Performance
Going back to the G510 after a good amount of time using different mechanical keyboards was interesting to say the least. Jumping from the clicky clacky keyboards back to a silicon keyboard was an adjustment but I was back to typing away quickly in almost no time. Once adjusted jumping into game was easy, the G510 feels just like the old G15 and the G19. Truthfully it feels like they meshed all of the G series keyboards together to give you key features from each. From the G19 you have the multi-color backlighting and the media controls including the wonderful scroll wheel style volume control. From the original G15 you have the three wide macro keys, something that also brings along the original G15’s bulkiness due to its width. From the G15 v2 you have the fixed screen unlike the G19 and G15 v1’s adjustable (and closable on the G15v1) screens.
For the most part taking all of those features from previous G series boards was a good idea. The lack of the G19’s screen for example helps keep the price lower, if not cheap. And the media keys are wonderful. But who’s idea was it to bring back the three wide macro keys on the left wide. Not only do I know no one who uses them, but by going back to three wide from the two, they have managed to make the G510 extremely wide again. This isn’t very good when you have a limited about of space like at a LAN party. Going away from the macro keys and giving you the ability to program ALL of the keyboards keys would be a preferable choice in this situation. One of our staff Cory mirrored this opinion, and considering his love for the G13 its surprising that he doesn’t put the macro keys to use.
What I did like about the performance of the G510 was the ability to be able to program macro’s on the fly. I almost never need then, but if you do need them it’s much nicer to be able to do it on the fly without having to back out of game to do.
More than anything else, I found the built in screen useful in Vent. When I tried to use the screen with games that supported it I found it almost impossible to use. There isn’t much that the screen could show that wouldn’t be better just as an overlay in game. But when used in vent I was able to see who got online or offline as needed without having to tab out of game. I was even able to change rooms as needed and kick and ban when it was required. The screen’s use is limited but due to the amount of time I spend in Vent, I wouldn’t want a Logitech keyboard without the feature.
One feature that was added on the G510 that we haven’t seen in the past was the inclusion of headphone and microphone ports. Unlike keyboards from Razer and Steel Series who have similar ports, Logitech didn’t use pass through cables to include these. The G510 has a USB sound card built in to control these ports. For some this is a great feature, making hooking your headphones up with shorter cables easy. My only complaint about this inclusion was what they had to remove to add it. In the past they would include a two port USB hub, but due to the onboard sound they did not include a built in hub. I think having the hub and sound card together could keep your in office wiring simpler with just the one device to plug into your PC.
So how did the onboard perform? Well between listening to the song Sail by Awolnation and in game I was impressed with the audio performance. My only complaint came when hooking up my headset and unhooking. Every time you plug in or unplug from the G510 it will disconnection completely from USB and reinitialize. Depending on what you’re doing this could be a hassle.