Logitech G710+ Mechanical Keyboard and G600 MMO Mouse Review
by Dustin Sklavos on October 9, 2012 12:01 AM ESTIntroducing the Logitech G600 MMO Mouse
While the G710+ mechanical keyboard is a respectable entry into Logitech's canon of peripherals and certainly notable as their first mechanical keyboard, the G600 MMO gaming mouse is a pretty impressive piece of kit unto itself as well.
What characterizes an MMO mouse is, essentially, a massive cluster of programmable buttons under the thumb. I think the existing entrants on the market have reached varying degrees of success with their designs, but the G600 is, like the G710+, an unusually and impressively intuitive piece of kit. While I think Corsair's first keyboards and mice were very strong options out of the gate, Logitech has more experience in designing peripherals, and their patient study of the competition with both the keyboard and this mouse is evident.
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The G600's design is remarkably simple. They use a soft-touch plastic that's in my opinion more pleasing to use than the material Razer uses on their mice; Razer mice have always made my hand clammy, while the surface of the G600 (and my personal favorite, the mainstay G500) seems to let my skin breathe just a little more.
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Where the G600 excels is in its overall layout, though. The top surface of the mouse actually sports three distinct buttons (as opposed to the usual two and the mouse-wheel button) along with the mouse-wheel button and two buttons beneath it. The third and rightmost button is for your ring finger, and can be configured however you wish, although Logitech has a clear plan for it. Meanwhile, the array of twelve buttons under the thumb is freakishly intuitive. These buttons are essentially designed as two nests of six, raised at the edges; the rep said it was rare for individuals to use all twelve buttons, but that the two nests of six allowed people with varying sizes of hands to pick a set that was comfortable to them and go.
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It gets better. The side button array is also backlit, and the backlighting is not only color and pulse configurable but corresponds to whatever programmed set of buttons you're using. The G600 can be programmed with a staggering 48 sets of functions on these buttons; three profiles to switch between, plus what Logitech calls their "G-Shift" profile, enabled by holding the third surface button under the index finger.
If the G600's design has any major flaws, it's that it's frankly just a large mouse and in some ways feels a bit stripped down. The buttons are fantastic and the third surface mouse button seems like such an obvious inclusion that I'm surprised nobody else is doing it; the last time we saw this with any kind of frequency was decades ago. Yet I miss their switchable freewheel for the mouse wheel, and while adjustable weight might not be strictly necessary for a mouse this large it would still be appreciated.
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AmdInside - Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - link
Can you comment on the brightness of the backlit keys please? I own a Logitech G110 which I had to retire early because the backlit keys were very dim which is a feedback I've read a lot on the internet about the model. I moved onto a mechnical keyboard with Cherry MX which I find perfect for my mixed gaming/office productivity needs but would be nice to get a Logitech keyboard as I could use the macro keys and backlit keys since I don't like to have the light on in the office at night.Dustin Sklavos - Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - link
BRIGHT. But adjustable. :)DanNeely - Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - link
The nearest Fry's/Microcenters are a full days round trip driving; and while WorstBuy claims "available now" for most of Razer's keyboards; that apparently means "can be shipped to the store same day for pickup"; since when I went to my local location they didn't have any of them out and the instore version of their website indicated not stocked locally.ScytheNoire - Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - link
I've had the G600 since I could first buy it and so far it's my favourite mouse on the market. Possibly favourite mouse ever (and that's a lot of mice).Between the G600 and the Razer Naga Epic, the G600 wins, hands down, easily. I haven't had my hands on the Corsair M90, but I suspect that the thumb key layout would bother me. G600 fits my hand perfectly and the concave thumb buttons is what makes it superior to the Razer Naga Epic, I can always tell where my thumb is in relation to the buttons.
I've been looking for a mechanical keyboard, was tossing around the Corsair K90, but might also check out this new Logitech one. I think I really need to find a store that carries a lot of mechanical keyboards so I can really test them out before plunking down the money they cost.
maximumGPU - Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - link
" The problem is that the Browns feel like they have higher resistance than the Blues, Reds, or Blacks even though they're actually specced to have the least resistance. They may actually be bottoming out faster, but either way they put vastly more stress on my wrists than the other switches do. I'll have to see how the Rosewill keyboard I have in house with Cherry MX Brown switches plays out, but I can tell you the G710+'s feedback feels more like stiff membrane keys than the other mechanical keyboards I've used. "i find that very odd. I have both Blues and Browns and i can definitely sense the extra stiffness of the blue keys, no question about that. Could there be another explanation to your findings?
on another notte, I know a lot of folks generalise statements like Blues are better for typing, etc... but really every advice for mech keyboards is useless. It's a case of try out what's best for you.
Case in point, i'm a very light touch typist, and i far prefer Browns over Blues for both typing and gaming.
Old_Fogie_Late_Bloomer - Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - link
This doesn't sound like descriptions I've read of other brown keyboards, so I wonder what's up with this one...browns should have the same operating force as the reds, except for the little catch where it actuates. They definitely should feel lighter than blues.Impulses - Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - link
My Rosewill with browns feels almost identical to my K90 with reds, I barely even notice the tactile bump with typing since I don't use the Rosewill a lot (it's more noticeable while gaming but then I usually bottom out regardless so it's kinda moot). Logitech might've tried to innovate somehow and screwed up the standard feel of browns.lyeoh - Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - link
Can we have some benchmarks and stats please? What are the various button and key latencies in milliseconds?How fast can the mouse be moved and still track accurately (cm/inches per second)? What's the mouse update rate for this? 1000Hz? 500Hz?
What's the repeatability of the mouse? e.g. set it to linear, place it on position A, move it to position B X cm away at Y cm per second. Move it back to A (you can use guide rails or similar to limit the movement) then see if the pointer is still at the same spot.
How many keys on the keyboard can be pressed at the same time before they stop being detected (excluding the modifier keys)? Which keys are those for maximum?
Holly - Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - link
Actually keys hit at once generally become problem in software processing much earlier than hardware, even for my primitive D3D semestral work I had to implement my own keyboard handler to have it working properly for more complex actions.ahamling27 - Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - link
I've been using the Monoprice Backlit Macro Mechancial Gaming Keyboard(Apparently, Monoprice calls their products how they see them) for about 3 months now to game and type on and it's been a pleasurable experience to say the least. It's got Cherry MX Reds and is backlit red, with 4 birghtness settings and a pulse setting. It also has 2 usb 2.0 ports and 3.5 mm audio in and headphone jacks.Many dismiss it because it uses the shell of an existing brand that has since gone out of business but I can attest that the innards are far from similar. It's priced less than this Logitech keyboard, and you can sometimes find it on sale for less than $100.
I hope you would consider calling Monoprice up and ask for one to review. Monoprice is known for their quality and it shows in this keyboard.