Without a G11/G15/N52, you would be restricted to in-game macro's. These macro's can be put onto keybinds, so clicking the keybind activates the macro.

With one of the above devices, any macro that could be constructed in game, and activated via a keybind will be fine, even if the macro is stored on the device rather then in-game.
The key is, the macro would work fine if it were made in game, keybound and the device just did the keybind for you.