Gameboard use with Pyware

[cavalier81]

Now that the writing season is over, I'm looking into upgrading my hardware. I've already got a new 27inch imac. now I'm looking into streamlining the writing process. Does anyone have opinions on using gameboards like the Logitech G13?

Thanks,
Reed

[greatcow95]

I know there are a few people that have used a Razer gaming mouse with Pyware with great success. It's a matter of mapping the extra buttons to commands in Pyware. Not sure about the Logitech one.

[George]

Now that the writing season is over, I'm looking into upgrading my hardware. I've already got a new 27inch imac. now I'm looking into streamlining the writing process. Does anyone have opinions on using gameboards like the Logitech G13?

Thanks,
Reed

Hello again, Reed.

Of course, I am definitely happy with my G13. Although there may be newer tech available these days (not sure) I still love using mine. There are some weird compatibility issues that require work-arounds on a Mac, but it's not bad enough to get me to drop the use of it all-together. It will not be fully functional as it is meant to be for gaming, but it's a plethora of hotkeys at my fingertips that literally triples my writing speed and efficiency. It saves a ton of cross-screen mouse pointer movement (just to get to the tool bar panel and back) and saves fatigue in the later hours.

This didn't come without a learning curve, of course. I purchased my G13 in October of 2009 and spent about a month really digging to find the best combo of keys/shortcuts for me. After that, I spent the next 6 months going back and forth, sometimes getting frustrated with it but then giving it another try. Tweaked a few keys to be placed better for me. Eventually it became somewhat normal.

Now, in 2012, I have become so comfortable with it that I rely on it whenever I'm slammed with drill. I feel fine writing without it, but now that I've had 3 full writing seasons on it, I can say that there are many pros to using it and absolutely NO cons. It'll just take some customizing and getting used to.

You probably already read my whole speil on these, which I'm sure is what prompted your email to me earlier this year, but in case anyone else wants to read my thoughts, here's the link to the post: Game Controllers with Pyware

[George]

I just realized that the original post is out of date and I had tweaked my hotkeys, as well as got a new mouse since.

These are my current devices and hotkey map: