Don’t Hate Me Because My Keyboard’s Beautiful

I don’t write about gear alot because it’s not really my deal. The hardware section is not my first choice when doing a thorough browse of my local Best Buy.

Not that you asked, but I’ll usually start off in the console games section, moving off into cellphones and iPod accessories, then a slow stroll past the camera equipment to reach the Wall of DVDs, followed by a careful scrutiny of CDs … must. resist. the. siren’s. song. of the boxed sets … into computer hardware and PC games, with the big finish in Plasma Televisions. The brief layover in hardware is mostly for my mental list of stuff to search for on Newegg.com.

Like this recent acquisition … the Logitech G15 keyboard. Put plainly, this is the BEST KEYBOARD I HAVE EVER OWNED. And I’m like you, I use up keyboards almost as fast as mice (mouses?), so when a keyboard dies, I’ll race to Best Buy and tell Skippy to get me cheap, wired, in stock STAT!! Guild Raid!! No time to chat!

But this one … it’s the kind of keyboard you show off to the neighbors, even the homeless ones. “So anyways, if you ever do get a home, you should get one of these bad boys. Very nice.”

The other gear issue is, some of the Warcraft buds have been recruiting for their little Gears of War club. I feel obligated to give you a link for that, although I know everyone has heard about Gears of War by now. Even me, an MMO guy. (Here’s the link, BUT, it does a weird browser-size hijack so watch it: Link)

Problem #1: I do not own an Xbox 360.

Problem #2: I do not own Gears of War.

Problem #3: I am not made of money. I’ll drop half a mortgage on a plasma television that I’ll watch on Sundays, but $400 for one game? I’m balking. How good could this game be?

As I’m researching how much this non-MMORPG adventure would set me back, I browsed past all the Xbox 360 faceplate mods I could buy — I don’t want my Xbox to look like a Chrysler Town & Country, thankyouverymuch — until I spotted this: Pelican’s Design Your Own Faceplate.

I did not even know such a thing was possible. This really appeals to my basest of consumer instincts — now I want the Xbox just so I can have the $30 unique-to-me faceplate.

Or, how bout I turn the tables on that. I’m willing to sell space on my new Xbox faceplate for say … $200. When my neighbors and close friends come over to my home to watch me play Gears of War, your company has a captive audience for your marketing message. That’s value! I’m serving the drinks, I’ll open the Doritos bags, I’m going halfsey on the Xbox + Gears of War, you’re getting prime marketing real estate in my HOME.

For an extra $50, I’ll even comment on the faceplate every hour. “Those guys? Umm, Pennzoil is only the best motor oil on the market today, noob. How do you think those Gears of War keep turning? It’s with fine lubricants like Pennzoil.”

Non-motor oil advertisements are welcome as well.

20 thoughts on “Don’t Hate Me Because My Keyboard’s Beautiful

  1. The keyboard looks like a carpal tunnel nightmare. Granted, it’s got some great features, but ever since I bought the original, old-skool, size of a surfboard Microsoft Natural Keyboard I just can’t use the non-split keyboards anymore.

    So what kinda stuff can you monitor with that LCD in WoW. Shards? Food for your pet? Alterac Swiss?

  2. I’ll second the keyboard endorsement and mention that I’ve been a happy owner of a G15 for a while. I never would have seen myself spending that much money on a keyboard before this, but it was worth it. My favorite bit is that the latest beta version of Ventrilo added support for the LCD. It makes identifying the people who need to be re-educated on the virtues of push-to-talk possible without alt-tabbing out to watch the Ventrilo window like a hawk. That has to be worth something by itself.

  3. Thanks for the tips. I’ll be trying out both of those at tonight’s raid with my Keyboard of a Thousand Truths.

    I’ll take this opportunity to warn those who might be in my PVP groups this weekend … new keyboard, new hotkeys, new functionality … don’t expect stellar play for a few rounds. If I zig when I should have zagged, you’ll know why.

    On the bright side, I should be easy pickins for the horde.

  4. Yeah the G-15 rocks. I used the macro function to pally-buff the entire raid with the press of a single button. It’s great for macros that require a time delay.

  5. Yeah, i was also looking at that keyboard, but instead treated myself to a razor tarantula . The lack of back lit keys is its downfall, but i suppose its the price to pay for its niftyness. Functionality > bling bling lights in my book.

  6. i hope you have that keyboard combined with the logitech G7 mouse. i love my G7… *drools*

  7. I’ve had the G-15 keyboard for quite sometime myself. I really like it – at some point in time WoW actually started making use of it (in that certain stats display on the LCD), but you already know the stuff on the screen, or don’t really care about it.

    The BIG downside to this keyboard is…the buffer (I think). Whatever the technical word for…if you press shift-up arrow and press space it won’t work…is.

    I think that’s the combination, I’m certain shift up arrow, right arrow and ctrl don’t work either.

    Essentially, when you start pressing a certain amount of keys, it doesn’t get the last key. Very annoying (shift-up space is running jump for me).

  8. I work at a game development house. We got several of these for review about a year ago. Logitech wanted us to write plugins for our game to display on their keyboard, and was willing to give is “marketing dollars” to do it.

    Then, just recently, they pulled the plug on the support program. My guess is that all the publishers and developers realized that it wasn’t worth their time to write plugins for the .01% of the people that had the keyboard.

    My guess is it will be discontinues within 6 months.

  9. Would you like that alphabetically? Cuz we could start off with Asshole, swing right into Bastard, CS, Dick and oft-Douchebag, E G O T I S T I C A L, but let’s just stop before the “F” listings, because who would have time for all of those? I sure wouldn’t.

    🙂

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