After uninstalling g15 logitech keyboard driver. Logitech Gaming G15 Drivers: Top Operating Systems

On this page, you can always free download Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard software for Keyboards.

Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard (ver. 1.04.151) MSZIP released 2007.04.25.

File downloaded 6 times and has been viewed 2473 times.

Title: G-series Keyboard Software 32-bit Software Version: 1.04.151 Post Date: 4/25/2007 Platform: Windows XP/Vista File Size: Approximately 6 Mb

Popular Keyboards Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard drivers:

• type: LZMA:23 SELF-EXTRACTING version: 8.51.5 For: Windows 7 64-bit, Windows Vista 64-bit, Windows 10, Windows 8 64-bit file size: 53.98 Mb Count views: 2542 Count downloads: 43
• type: MSZIP version: 1.04.151 For: Windows XP, Windows Vista file size: 5.71 Mb Count views: 2473 Count downloads: 6
• type: LZMA:23 SELF-EXTRACTING version: 8.45 For: Windows XP 64-bit file size: 53.24 Mb Count views: 2392
• type: LZMA:23 SELF-EXTRACTING version: 8.51.5 For: Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10 file size: 50.5 Mb Count views: 2333 Count downloads: 7
• type: MSZIP version: 1.04.151 For: Windows Vista 64-bit, Windows XP 64-bit file size: 5.69 Mb Count views: 2138 Count downloads: 3
• version: 8.50 For: Mac OS 10.x file size: 53.37 Mb Count views: 2059

How to manually download and update:

This built-in Logitech Gaming G15 driver must be included with the Windows® operating system or available for download through Windows® Update. The built-in driver supports the basic functions of your Logitech Gaming G15 hardware.

How to perform automatic download and update:

Logitech Update Frequently Asked Questions

What do Logitech Keyboard Device Drivers do?

These tiny programs called "device drivers" allow your Gaming G15 device to communicate properly with your operating system.

What Operating Systems are Compatible with Gaming G15 Drivers?

The Gaming G15 currently has Windows device drivers.

How to update Gaming G15 drivers?

Experienced PC users can update their Gaming G15 drivers via Windows Device Manager, while novice PC users can use the Automatic Driver Update Utility.

What are the benefits and risks of updating Gaming G15 drivers?

Updating your Keyboard drivers can improve PC performance, unlock hardware features, and fix any incompatibilities. The risks of installing incorrect Gaming G15 drivers include software crashes, loss of functionality, PC freezes, and system instability.

About the author: Jay Geater is President and CEO of Solvusoft Corporation, a global software company focused on innovative utility programs. He has been passionate about computers all his life and loves everything related to computers, software and new technologies.

Top 4 Logitech Gaming Drivers (4 Models)

Install optional products - DriverDoc (Solvusoft) | |

Fixed several issues in regards to Windows Vista UAC (User Access Control)
- Fixed an issue with profile activation and Windows Vista Sidebar
- LCD related options in Profiler are now always enabled, even if no devices exist that have an LCD
- On Vista, LCDMedia should now work as expected with Windows Media Player right after installation
- The applets now launch correctly under Windows Vista x64
- Administrator privileges are no longer required for LGDCore under Windows XP and Windows Vista
- LCDMedia will not crash anymore on Windows Vista when no sound devices are installed
- Added new profile for Battlefield 2142
- When using iTunes 7.1, using media keys will now work as expected
- Reduced CPU usage of LCD POP3 applet and LCD Countdown applet
- Fixed an issue with LCD Clock and LCD Performance Monitor under Windows Vista

About Keyboard Driver:

Install the proper keyboard software and your system will be able to recognize the device and use all available features. This will also make it possible for owners to configure additional hotkeys.

In case additional keyboard accessories are connected, this step can also improve the bundle’s overall stability and compatibility, as well as performance.

Therefore, if you wish to install this release, simply make sure that your computer OS is supported, save the package, extract it if necessary, run the available setup, and follow the on-screen instructions for a complete installation.

Bear in mind that, even though other platforms might be compatible, we do not recommend applying this software version on configurations running under OSes other than the specified ones.

That being said, if you consider applying the present version, download and install the package. Also check with our website whenever you can, in order to stay up to speed with latest releases.

It is highly recommended to always use the most recent driver version available.

Try to set a system restore point before installing a device driver. This will help if you installed an incorrect or mismatched driver. Problems can arise when your hardware device is too old or not supported any longer.

IntroductionIt would seem that you can think of something new in a computer keyboard? New keymap? Yes, QWERTY is not optimal in terms of typing speed, but it is familiar - and it can be hard to relearn after a long habit, not to mention getting used to it in different places (at work, at home, in an Internet cafe ...) to print on different layouts. New media buttons? There are already an unimaginable number of them - expensive keyboards have long resembled a starship control panel, buttons, wheels are provided for everything in the world, there are even keyboards with trackballs and touchpads ...

However, Logitech managed to surprise the public again with the release of the G15 Gaming Keyboard, a keyboard that in some respects represents not just a quantitative, but a qualitative breakthrough compared to competitors.

The first thing that catches your eye is the large LCD screen located at the back of the keyboard. Then - three blocks of keys to the left of the main field, completely different from the usual multimedia: these are 18 keys of the same shape and with incomprehensible inscriptions from "G1" to "G18". And finally, the last thing is to connect the keyboard to the computer, as the keys on it begin to glow with a soft blue light. But, a reader who is aware of the latest technology will say, we have seen it all - the LCD screen was on diNovo, there are additional buttons on almost any keyboard more than five dollars, and you won’t surprise us with backlit keys? Yes it was. But on the G15, all these three points are worked out with extraordinary care, and therefore the differences from competitors are precisely qualitative, it's not just an additional dozen buttons and a useless screen showing room temperature. However, we will get to the discussion of these elements in detail, but for now we will consider the G15 as a whole.

The keyboard is very large, both in depth (due to the flip-back screen and multimedia buttons) and in width (due to the blocks of programmable buttons on the left). The layout of the main field is usual for Logitech - short left Shift, vertical Enter, no experiments - the Ins and Del keys are in their rightful places. However, the layout depends on the region in which the model is delivered, so on the G15, not intended for Russia, it may differ.
G15 is made of plastic in two colors - black and silver, and black is made velvety to the touch. There is a removable wrist rest (let me remind you that when typing, your hands should be on the weight, and the stand is used only for relaxation), but with it the keyboard becomes quite unwieldy.

The tactile sensations are quite pleasant, typing on the keyboard is easy (although it took several hours to get used to after transplanting from my last home "flat" Logitech UltraX), the keys are pressed very easily, but with a clearly felt response (that is, at first the key resists pressing a little, but then it easily falls down - at this point, the fingers feel the moment of pressing very well, which can significantly reduce the number of typos compared to some mechanical keyboards, where the pressing force was constant), there is not the slightest bounce of the keys. There are no problems with simultaneous pressing of several keys - the keyboard fulfills them normally.

The G15 has folding legs, but they are quite small, the keyboard lies almost horizontally.

The Num Lock, Caps Lock and Scroll Lock mode indicators are located in the usual place and represent the corresponding symbols illuminated by amber LEDs.

In the center of the keyboard, just below the LCD screen, there is a group of multimedia keys that control the player and the sound volume (do not pay attention to the five small black keys above them yet - they are associated with the screen and will be discussed below). There are buttons "Forward", "Back", "Stop", "Start / Pause" and a volume wheel - and that's it, this is where the set of multimedia buttons familiar to other expensive keyboards ends.

However, no, a little to the side there is also a separate mute button (next to it is a button for adjusting the brightness of the backlight of the keys, more on that below). Now that’s all for sure, because other additional G15 buttons have no direct analogues on other multimedia keyboards, and I will have to devote a separate part of this article to them, because it’s simply unrealistic to describe all their capabilities in a nutshell.

The multimedia buttons are made very conveniently, and besides, they are also highlighted - it is impossible to miss them (and on many keyboards, where the buttons are all the same and located just in a row, this is a problem - every time you have to look where you press).

On the other side of the block of multimedia buttons, there is not even a button, but a sliding toggle switch. Its task is to completely disable the Win-buttons of the keyboard (of which there are three pieces - the left and right "Windows" buttons and the context menu button). You ask, what does the image of the joystick have to do with it? Then I'll ask you if you have ever accidentally pressed the start menu button while playing in the midst of an online battle - and what did you think about it (or even say it out loud). That is why the joystick - it is assumed that during the game the Win-buttons can simply be turned off, thereby eliminating the possibility of accidentally pressing them and, accordingly, exiting the game to the Windows desktop. Well, whether to include them back after the game or not is another question. But the hardware (in the form of a toggle switch) execution of this switch for the first time seeing the G15 pleases invariably - it has been empirically verified.

And finally, the final touch is two USB ports on the back of the keyboard. Unfortunately, they only work with USB 1.1, so they are designed to connect low-speed devices - mice, joysticks, low-resolution webcams, and so on. That is, of course, you can plug a USB flash drive into them, but the speed of access to it will be depressingly low.

To connect the aforementioned devices, an additional convenience is provided - channels on the bottom of the keyboard, allowing you to lead the wire to the USB port below it and bring it out in front or on the right. However, the convenience is not very useful - in practice, the mouse is usually still located on the side of the keyboard, which means that its wire should pass from the back, but not from the side or front.

Key backlight

The idea of ​​illuminated keys, of course, is not new - it lies on the very surface, and therefore several keyboard manufacturers have implemented it at once. However, alas, most implementations set up a somewhat pessimistic mood.

This is the BTC 6300CL, a "notebook" type keyboard (i.e. with low key travel) equipped with blue backlighting. Technically, everything is implemented very simply: the keys are made of translucent plastic, and under them (and under the transparent sheets on which the actual contacts are applied) there is a backlight module.

Alas, in practice it looks, to put it mildly, not the best way. Firstly, the low brightness of the backlight is compensated by a large area of ​​the luminous field - and in the dark, the keyboard successfully acts as a night light, illuminating the room. Of course, when working, this luminous spot greatly interferes, constantly distracting the eye from the screen.

Secondly, the 6300CL copes badly with the actual main task of the backlight - to make the symbols on the keys visible even in the dark. The fact is that the thinner the layer of plastic, the fewer obstacles in the way of light - and, therefore, the brighter the backlight. The result is obvious: it is not the keys that shine at all, but the gaps between them, the edges of the keys are in second place, but in their center, where the inscriptions are located, there is a dark spot.

The G15 keys look completely different:

As you can see, the keys themselves are black, and only the letters themselves glow blue on them (only the Latin alphabet, but more on that below). As a result, the keyboard does not look like a solid bright field, it almost does not distract the eye with its glow, and the characters on the keys are perfectly readable in any ambient light, from daylight (at the same time, they do not look luminous, but simply applied blue paint - although, if you completely turn off backlight, it becomes clear that in fact the characters are dark silver) to complete darkness.

Interestingly, while the experience of working with the G15 is completely opposite compared to the BTC 6300CL, technically, the implementation of the backlight in these two keyboards is almost the same. At first glance, you might think that the G15 has LEDs built into each of the keys, but this is not the case - such a solution would be too expensive, complicated and at the same time unreliable (imagine: more than a hundred LEDs, each on its own flexible cable ...) .

Having removed one of the keys, we see that in fact the backlight module, as in the 6300CL, is located under the keyboard, but in the G15 the case is made of opaque plastic, and therefore the gaps between the keys do not glow - only the windows that include the "legs" are transparent. "keys.

In the photo above you see one of the keyboard buttons (by the way, they are easily removed: just pry the key from the bottom and slightly press; this is useful if you need to quickly free the keyboard from a crumb that has fallen into it, a paper clip or something similar - do not try to shake it out dropped object while flipping the keyboard, just remove the nearest key and take it out). It can be clearly seen that it is made of transparent plastic, coated on top with opaque black paint; The "leg" of the key, in addition to its main function, also performs the function of a light guide.

This design has two drawbacks - one actual and one potential. The first, actual drawback is that not the entire area of ​​the key is illuminated, but only that part of it, under which the light guide leg is located. Even on a purely English keyboard, as a result, on some buttons, only part of the inscription is highlighted (for example, in the inscription "Prt Scr" on the corresponding button, the last letter is not lit), and on localized versions and on alphabetic keys, only the Latin alphabet is lit - this is clearly seen on photos above.

A potential downside is that paint doesn't last forever. Take any keyboard that has lasted for several years - frequently used keys are wiped to a shine. How the G15 keys will look like in a few years, no one knows yet.

By the way, the first batch of keyboards, which appeared on sale, clearly demonstrated the instability of the paint - the letters began to "blur" after a few weeks of active use. Soon, Logitech recognized the defect, changed the paint to a more resistant one, and replaced the keyboards for the owners of unsuccessful copies under warranty - as the victims say on the forums, after contacting the support service, the company simply sent them new copies, without even demanding the return of defective ones.

By the way, your humble servant, who is also a proud owner of the G15, has not yet noticed the slightest sign of paint fading on his copy, despite tens of kilobytes of text typed on the keyboard (by the way, the photos above were taken on my home keyboard directly in the course of writing this articles, so that you yourself can notice the absence of any wear on them). Of course, two months of operation, albeit a rather intensive one, is a short time for a keyboard, but it also allows me to assert with full confidence that the letters that are literally being erased before our eyes were nothing more than a marriage of the first batches of goods, and the drawback refers only to theoretically possible, potential , but it is not at all a fact that it will manifest itself in the foreseeable future.

As I noted above, the keyboard has a separate backlight brightness adjustment button. The button works regardless of whether the G15 driver is installed on the computer and allows you to choose between three levels - off, half brightness and full brightness. From my own experience, I can say that during normal work, full brightness is normal, and in games or when watching movies, the keyboard is quite enough to dim to half.

LCD screen

The LCD screen is one of the most noticeable features of the G15, but, strictly speaking, it is not unique - the screens appeared on the numeric keypads of the Logitech diNovo keyboards (although there they served as a calculator screen and a thermometer built into the keyboard, nothing more), and in parallel with the G15, the Cordless Desktop MX 5000 Laser model is now being produced, also equipped with a screen (its implementation differs from the G15, but the trend is still there).

Technically, the screen is a monochrome passive matrix LCD panel with a resolution of 160x43 pixels and dimensions of 89x24 mm. The refresh rate of the panel is about 30 frames / sec, but it is still impossible to display anything fast moving on it - the response time is too long. The viewing angles from below and from the sides are quite good, when viewed from above the image is inverted at an angle of about 45 degrees - however, this does not cause any trouble at all, since the tilt angle of the screen is adjustable over a wide range.

The backlight of the screen is white, its brightness is adjusted by the same button as the brightness of the keyboard. The illumination uniformity is good, only a light strip is visible at the right edge.

If on diNovo it was possible to use a calculator, even without turning on the computer at all, then here, without an installed driver, the screen is absolutely useless - it can do nothing but show the manufacturer's name on its own. Fortunately, this situation does not last long - only until the G15 driver with related plug-ins is loaded.

Immediately after loading, the keyboard offers us a choice of six standard plugins:

Media Display: Display information from players (currently supported by iTunes, MediaLife, MusicMatch, RealPlayer, Sonique, Winamp and Windows Media Player) about the currently playing music.

LCD Countdown Timer: stopwatch and countdown. They are started and stopped using the buttons under the LCD screen, but, alas, the initial time for the countdown can only be set from the computer.
LCD POP3 Monitor: information about the status of your mailbox.
LCD Clock: clock, calendar and (optionally) display the number of unread messages. By the way, please note that in the photo below the name of the month is written in Russian: the keyboard has no problems with the Cyrillic alphabet, the Cyrillic alphabet is displayed without the slightest problem and without additional settings.

Performance Monitor: Information about CPU load and memory usage.
Keyboard Profiler: hints when entering new macros, this will be discussed below.

Four oblong buttons below the screen are used to interact with plug-ins, and a round button located to the left of them is used to switch them. Control buttons do not have any hard-coded meanings, their operation depends on the currently selected plugin and is indicated by icons on the screen above the buttons. In fact, of the six plugins listed, the buttons are used only in the Countdown Timer - to start and stop the countdown.

The LCD Manager program is designed to manage plug-ins - it allows you to disable unnecessary plug-ins, as well as change their settings. In the screenshot above, by the way, in addition to the standard plugins, you see two more - AMD CPU and System Information LCD Display and Miranda G15. A little more about them, especially the Miranda G15, I will tell below.

For each of the plugins there are two settings buttons - "Configure" and "Properties". The first one opens a window with its own plugin settings (for example, in LCD Clock, they allow you to choose the appearance of the dial, as well as turn off the display of the second hand and the number of unread letters; in some plugins, there are no own settings at all), the second - with system settings for this plugin. They include information about the name of the plugin and the path to its executable file, as well as permission to automatically start the plugin and automatically switch to it.

In the "LCD Settings" tab, you can configure system-wide settings, primarily a way to switch between plug-ins. In total, two options are offered: either automatic switching in a cycle, or manual switching by pressing a button below the screen.

In the latter case, when the button is pressed, the names of active plug-ins are sequentially displayed on the screen, if there are no further clicks, the selected plug-in becomes active after a short pause. If desired, you can enable the quick switch function - then the name will not be displayed, and pressing the button will instantly switch to the next plugin.

In addition, an automatic switching function is also provided - any plugin, if it is not explicitly prohibited for it in the settings, upon the occurrence of an event defined by its developer (for example, the arrival of a new letter) can display itself on the screen, regardless of which plugin was active before this moment. In other words, you do not need to manually switch to the mailbox check plugin to see if something new has arrived - when an email is found, it will automatically switch focus to itself. Plugins can automatically determine their relevance - so if you do not have any of the players supported by the Media Display plugin running, then you will not be able to switch to Media Display, despite the fact that it remains enabled in the settings.

Also in the settings you can adjust the brightness and contrast of the screen - however, the contrast is adjusted within a very small range, and the brightness control is reset when you press the corresponding "hardware" button on the keyboard.

Also, if you start turning the volume knob, the screen will automatically show the current level bar. The photo above simultaneously shows the name of the song playing in Winamp, that is, the Media Display plugin, but in fact, the volume display does not depend on it - if Media Display is disabled, then the volume bar will be shown on a blank screen.

Of course, after such a frequent mention of the word "plugin" the question arises - but the possibilities of the screen are not limited to the six standard plug-ins listed? Of course not! Moreover, Logitech strongly welcomes the writing of third-party plug-ins, distributing along with the keyboard not only the driver, but also the SDK (Software Development Kit) with documentation and examples of writing your own plug-ins. So, if you understand programming at least at an intermediate level, writing your own plugins will not be a big deal for you.

Alas, most existing plugins are pretty useless - the most popular are plugins that display system status (CPU load and temperature, memory usage, and so on), and I can hardly imagine why it would be necessary to constantly monitor this data, if only ten minutes ago you did not put yourself a new cooler and now you want to see if the processor burns out with it.

One example is official plugin from AMD, showing information about the processor: its type, cache size, supply voltage, frequency...

In general, there is nothing more to say about him - he shows, and okay. Of course, I am pleased to know that the Cool&Quiet technology really works for me (the plugin shows the current actual processor parameters, not the nominal ones), but I don’t know why I need to find out more than once in my life. There are several slightly more informative plug-ins of the same kind, which work in tandem with the SpeedFan program and also show current temperatures - but, again, the practical meaning of their use in everyday life tends to zero.

But the MirandaG15 plugin, which works in tandem with the popular Miranda IM messenger, is the complete opposite. Imagine that you are sitting, slowly playing some kind of calm game, and then a characteristic “ICQ” meow is heard from the speakers - someone wants to tell you something. Press Alt-tab, switch to Windows and see who and what? On the one hand, I don’t want to break away, on the other hand, what if they write something important ...

In the case of Miranda G15, everything is greatly simplified: you do not need to switch anywhere. When a new message arrives, the plugin automatically switches focus to itself and shows you this message on the keyboard screen:

If you are not interested in it, you can safely continue playing - after a short time (it is determined in the settings), the plugin will again go into the shadows and will not bother you until the next message arrives. If, on the other hand, you want to reply to a message... no. and in this case you do not need to switch anywhere! It is enough to press the "Chat" button (as you can see from the photo, this will be the rightmost button of the LCD screen), after which the plug-in will take over the keyboard (the still running game will not even notice anything) and prompt you to type the answer:

... we press the "Send" button - and we immediately see that the message has been sent to the addressee:

Now you can, with a clear conscience, put MirandaG15 back into the background and return to the game. Well, or, if you want to continue communication with the interlocutor, you can view his previous messages, write something else to him ...

Moreover, MirandaG15 allows you to work even with a contact list: on a tiny screen, of course, the pleasure is very specific, but it demonstrates the capabilities of the keyboard perfectly.

Thus, the screen in the Logitech G15 is not just a means of displaying information, it also allows you to react to this information, for example, respond to incoming messages via ICQ or Jabber without switching from the application currently running in Windows. By the way, this wonderful feature helps not only in games, but also at work - the habit of not being distracted from the current task for every meow of ICQ, but first glancing at the keyboard screen to see who is writing about what, is developed instantly; I think people whose occupation requires concentration, but at the same time who do not want to completely abandon ICQ, will appreciate this opportunity.

Meanwhile, the manufacturer is positioning the G15 as a keyboard for games, and its screen as a means of displaying current information (for example, about the health status of a character under your control). So, what do we have with games? .. Alas, everything is bad with games. Not in the sense that they do not have G15 support - it gradually appears (for example, in the recently released Prey it is present initially, in World of Warcraft it appeared recently, in Unreal Tournament 2004 it is added by installing a patch ...), but in that for displaying basic game information, the screen is deeply meaningless. For two reasons: firstly, a lot of information does not fit on it, which means that it did not take up much space on the monitor screen; secondly, the main game information should always be available at a glance, and its transfer to the keyboard screen simply contradicts this requirement.

Take, for example, Prey. What do we see on the screen? Health and "fortitude" of the character and a compass indicating the direction of his movement. How much space has been freed up on the main monitor? Yes, in general, practically not at all: a compass circle in one corner and a couple of numbers in the other. What happened to our convenience? Alas, and again, alas. During the entire game in Prey, I simply did not pay attention to the compass, because it required each time to look from the monitor to the keyboard, and then back - and it may well happen that just at that moment some kind of some evil spirits from the nearest teleport.

Does this mean that the G15's screen is generally useless in games? Fortunately, no. Logitech's mistake was its positioning as a means of displaying the main game information (I did italicize this word above for a reason!). Firstly, there is not much such information, and secondly, it should always be in sight - that is, on the main monitor.

The true calling of the G15 screen is to display secondary information, for the most part meaninglessly clogging the monitor, but sometimes it can come in handy. Moreover, this information may not come from the game itself at all, but from background applications that cannot display anything on the monitor, because it is busy with the game.

First of all, these applications include voice chats, often used in multiplayer games to coordinate the actions of teams - for example, TeamSpeak or Ventrilo (both of these programs already support Logitech G15). The point is that when communicating in such chats with unfamiliar people, and especially in a non-native language, it is often difficult to understand who, in fact, is speaking at the moment. The output of such information on the monitor is impossible - the chat program lives separately from the game, and even if it were possible, in most cases it would only clog the screen in vain. But the keyboard screen, which in which case you can throw a glance, is very convenient.

However, why only in games? Voice chats in conference mode (that is, when talking more than two people) can also be used outside of games - and then the G15 screen will play the same role, suggesting what is happening at the moment, and allowing you not to keep the chat window active on the main monitor . And in general, I believe that the creators of all kinds of programs for communication, from ICQ clones to Skype, should pay attention to this feature, especially since the implementation of G15 support is not very difficult.

So, the screen turned out to be very useful, but not at all in the role in which Logitech advertises it - it is ideal for displaying secondary information, not only in games, but also during normal work.

However, if you still do not need the screen, you can simply close it.

Programmable Buttons

Of course, we have all become accustomed to the presence of all kinds of additional buttons on the keyboards - launching the browser and mail client, controlling the sound volume, and so on and so forth. Not a single keyboard can do without them, except for the smallest models, and the G15 is no exception: at the beginning of the article, I already considered the player control buttons and the volume wheel. It would seem that a poor set (on other keyboards there are literally whole rows of additional buttons), but the G15 has one unique feature - eighteen programmable G-keys, located three blocks to the left of the main field. What's wrong with that, you say, because additional buttons can usually be reassigned to one degree or another on almost any keyboard? The fact is that in the G15 they are specially designed for user programming, and their capabilities are very high.

Let's say you want to remember some sequence of keystrokes. It can be anything - a certain combination in the game, a text editor, or even a sequence of HTML tags that you often need to insert into the page you are currently editing.

First, by pressing one of the three M-keys, you select a group. There are three groups, each of them has its own macros on each of the G-keys - that is, there are not 18, but as many as 54 "virtual" G-keys, and you can switch between their groups with one click. The currently selected group is highlighted with a yellow LED.

After that, you press the large "MR" key, which immediately lights up in blue, and a prompt appears on the LCD screen:

Well, since they are asked to press the G-key, we will press it, which one we like best of the eighteen available (if you suddenly change your mind about recording a macro, you must press "MR" again). The keyboard prompt changes to "Enter your keys. Push MR when done" and the "MR" button starts blinking: now we can press any buttons and their combinations that we want to enter into the macro. These presses will be processed and executed as usual, that is, the result will be visible in the running program, but at the same time they will be remembered by the keyboard driver. Having typed the desired sequence, press "MR" and see the inscription "Quick macro recorded" on the screen, and the G-key we selected earlier will now play the entire entered sequence when pressed.

Thus, if on conventional keyboards we need to launch a separate program and select from the proposed list of actions to reassign buttons, then with the G15 you can directly in the application in which you will use the macro, practically in between, by pressing just a couple of additional buttons (applying them and will not notice), enter an arbitrary sequence, which will then be executed by pressing just one button.

Of course, you can also change macros using the G-series Keyboard Profiler program that came with the keyboard:

Firstly, the program allows you to view which macros correspond to which buttons (however, when entering a macro directly from the keyboard, it will be automatically designated as "Quick Macro number such and such", but the name can be changed here to a more meaningful one). In the screenshot above, you can see that in the default configuration in the M1 group there are four macros: one opens the calculator, three others switch virtual desktops, the rest of the buttons are free for now.

By clicking on any of the buttons with macros, we get all the wealth of choice:

The program allows:

Assign Keystroke: assignment of a combination of keys (unlike a macro of arbitrary length, programmed by pressing the "MR" button from the keyboard itself, here you can program only a single press of any combination);
Assign Macro: allows you to "copy" to this button a macro already recorded for some other button;
Repeat Options: allows you to enable the auto-repeat function of macro playback when the button that calls it is held down;
Use Default and Disable: reset the macro to the original program settings or disable this button altogether;
Macro Manager: management of all available macros (they will be discussed below);
Assign Function: quick selection of one of the standard functions;
Assign Shortcut: Assign the launch of an arbitrary program.

In general, if we compare the G15 with typical multimedia keyboards, then the latter, for the most part, out of all the listed magnificence, implement exactly one function - the choice of one of the standard functions. With the help of third-party programs, you can assign arbitrary macros and scripts to buttons, but these programs are not for everyone: as a rule, scripts have to be written manually, having previously studied their format, while in G15 all actions are done in just a few mouse clicks.

The Macro Manager subprogram is designed to manage already created macros. It displays all recorded macros, including those that are not currently attached to any buttons (that is, by deleting a macro from a button, we do not erase it yet, and at any time we can return it back or reassign it to another button using the Assign Macro function), and when you select a specific macro from the list or create a new one, it shows exactly what is written in this macro:

Here we can:

manage not only the "button actuation" event, but also separately the "button pressed" and "button released" events, which allows you to program the pressing of groups of buttons (for example, in the screenshot above, button "2" is pressed and released when the "Left Windows" button is pressed ) or set the delay between pressing and releasing the button;
insert delays of arbitrary duration in arbitrary places of the macro, starting from units of milliseconds;
continue recording the "unfinished" macro from any place inside it or before any place inside it, and not just from the end;
insert button presses into the macro not only on the keyboard, but also on the mouse - unfortunately, the cursor position is not remembered;
automatically record delays between keystrokes when typing a macro from the keyboard.

The only thing missing in the settings is the option to remember the cursor position during mouse-related events, and the function "automatically write an article and send it to the editor" ... however, I already dreamed about this a little.

The management of groups of macros, which I wrote about above in relation to the M-buttons, is not limited to them: in addition to the three manually switched M-buttons, you can also set up automatic management of profiles that are loaded depending on which application is running (first of all, of course, this function is intended for games, but can just as well be used at work). To do this, select the "Profile" - "New..." menu item in the main Profile Manager window:

All that is required to bind a profile to a specific program is to enter a name and description (arbitrary), as well as select an executable file, upon launching which the profile will be automatically activated. The latter can be done both manually and using the LCD screen of the keyboard - you need to select the appropriate item, and then the inscription will appear on the screen:

Now you need to start the game and press the appropriate button. Everything, the profile is created and activated, you can start recording macros for it. By the way, when you start the game, a prompt will appear on the screen: "Profile Activated: FarCry".

Above I said "game", and Logitech assumes that we are dealing with games, but, of course, absolutely nothing prevents linking profiles to absolutely any program. However, they are also automatically activated when the corresponding program is launched and disabled when it is closed or simply removed from the program window (so if you want to use macros for programs running in the background, you will have to record them for the default profile).

Perhaps only one thing is missing: the symbols on the G-buttons, making it clear which profile is currently selected. UnitedKeys implemented something similar in its 205PRO keyboard: the function keys in it are equipped with small monochrome LCD screens (yes, I know about the Art. Lebedev Studio and the Optimus keyboard, in which all the available keys without exception are equipped with full-color OLED screens, but this is so far a concept that exists only on paper, the timing of the release of which and the cost, I do not undertake to predict even tentatively).

What is the problem with making the same buttons on the G15? I suspect it's about the cost: the UnitedKeys keyboard is expected to be on sale in 2007 for $299, which is much more expensive than the G15 - despite the fact that in all other respects the 205PRO is no different from ordinary office keyboards. In general, this is understandable - and the screens themselves turn out to be not cheap (because even in the case of the 205PRO they need a dozen for one keyboard, and in the G15 a couple of dozen would be required), and the system for attaching them is also unlikely to be simple, so here is a dollar, there is a dollar , but in the end, the amount runs decent. Over time, of course, we will see mass keyboards with screens in function buttons, but I'm afraid it will take a long time.

Conclusion

So, the Logitech G15 is an extremely interesting device, and its capabilities in practice go beyond even the manufacturer's official advertising (a rare case, you must admit).

In addition to being just a good keyboard, the G15 also has well-made key backlighting, a multifunctional matrix LCD screen that allows you not only to display some information (which would be nice in itself), but also to interact directly with the plug-ins that produce this output, regardless of which application is currently running. And, finally, programmable keys, which implement almost everything you can dream of - recording macros on the fly without looking up from the keyboard, the widest possibilities for managing macros, up to programming delays between events, programming any keyboard events and even pressing mouse buttons, linking profiles (each of which stores three groups of 18 macros each) to the currently running application, manually switching between three groups of macros at any time...

Logitech positions the G15 as a gaming keyboard, and its screen as a means of displaying the current important gaming information. In fact, both points are not entirely true - as we saw above, the G15 can be perfectly used outside of games (both programmable macros and the LCD screen), and in games it is worth displaying rather secondary information on its screen, up to information from auxiliary programs - in this role, the keyboard turns out to be extremely useful, allowing you not to clog the main monitor at the same time, and in which case you can quickly get the necessary information.

At the same time, the thoughtfulness of the G15 makes an extremely pleasant impression - both the keyboard itself and the software that comes with it. With the richest opportunities, there is no feeling of excessive complexity or clutter, redundancy of actions - everything you need is done in just a few movements, and such basic actions as recording new macros can be performed at different levels of complexity, from manually listing the sequence of button presses in the Macro Manager to a simple set macros on the keyboard right during the game.

The downside, of course, is the price of the keyboard - it's around $90 and falls pretty slowly. But what to do if many of the features of the G15 are actually unique, and it simply has no competitors yet.