G-Series Gaming Keyboards

[Davs]

The G13's design strikes me as being intended to appear sleek and useful, but when it comes down to its function as an input device it strikes me as some sort of keyboard imitation with a very peculiar key layout.  

Compare the number of rows and keys/row between the Nostromo and the G13. The Nostromo contains 3 neat rows of 4 keys; one key for each finger, with the thumb resting comfortably on the D-Pad. No extraneous effort in repositioning the hand is needed to reach any key, and the sensible layout means each key is easy to find by touch. The G13, on the other hand, forgoes the sensible rectangular layout and instead has (starting from the bottom) a row of 3, a row of 5, a row of 7 and another row of 7 (this top row contains plenty of hard to reach keys, especially towards the left; I don't know about you, but my pinky is the shortest finger on my hand). While the G13 has more keys than it's competitor, the Nostromo, it's much more difficult to navigate around by touch, and I find it particularly taxing to reach some of the keys in the upper left and upper right corners of the device while keeping my thumb on the joystick for movement. It would have made much more sense to omit the top left section of keys in favor of a more radial layout, centered on the joystick. 

The G13's concave "WASD" keys, while admittedly a bit more comfortable to rest on than the typical flatter key, are useless for touch typing. A standard keyboard employs a small, sharply raised section on the F and J keys, which I find to be very easily recognizable. Since only 2 keys, separated by significant distance, in a standard keyboard employ this marker, one marker for each region that a hand rests in, a typist can easily and unmistakably determine the finger's location on the board. By contrast, the G13 contains a cluster of directly adjacent keys in the "WASD" section, meaning that even if I notice that a finger is on one of these keys, it may, in some cases, be difficult to determine precisely which key the finger is on. I have thought of remedying this absurdity by sticking some sort of textured tape on a key to serve as an effective anchor. 

To top it all off, the joystick has historically been despised for its uncomfortable shape, to the point that that, for some, merited the voiding of warranty to replace it with a crudely fashioned, much more comfortable replacement. Also, the side of the thumb rather than the finger tip rests on the joystick, which makes accurate movement and depressing of the thumb stick button all the more difficult. 

Though sleek the device is, it seems clear that some very important aspects of the typical human hand's anatomy have been ignored in favor of the device's appearance. 

[Trusselo]

while there are probably people that agree there are just as many that wont.  unfortunatly as with EVERYTHING in the world, you cant please everyone.

[kgober Logi Guru III]

fortunately, if you prefer the nostromo layout of 3 rows of 4, then you can use just those 12 G keys and ignore the rest of them.

-ken

[Davs]

Currently, I try not to assign any mission critical functions to G1,G2,G8,G9, or G15, which is a bit of a waste. In my opinion, the whole point of a left hand controller is to provide a layout of important functions that can seamlessly be weaved together better than would be possible with a standard keyboard, and to do away with superfluous keys that aren't necessary. Well at least it's given me something egregious to rant about.

[kgober Logi Guru III]

I recommend that you make more use of G2, G9, and G15 and less use of G7 and G14 (home your middle finger on G11, rather than on G12).  unless your hand is really small and you can't reach the thumbstick otherwise.

nice that the G13 has enough keys that you have these options, eh?

-ken

[Trusselo]

i use G1 for ESC in every profile. G8 for tab G2 and 8 are sometimes ignored completly.