“Here's where the fun begins!” says Han Solo while being pursued by Imperial star destroyers in Star Wars. We put the G15 through trial by virtual fire by playing Battlefield 2 after configuring the programmable keys to our liking – mainly quick weapons change, team communications, and fast ducking to avoid enemy shots. It all worked out pretty well but you have to keep the changes in your mind because there’s no visual clue to them. Other gaming keyboards like Ideazon’s Zboard have specifically tagged keys, but they’re not that useful besides gaming. It takes time to get used to the newly programmed keys but their response is good, as is the rest of the keyboard, especially the WASD cluster (used to move the virtual soldier in first person shooter games).

The backlit keys are a great feature especially for those who love playing in the dark, either at home for fun or in darkly lit lan houses. We’d like to think that we’re too good to look at the keyboard searching for the right keys when playing (yeah right), but the backlighting is useful for a quick check up, especially when getting acquainted to a new keyboard.

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Figure 6: Playing in the dark.

The G15 is a good keyboard for those who play and work in equal terms. Hardcore gamers may complain about its size – especially due to keeping the number pad – but it’s the price you pay for having a hybrid product. The function keys could be better located since we usually hit the G6 key while reaching for the left control. And we missed an instructions manual. Backlighting is a great feature, and so is the inclusion of two USB ports. The LCD display is good for gaming, but you have to download third party applications to be useful during work usage.