quickly do an action by pressing a button.

The n52te keys are all pretty much the same shape, and the middle key has a bump on it to help you locate where you are. The G13 has the most common keys the same shape, but other keys near the edges have a different shape. I find this helpful since I can feel the key and know where I am due to its shape. The G13 all has four keys with a concave impression to help you locate where you are on the keypad. Again, I find this more useful than the one key the n52te uses with a bumb on it.


Joystick/D-Pad
The n52te has a D-Pad that allows you to control movement in 8 directions. It has an optional joystick insertion that makes it feel more like a joystick. When playing WoW, I actually only used 4 directions, and disabled the corner directionals, since it was too easy to go the wrong way by mistake. With just 4 directions (forward, back, strafe left, strafe right), it was easier to use.

The G13 has a small joystick which allows you to control 4 directions. Comparing the two, I think the G13 is much easier on the thumb than the n52te. After hours of play, and days of gaming, this makes a big difference. The G13 moves much easier and with less effort than the n52te. The G13 also pivots more naturally, so it is much easier to switch directions with less effort. The only thing I don't like about the joystick is the joystick button is very hard to press.


Ergonomics
I feel that the n52te actually promotes carpel tunnel syndrome in the way its designed. The problem is that it forces you to bend your wrist upward so that you are continually putting stress on those tendons. The palm rest does not help, as it simply forces this bad wrist orientation. In order to use the n52te without pain, I actually had to prop up my elbow on some books so that my wrist could be in a more natural position.

The ergonomics on the G13 are far superior than the n52te. The way its designed it allows you to keep your wrist in its natural position, as when you are typing, without having to bend it upward as in the n52te. I can use the G13 continuously for hours upon hours with no discomfort at all.


LCD
The G13 comes with a LCD display, which the n52te does not have. At first I thought I would not use it much, but now I find it to be a helpful addition. For WoW, it shows your characters stats as well as other things such as your equipment durability, so you know when it is time to repair. On battlegrounds it shows stats like how many players on each side, time elapsed, deaths, killing blows, and honorable kills. The LCD does other stuff too when you are not playing the game (time and date, cpu usage, stopwatch, rss feeds, music info, etc). So I think it is a nice bonus.


Programming
I found both units really easy to program. It is very easy to assign any keystroke or key combinations or macros to any key on the keypad.


Conclusion
Overall, I would say the Logitech G13 is superior than the Belkin n52te and would highly recommend you buy the G13 over the n52te. My feeling is that the G13 is the next generation of keypads with all the best features, while the n52te is the old generation of keypads which has now been surpassed.

99 of 104 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Impressed, January 31, 2009

By 

Scott (Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Logitech G13 Programmable Gameboard with LCD Display (Personal Computers)

This review is somewhat lengthy, but I try to cover all the bases on this device.

Overall Impression: Very nice piece of hardware, worth the money.

Ok, let's get started.
Physical Properties: The pad itself is of decent size for someone with average to slightly-larger-than average hands. I have long fingers and still felt very comfortable on this device. The keys press easily and are in a comfortable layout. The joystick also moves easily with my thumb. However, the joystick has a "click" attached to it when you press it down which is somewhat difficult to activate while keeping the stick still. It's definitely a hard press.

There is a non-slip surface on the bottom to keep the unit in place which works perfectly, as well as a comfortable semi-nonslip on the wrist/palm rest.

The LCD is clear and brightly illuminated with customizable lighting. There is also an on/off button for the backlight built onto the unit so you don't have to play with lights on all the time. The backlight for the LCD also backlights the buttons, which means that they follow the same customizable functionality.

The LCD also displays various, customizable, information based upon applications you have running on your system. It has support for all the mainstream media players to display song information, as well as RSS information, email, etc. It also has the capability to display in-game information, but the game itself must support this. Warhammer, for instance, does not offer this support (that I've seen), so there are no vitals displayed on the LCD. World of Warcraft does offer support, so by default you can see quite a number of stats on your screen.

Software:
The G13 has its own software for assigning functions to the keypad. It also has an application dedicated to managing the LCD display. I have not used any other LCD / Programmable Logitech products in the past so I don't know how this compares with them.

In the software suite, you can scan your computer for available known games to the G13. I did not have luck with it finding my WAR installation, but I changed the default directory which could be the cause of this.

If it finds compatible games it will then make available a preconfigured gaming profile for that game. You are of course allowed to modify the profile if you wish or you can choose to create your own custom profile from scratch.

The profile creation is easy. It involves choosing a name and the game/application executable file.

Once you have a new profile, you can choose what to assign to your keys. Your options are key combinations, macros, or scripts. The software makes assigning each of these a snap. It only takes point and click to assign your keys under the profile, which is auto-saved.

The software is also where you are allowed to modify the LCD backlight color. Using the windows built-in color chooser, you can select any value of RGB to backlight your unit with. Each memory setting (1 - 3) can have its own backlight. This gives you an easy way to distinguish quickly which profile you're on.

Macros:
Macroing on the G13 is pretty straightforward. You can launch the macro editor and begin recording keystrokes and mouse clicks and then save them into the macro list. You are then able to assign the macros to G-keys on the board. The macro editor also allows you to add custom durations between events in the macro you're recording, or it can record durations between keypresses as you do them. I find it easier to record the macro first and then add delays later. This is very helpful for Warhammer since it has a global cooldown on all skills.

Scripting:
The G13 has an implementation of the LUA scripting language available for use. It includes most of the math libraries, strings, and some tables. Using the LUA language, and some custom Logitech event functionality (which are documented) you can create scripts to drive almost any aspect of the G13. They allow you to control the LCD, moving the mouse, emulating keypresses, etc. Once you create a script, you can assign it to a G-key very easily by choosing it from a list.



I think that about covers the G13. I am very pleased with having spent the money to order it. Something to keep in mind. The G13 is fantastic for gaming, but also has many practical uses outside of gaming. As a programmer, I find the G13 works well inside of my IDE for quickly running commands (compiling, debug, synchronization, etc).

I hope this helps you out! I am also not affiliated with Logitech in any way, but I do like their product.

41 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A synthesis of reviews, January 20, 2010

By 

David Dietrich - See all my reviews

This review is from: Logitech G13 Programmable Gameboard with LCD Display (Personal Computers)

Introduction:
I designed this review as a sort of encyclopedic critique of the each criticism I've found in the reviews here on Amazon and elsewhere. To prove my nerdiness conclusively, I've indexed my responses to each criticism so you don't have to read the whole thing. You can just pick out the issues that concern you and get my scoop on them.

Introduction
1: Comfort
2: Large/Small hand friendliness
3: Keys Hard to Reach
4: WASD Keys Unmarked
5: Keys Hard to Press
6: Thumbstick Hard to Press
7: Thumbstick "loose" Feeling
8: Thumbstick not Analog
9: Thorny Thumbstick
10: Weak Game-recognition
11: Installation/Stability Issues
12: No In-game Profile-switching
13: LCD Weaknesses
14: Only One Brightness Level
15: Short Cord
16: Learning Curve
17: Size
Conclusion

1) Comfort
First thing I hear a lot about is ergonomics. People say the joystick is in a "cramped" or "alien" position, and act like your thumb is going to snap off after five minutes of play time. They have no leg to stand on as far as I'm concerned. True, your thumb will not be resting on the side like a mouse, but this isn't a mouse, and it's not the N52, and yet, somehow, it feels perfectly comfortable to me.

2) Large/Small Hands
Alongside ergonomic complaints I've read a number of people saying the G13 "isn't made for large hands" or "isn't made for small hands." Evidently it was only made for medium-sized hands. I have huge hands, and I consider that my main advantage when using this board. Small hands I can see being a handicap, but I don't know for sure. If anything, this was made for big hands.

3) Keys Hard to Reach
In line with the above, many people say that the keys can be hard to reach. Well, first off, if you're getting a gameboard with a monstrous 20+ keys to press, some of them are just necessarily going to be further away than others. The only keys I have found took some practice to get to were the far left and bottom row keys since these are accessed by your pinky finger snaking way on out there. However, all the keys are so well defined that they take very little practice getting used to. Even before memorizing them you can quickly feel your way around due to their excellently clear demarcations. You can see that from the picture. Also, you can hear your fingers feeling across each key, if you listen carefully, so you have auditory cues on top of tactile ones as to where the keys are relative to your fingers. In short, I have never, ever, once gotten lost on this thing despite its vast array of keys.

4) WASD Keys Unmarked
Another key-related complaint is that the central "WASD" keys have no bumps on them to find them easily. This is extremely misleading. No, they don't have bumps, what they have are indentations for your fingertips. Thus, even if you WERE blind and couldn't see their clear, glowing labels your fingertips would slip into them almost without you knowing it. And, no, they aren't labeled, "W" "A" "S" and "D" firstly because they don't have to be mapped to those keys and secondly because, as I said just now, they have indentations clearly setting them apart from the other keys.

5) Keys Hard to Press
Also, people have said that the keys are hard to press. That's a real jaw-dropper. Unless you have some dehibilitating, degenerative, terminal finger-disease you will quickly discover that these keys are some of the most comfortable, responsive, even satisfying buttons you have ever pressed. And by "satisfying" I mean, whenever you press one your finger will go down with a nice, rich feel and a glorious "tap" sound will emerge. The depth of the keys simply defines them for your fingers to find their way around more easily and in no way affects their responsiveness. It is not at all like one of ye olde timey keyboards that you had to mash down on to get anything going.

6) Thumbstick Hard to Press
Another criticism you will find commonly thrown at this thing is that the joystick is hard to press down. I agree with these points. The joystick is extremely hard to press down. About the only thing I would use it for were switching between walking/running modes or following someone, stuff you don't do all the time.

7) Thumbstick "loose" Feeling
I've heard it said that the joystick is kind of floppy and cheap feeling. That is entirely subjective. Yes, it is very easy to push around, but I never would have thought of it as "floppy" or "cheap" without hearing it.

8) Thumstick not Analog
Honestly I'm not sure exactly what this means, but I have read the thread on the Logitech forums on this topic and they released a patch that enables you to put the joystick in "joystick mode" which, I presume, was the solution since nobody posted about it after that.

9) Thorny Thumbstick
My main complaint with the thumbstick is that it is just not comfortable. If you look carefully you will see it is shaped like a little tower. Correct that impression, it is shaped like a thorn and feels like it, too. You can't really control it from above like a console stick, and it does take getting used to for this reason. BUT it is entirely worth it to be able to move just with your thumb and free up all your other fingers and mouse for actions and targeting and so forth.

10) Weak Game-recognition
Lots of people are having trouble getting it recognize games and give them an automatic key mapping for their games. This is true. It has yet to find one game on my computer. BUT, the one game it did find provided an absolutely ludicrous mapping setup. So basically, my question is, why would want it to automatically map game for you? As far as I'm concerned automatic keymapping is a silly idea in the first place. Assigning your own keys the way you want them is the best way to learn what all your keys are mapped to and ensuring that you can play the way that is most efficient for you. Everybody will want slightly different mappings.

11) Installation/Stability Issues
Another problem people are having is just getting the thing to install and remember profiles. Most of these people are using Mac systems, which I don't use, so you should probably be concerned if you are trying to install this on a mac. The people with Windows OSs that complain about the software must just have had very little experience with anything computer related. I found, and the majority of reviewers I've read, the software to be extremely intuitive and easy to use. You select the key you want, you tell what you want it to do, you click okay, you're done. Macros are fantasticaly easy as well. As for losing profiles and such, I have had no problems whatsoever. I make a profile, I map it, and it's there whenever I want it from then on.

12) No In-game Profile-switching
One guy mentioned that he wanted to switch profiles in-game but couldn't. First off, you've got THREE instantly switchable key maps for EVERY profile you make using the above-top-row keys just below the LCD. True, you will not be using these on the fly and will probably (*gasp*) have to look at them to switch, but if anybody needs more than 3 sets of 22 keys for any given game, they have something set up entirely wrong. I never need any more than the first set of 22 keys.

13) LCD Weaknesses
Speaking of the LCD, lots of people have complaints aimed at that. Some people can't get it working, some say it's too small, some say it's just useless, some say it's not bright enough, some say they can't see it at certain angles, and some even say it's too bright (as I remember). My experience is this: yes, it's gimicky, but it has it's uses and works well at what it does. What does it do? Pretty much anything. All the applets that were written for the G15 LCD will work with the G13. You can do anything from manage music to display in-game vitals (the latter of which seems super-pointless to me, but the LCD likes to do it automatically anyway). I use it for two things, mainly: keeping track of the time and monitoring my internals (of my PC, not my biological ones...). I found the screen very easily viewable for both these purposes and except for my GPU internals (for which I had to get an applet) CPU, RAM, and clock applets came with the device.

14) Only One Brightness Level
Some people complain that there's only one brightness setting for the keys, but, honestly, why would want more when the one it has does its job perfectly. I can see every key clearly and at a glance. Why would I want to start screwing around with it myself? I would, in all probability, simply get haywired and go back to the default anyway. It's like messing with the gamma/brightness/contrast settings in games. You end up just wanting to switch back to the defaults in the end.

15) Short Cord
I read one reivewer who said the thing has a "cripplingly short cord." Obviously he was trying to play at a "cripplingly long distance" from his computer. The cord has got be at least five feet long. It's more than enough to comfortably play it on the left of your monitor with the computer set on the right side of your desk.

16) Learning Curve
The final, and most legitimate, criticism I've heard is that the G13 has a learning curve, and I agree, basically. It does have a learning curve. The key-rows are lined up with one another, not staggered wildly like on a keyboard, and you do have to memorize which keys do what (which I why I recommend setting up all key-mappings yourself from scratch rather than use the silly pre-made ones). However, this learning curve depends entirely on the individual. For me, the learning curve was very mild, but it may take longer for others. I... Read more ›