Logitech announces handful of G-Series PC gaming accessories

Logitech announced several new member of its G-Series line of PC peripherals today. We'll tackle them one at a time, starting with the G35 Surround Sound headset.

When it's available in March, the Logitech G35 Surround Sound headset will cost approximately $130 for the benefit of its simulated 7.1 channel audio output. It includes an adjustable, noise-canceling boom mic, as well as three buttons on the left ear piece dedicated to what Logitech calls "voice morphing" in its press release. This sounds like a simple voice-effect overlay, and we're confident your World of Warcraft guildmates or whoever might be on the receiving end of your chat software will want you to use these effects over and over and over and over. You get volume and mute buttons built into the ear piece as well, and Logitech also gives you three different headbands to use with the G35, a welcome nod towards customization.

Logitech is not the only peripheral vendor with a 7.1-channel headset on offer. Razer's Megalodon was announced in 2008 and is also scheduled to launch sometime in Q1 2009. We're skeptical as to whether it's worth getting too excited over 7.1-channel audio simulated over headphones, but we'll withhold judgment until we can give either headset an actual listen.

We've long been fans of the Logitech G15 gaming keyboard (both versions), so we're unashamed to admit to some excitement about the G19, even if we have yet to lay hands on it. The beauty of the older model was that its built-in LCD was well-supported with software, giving you a useful secondary display for game or system info. Throw in color and the ability to display video and images, and the possibilities for the 320x240-resolution screen expand even further. In-game maps and sports feeds come to mind in particular, at least for us.

Logitech is asking quite a bit for the G19: $199 when it hits stores in March. That's more than twice the G15's current $80 street price. We'd certainly understand balking at such a premium simply for the color screen. We're glad Logitech has also added USB 2.0 ports and customizable key lighting, but even those features might not be enough to justify the G19's high price tag. If there's a silver lining it's that Logitech's diNovo Edge was another premium keyboard with a $199 price tag, but you can currently find it for a more reasonable $149.

Finally, if you've lost sleep thinking laser mice had reached their sensitivity apex at 4,000 dpi, take heart. Logitech's new G9x has boldly crossed the 4K barrier into heretofore unexplored 5,000dpi territory. Alarmingly, the press release mentions no combustion threshold data, so we can't comment as to whether or not the G9x will burn through your mouse pad and set fire to the desk underneath.

In seriousness, we're sure some gamer might value ridiculously high mouse dpi settings, but even 2,000dpi stretches the bounds of usability, especially for non-FPS gamers. Even if its sensor offers more horsepower than you'll need (at its highest setting, at least), you may value the G9x's other features more. By its appearance and nomenclature, Logitech's new gaming mouse appears to be almost identical to the G9 Laser Mouse from last year. The G9x boasts a similar customizable grip and weighting system. We found those features clunky in the G9, but you might also like that the G9x has customizable LED lighting, a feature Logitech seems to be extending across its G Series product line. The G9x debuts in April, for a suggested price of $99.