Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 103
 Logitech G13 vs. Belkin n52te July 30, 2009
C Cougar (Vermont)
80 out of 83 found this review helpful
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.
Very Impressed February 1, 2009
Hackop (Castle Rock, CO)
58 out of 61 found this review helpful
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.
Mac Gamers Rejoice! This is one sexy beast! March 25, 2009
K. Doyle (Andover, MA USA)
38 out of 44 found this review helpful
Logitech stands out in a sea of rebranded Chinese knockoffs as a bona fide design firm. In my eyes, they are the Apple of the accessory market.
I adore my VX and MX Revolution mice, their flywheel was a genius move and I cannot imagine life without it. I see Logitech's industrial design is very Porsche-like, following the Porsche dictum of "form follows function".
This said, I have just spent my first week with their new G13 gamepad, and I think Logitech may have raised their high bar for design. This is one sexy beast, to be sure.
My interest in this piece was specifically for World of Warcraft. I don't consider myself a serious gamer, as I don't play or even really recognize a lot of the titles that the G13 supports. I however became a Warcraft fan since my son convinced me to open an account and go questing with him. A great family activity, and after three years we are a 3 account family and travel Azeroth a few hours each week as a happy pack.
My professional background is technology design and engineering, as well as a Mac programmer and software interface designer.
The past year or so I had been using a Belkin Nostromo N52. I bought the device about 3 years ago, but could not use it successfully because the Belkin Mac drivers never worked correctly. I discovered ControllerMate, a Mac programming utility through a friend about a year ago. It is a superb, professional piece of software, and with it, I had the old N52 jumping through Warcraft hoops. I was pretty happy with the N52 in this config, but always open for a better solution. I saw a picture of the G13 about a month ago, spotted Mac compatibility in a gaming device, no less, and I am off to Logitech site to see more.
One of the great things about Logitech is that when they say one of their products supports the Mac, they actually have Mac programmers to write real software that looks and performs up to the expectation of a veteran Mac user. The great majority of gaming companies and devices provide little or no support, or have a cursory piece of poorly-designed ported Windows software that make the product much less functional on the Mac.
In a word, the G13 piece is stunning. I don't know where to start, except to say that the initial tactile experience with the unit exceeded my high expectations from previous reviewers and looking at photos.
First of all, the unit is hefty, containing a metal weight embedded in the upper half of the unit. In photos, that large area that says G13 on the bottom is actually a big chunk of metal. Couple this heft with a number of large rubber feet, and the G13 literally become a component of the surface you place it on, imparting an incredibly solid feel. On the top of the unit, the heel of your left hand rests on a firmly-padded textured rubber surface. It has a heavily grained leather-like feel to it, providing a very comfortable no-slip anchor point for your hand.
The unit is fairly large, but I have big hands and it was just perfect for me. The arc shape mirrors the natural curve of my relaxed hand. People with smaller hands may feel differently, but I cannot comment on that.
From a functional/comfort perspective, after about an hour of figuring out a basic config I liked (comes with a Warcraft profile, but I wanted it a bit different), I played 3 hours of WoW and suffered no fatigue at all. I look forward to making the perfect config for me over time.
Digging a bit deeper, there are 22 numbered backlit keys on the main board (G1-G22), with cup shapes molded into the reverse T movement keys (WASD equiv.) so you can home in your position without looking. There is a dedicated button to control the display and key backlighting, a small joystick that fits under my thumb and has 3 additional buttons, one to the left and bottom, and another is a press on the top of the stick. It also has 4 softkeys for the applets that run in the display, and another button to cycle through the applets. The G13 comes with 6 applets, although only 4 work on its monochrome display. They cycle between displaying CPU & RAM usage, Time/date, and a countdown/stopwatch time controlled by the softkeys. There are 3rd party websites like G15mods.com that have a growing library or compatible applets, plus the G13 comes with an SDK to develop your own if you are so inclined.
Applications like World of Warcraft that have G13 support, will feed their applet into the G13 display upon opening or selecting the app. As of this writing, the Warcraft applet is only available in the PTR beta version, that should be released in a couple of weeks or so.
Having 3 banks of 22 keys is a lot, but Logitech made a cool way to know where you are at a glance. The three shifted banks can change the color of the backlighting and the display to any color you select. I chose blue for general operation, red for raiding and green for farming. Each set has its own optimized button functions.
There is also a button for quick macro recording, simply hit it, select a G key or button to assign it to, do whatever you want on your keyboard, hit the Quick Macro again, and you have a new macro. Works great.
Another unique feature is that your profiles and macros can be stored in the G13's own internal memory, so you can take all you commands with you to another machine.
I predict this will be a very popular item once folks hear about it. Buy with confidence.
Pros -
Very Comfortable, and it is one sexy beast, style-wise.
I love the color selectable backlighting on the keys and display
Instant one dedicated button macro recording is superb.
The G13 can store game profiles in the unit itself, so you can take your macros and profiles to another computer by just plugging in your pad.
Heavy and solid, feels like it is bolted to the desk.
Comes with a Mac SDK for programming your own applications for the display.
Cons, and I feel rather petty here given how much I like the piece...
Mac software requires a download, PC comes on a CD.
The button that is activated by pushing the top of the joystick requires too much effort, and is not easy to use.
Some may complain at the $80 price tag, I found it an excellent value, really nothing else like it when you understand its sophistication.
Would like a .pdf manual, or printed...but that is just me. The online help and tutorials are detailed and well done.
Nirvana for the Mac WOW player August 13, 2009
Scott Sherman (Maryland, USA)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
As a sometimes semi-addicted World of Warcraft player, I'm always interested in peripherals that will enhance my gameplay. For me, it's all about comfort - I can play for hours at a time, and anything that makes that time more enjoyable is all good. Besides, as much as I love my WOW, carpal tunnel syndrome seems like a high price to pay for playing a game.
A year ago, before there was such a thing as a Logitech G13, I purchased the [[ASIN:B000FRW8KS Fang Gamepad by Ideazon]. I liked the basic design. It let me navigate with its dedicated movement buttons, putting my left hand away from the cramped confines of the keyboard. Unfortunately, the overall feel of the Fang was cheap and plasticky. It's very lightweight, which isn't a great quality in a desktop device - it tended to slide around when the action got heated.
Worse, the Fang, like almost all of Ideazon's products, don't offer out-of-the-box computability with Macs. While my system recognized the navigation buttons as W,A,S,D equivalents, there was no way to assign functions to the other buttons. A clever third-party program, ControllerMate, will allow you to map those buttons, but it's a tough program to learn and adds $15 to the cost.
When the Logitech G13 came out, I decided to try it as a replacement for the Fang. I'm glad I did. The G13 isn't inexpensive, but it's one of those rare computer peripherals where, when you get your hands on it, you feel you've gotten your money's worth. It's an undeniably solid piece of equipment that's designed for serious gameplay. It's angled design makes for incredibly comfortable operation, even on the longest quests or battlefields.
Best of all, it offers native Mac compatibility. The macro writer is intuitive and easy to use. The G13 knows when you're playing WOW, so it automatically loads the appropriate (customizable) profile to get the most out of the game. I understand there are built in profiles for other games too, but WOW sucks enough of my time that I haven't had a chance to try them out.
Two features of the G13 that I haven't found as useful as I'd anticipated are the LCD and the joystick controller. While the LCD displays stats that are related to WOW, I find they're not informative enough to justify my taking my eyes off the computer screen. The small joystick, on the bottom left, looked like it would be a great way to move around, but in practice, I found it a little awkward. Maybe I'm just used to the W,A,S,D metaphor, but I just set the keys in the middle of the G13 to correspond to those keys and it's been great.
In closing, the G13 is an outstandingly made and designed gamepad that will your improve your game and save your wrists. While you might not need or use or its bells and whistles, its a serious device you can grow into. Best of all, in a market that is rarely inclusive of the Mac OS, the G13 plays beautifully with those of who'd much rather brave the Wrath of the Lich King than the Wrath of Windows.
Scott Sherman, author, Lambda Literary Award Winning Best Gay Mystery, 2009, First You Fall: A Kevin Connor Mystery
G13 is the new standard July 13, 2009
Ryan J. (Maryland)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
4.5 stars for a nearly perfect device.
I initially purchased the g13 for Logitech's customer support over Belkin/Razor's support for their n52te. However, I soon discovered that many features of the g13 are much better than what the n52 had or what the n52te will ever have.
Quick summary
pros:
- nicer ergnomic feel
- more buttons
- thumbstick feels more natural over dpad for movement
- lua scripting for more complex macros / button layout behavior
- good support (check out their forums 'g series keyboard')
- software is easy to use
- LCD screen
- customizable color lit keys
cons:
- currently, thumbstick is not true analog
- thumbstick "head" could be a little bigger
- left hand only
- some buttons are hard to reach when using thumbstick for movement
Detailed review
I've been debating on getting the g13 for past month or so once I discovered it's presence when I was researching the n52te. At first, the button layout and the ergonomic "appearance" did not seem as comfortable as the n52 that I owned. Of course, the store did not have one on display so I could not get a true feeling for it until I actually purchased it and brought it home.
Oh my! I am surprised at how comfortable this device is! It has far exceeded my expectations as far as comfort goes. I have read that the thumbstick is a little small and gets extremely uncomfortable with long gaming sessions, but I find that it is more comfortable than using the dpad on the n52 for extended periods of time. I do agree that the head of the thumbstick could be a little bigger, but you do get accustomed to it. For the brave, however, websites exist which show modification of the device to use a xbox / ps2 thumbstick at the expense of your 3-year warranty.
What I don't like about the n52 (and I didn't realize it at the time) was that the "hump" that's supposed to provide support for your palm is really a hindrance to it (for those who have small to average hands). The g13 does not have that support "hump" and the palm rest is still very comfortable and my hands are average size.
The extra buttons (over the n52) are a nicety, but not absolutely necessary. Nevertheless, my hand rarely leaves the g13 since the extra buttons map to more functions in game. I normally use the thumbstick for movement and because of this, it's difficult to use the top-left button. However, I doubt anyone would map a regularly used action to that button while they're moving.
At first, I thought the LCD would be nothing more than a gimmick, but it is quite useful for showing in-game stats or the healthiness of your computer while in game. A couple of the default apps that the LCD uses range from less useful (RSS reader) to useful (clock, stopwatch, system performance).
Getting used to the g13 doesn't take very long if you are already using the n52. For the most part, if the n52 was invaluable to the game you are playing, then the g13 will be invaluable to the same game (MMORPG, RTS). In the games where the n52 didn't help much (FPS mostly), the g13 helped a little. The thumbstick felt more natural to move, but I still found myself going back to the keyboard, maybe I just need more time to adjust. Also, the pending analog joystick fix should help for FPS games that support it.
I went ahead and downloaded the software from Logitech's website rather than risk using the potentially outdated softare that came with the g13. The software is very intuitive for those that are familiar with the n52's software. The neatest feature that I discovered was associating a new profile to a game. You can either select the executable manually or allow the g13 to do it for you.
This process for having the g13 do it was simple:
1. create the new profile and name it
2. select the second option for detecting game.
3. launch the game
4. the g13's lcd menu will ask you to push one of the lcd buttons when your game is running
Also, the profiles you create can be stored in the g13's onboard memory.
Before I heard of the g13, I was a devoted n52 supporter and I really believed that the n52 could not be beat. Because the n52 is no longer in production, I was sure that my next purchase was the n52te. However, upon doing my research with the n52te, I decided not to purchase it and go with the g13 for one reason: customer support. A quick visit to the respective forums for the n52te and g13 will show who cares more about your money and your gaming experience. In doing so, Logitech has set the bar for gaming boards.
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