@Wulf
I used a G13 for a week. I wanted to like it, I really did. This was during the time that the n52te was having issues with the diagonals on the dpad not working properly.
I have normal size hands. I found that the far left and right keys required reaching further than necessary to hit them, unseating my hand from the default position. This defeats the point of an ergonomic input.

My hand is perfectly cupped and supported on the Nostromo. On the G13, which does have a much slighter curve to it, I found I had to arc my hand to achieve a comfortable finger curvature for keypresses. Otherwise I was flat pressing which either stressed joints or risked pressing keys between the one I wanted and my palm.

The thumbstick has a plastic nubbin at the top, no more than 1/4" across. It is also angled in such a way that to get a solid grip with my thumb, rather than simply pushing against it, I found it necessary to curve my hand again to get my thumb on top of the stick, resulting in the weight of my hand resting on my palm and the 1/4" nubbin. After an hour, this became uncomfortable. So yes, it poked.

Thank you for getting my facts straight for me.