Review: Logitech G610 Orion Brown

Jerry W Shields
Sep 1, 2018 · 4 min read

Well, it seems fitting that the first thing I will ever write on this blog is a review of the thing that I will be using to write the reviews of everything else.

For someone who likes to think that he likes to write a lot, it seems like whenever I got something to write with, it was the cheapest, jankiest, most basic piece of equipment that would allow me to do it as quickly as possible without a minimum of fuzz, that is to say, until about five seconds after the warranty expired, wherein they also expired in spectacular fashion.
Fortunately, once I decided to build a computer and realized the small boatload of cash that I was going to be spending on the components themselves, I decided that I shouldn’t need to skimp on the peripherals and try and get something decent for once. And so, with “buying the one under $20 closest to the door” and a video of an insane Canadian who likes dropping things as my entire experience buying keyboards, I scoured the online marketplaces where it quickly became clear that I would need to spend slightly more than $20 to get something decent. Three-digits, more like it. Unicomp was consistently mentioned, mostly by people who seemed to have very strong opinions on a keyboard that I last saw back when Y2K was still a serious concern. Not that I remember it being bad back then, but apparently it was clearly superior to the current ones made from the same tooling plus twenty years of wear. Joyously, they were priced to match this perceived increase in quality and did not include the adapter you need if you had the audacity to buy a motherboard without a PS/2 controller.

Previous Benchmark

So I went to the other things that everyone seemed to mention, Cherry MX switches. Blues if you want something that sounds and feels like an IBM keyboard and have very good noise canceling headphones, reds if you want something that’s great and quick for gaming, brown if you want something in between. I decided a happy medium would be the best for my first foray in decent keyboards…mostly because blues would probably get me kicked out of my house. Taking cues from the skinflint in my brain, I went with the most reasonably priced full-size from a reputable brand that I could find. The G610 Orion Brown.
What I got in the box was a very different animal from the keyboards that I had purchased so far. For starters, it was heavy, very heavy. At more than a pound of weight, you really can feel how solid it is. No flex, no creaking, and the possibility to be used as a bludgeoning weapon are just advantage. Another advantage, to me at least, is the lack of RGB lightning. Much as I would like for my keyboard to light up with the colors of the rainbow every time I am writing a business email, it’s generally considered cool for the first two seconds, and then it just become something to distract you when you are writing. A Braided non-detachable cable and two-level adjustable legs finished up the roundup.

About what happened after plug-in

Plugging it in, I was welcomed by a horribly distracting wave effect of the keyboard. Naturally, the only way to get the keyboard to do anything else is to download the accompanying software. Clever. After removing the offending effect and settling with a good, boring single light press, I was rewarded by what had been the best writing experience I’ve ever had with a keyboard. I know, big shock coming from someone who thought the ISO office Dell keyboards are an improvement from his usuals, but writing on it is pretty great. I didn’t get to experience the full enjoyment of it until I went back to the Office keyboard and it felt as though I was pushing down popped bubble wrap to type.
So…I guess I have to write a couple of pros and cons about it now. As a plus, it’s pretty good keyboard. It’s inexpensive, solidly built, and from a company that stands behind its products instead of some random manufacturer that will sell it for you cheaper expecting you to throw it to the bin when it goes wrong. As a con, I shouldn’t be required to install software for the privilege of switching the lights off, though I must admit putting the most obnoxious effect as the default is a brilliant choice.

Jerry W Shields

I see things. I write about them. I’ve as of yet seen something that I don’t want to write about (review is such a heavy word anyway). @JerryDubsS

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