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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Sabresiberian - Thursday, October 11, 2012 - link
I have 2 G15s; the ones with 18 G-keys on the side. I understand that many people don't like that many because of the extra width, and they don't need that many extra macro keys, but I do use them and so this keyboard is somewhat of a disappointment to me despite its other qualities.Logitech did a nice job here, I know many people have been asking the company to build a mechanical keyboard and they will be thrilled with this one, but it misses the mark for me.
Systembolaget - Thursday, October 11, 2012 - link
...FILCO Majestouch Ninja tenkeyless keyboards. These plasticky Logitech devices are pure junk without minimalist aesthetic appeal and build quality. With FILCOs, you could literally hammer a nail in the wall. A red Esc. key is a must.For those, who don't know 'em http://www.diatec.co.jp/en/det.php?prod_c=775 available in various languages, too.
hellashes - Thursday, October 11, 2012 - link
i wonder whats the length of the keyboard? im having a lot of troubles choosing one cos my desk is not too big and long keyboard take on my mouse space.Inteli - Thursday, November 29, 2012 - link
If you REALLY need a keyboard that doesn't take up a lot of space, get a Tenkeyless keyboard unless you DESPERATELY need the number pad. They save a ton of space.www.elitekeyboards.com sells a few in the major switch types.
SirGCal - Thursday, October 11, 2012 - link
I recently got a brown key setup. LOVE it. This I would love even more-so, but did I miss somewhere if it also had PS2 capable n-key rollover? I think this one is only limited to 26 keys. I refuse to use USB limited keyboards because of this. (and at my best, I was very near world-record typing speeds). My current brown does have n-key rollover as long as used with the supplied USB->PS2 adapter. Unfortunately, even a very nice 26 key can catch me sometimes. N-key is my one must-have in any keyboard first and formost. Unfortunately, it's also severely limiting to my resulting choices. I had hopes for this one but... I hope I'm wrong and it does include n-key.I actually like blacks myself. Super quiet. But require a bit more force. Browns are my 2nd favorite. I don't like reds or blues. And I had near world record typing speed, just never did get the noise. And I too grew up with old-school typewriters and apple/TI brick computers. I'm getting up there myself but the noise always messed with me. But I love the feel. Black is my preferred for gaming though. Again, just personal preference. Brown for typing but gaming is also very nice. But I tend to get excited and false-press on my brown far more-so then I do with my blacks.
sean.crees - Friday, October 12, 2012 - link
I can see it now, I'm going to need ear protection to use the computer labs now because of how obnoxiously loud all the mechanical keyboards are.Inteli - Thursday, November 29, 2012 - link
What mechanical keyboards have you used? They aren't that loud unless you get Cherry MX Blues or Greens. Browns (seen here) are fairly mild, even when bottoming out. Plus, Mechanical Keyboards aren't gonna be industry standard again for a while, if ever again, so I wouldn't expect to have Mechanical Keyboards in school computer labs anytime soon.Zak - Friday, October 12, 2012 - link
I use inverted T arrows for movement, and I know others who do so, so those gaming keys on the far left are useless to us.Inteli - Thursday, November 29, 2012 - link
And though not everyone does use the WASD keys, it is the industry standard. Plus, if they annoy you, you can always just get a set of black keys to replace it.DrTeeth707 - Saturday, October 27, 2012 - link
The problem is, I buy an illuminated board for a reason, to see all the characters lit up. This keyboard has many keys with the two characters vertically placed - so only the top character gets illuminated - the lower one is VERY difficult to see. Some mech keyboard makers have characters next to each other (horizontally) in the top half of the keys so they BOTH get illuminated. Just returned a Ducky 9008 shine II because of this.Because of this I will have to get a membrane board.
DrT