The keyboard I use on a day to day basis has been my
Call of Duty: MW3 keyboard since I got it in for review. That keyboard is actually a pretty good starting point for a comparison to the
G710+. The keyboard layout is primarily the same, at least for the keys they share. The standard set of alphanumeric keys are where you would expect them, and both keyboards have a set of three mode setting buttons for the macros and a macro record button (MR) in the top left corner of the keyboard. Also, both feature six programmable "G" buttons on the left side of the keyboard. However, on the
G710+, these keys are further off to the left slightly, and have a bright orange raised border around them. These differences serve to set this bank of buttons off in multiple ways, making it much less easy to accidentally hit one of these buttons unintentionally. On the
G105, it was very easy to accidentally hit these buttons when trying to use keys on the left side of the keyboard, such as [CTRL] and [TAB]. In my experience, the
G710+ has corrected this issue; I never accidentally hit a "G" button while using the
G710+.
In an interesting move, the G710+ has illuminated keys divided into two different groups: the directional keys (WASD and arrow keys)... and everything else. The illumination is simply white light, not adjustable colors, but there are four different brightness levels, or five, if you count "off" as a brightness level. You can have all of the keys at the same brightness level, have the directional keys brighter than the rest, light just the directional keys... the choice is up to you. Just be forewarned that the brightest level... is pretty darn bright. Seriously.
I'm not going to lie. This level of click is not for everyone. If you're coming from keyboards that offer no resistance, little throw and no tactile feedback, this will be a workout for your fingers. At this moment, I honestly can't say whether I will switch back to the G105 or keep the G710+; I'm not one of those people who has to have very clicky keyboards. Then again, since I've been using the G710+, I switched a keyboard on another machine to a keyboard that is the antithesis of the G710+, with keys that offer no resistance, have almost no throw and don't offer much tactile feedback at all, and I spend every minute of using that keyboard wishing I was using this one.
Another feature I found that I liked more than I expected was the large knurled roller for controlling the volume. It has a nice feel and does the job well. I also used the built-in USB port. In fact, I used it when testing out the 8GB Einstein Mimobot USB Flash Drive and even ran ReadyBoost using that port, with great success.
