In Use
SpeedPad
All the controllers come with their own configuration utilities which are needed to create profiles for each game you wish to play using the controller. Belkin’s software is easy to learn and is quick and intuitive to use. All buttons and controls are clearly shown on the screen and it is very straight forward to see what each is set to do. A good selection of profiles are included for most big games these are easy to reconfigure to your own taste and can often be adapted to function with another game. This is especially true of first person shooters where I, like most of you, keep my key configuration as similar as possible in most games.
"The SpeedPad in all it's glory"
Basically all you have to do it tell the software the keyboard button you wish to assign to any particular button on the pad. This can be the usual like W,A,S,D and Space etc. but you can also perform complex macros with the timing of each component set to virtually any value you wish. Depending on how many (if any) shift buttons you chose to activate will decide the number of functions each key can be used to perform. I find one shift key to generally be enough for most games and I keep the keyboard handy for typing messages and other similar tasks.
The Scroll wheel/Throttle and 8-Way D-Pad can also be used to perform any commands and functions you want. Each direction on the pad can be set to a task and the throttle wheel can, as I mentioned earlier, be split into bands where each of the bands can be assigned a task to perform. This works well for weapon switching as you know that all the way forward gets you grenades and explosives and all the way back a melee weapon with all other implements of warfare in between.
"The Digital Pad and Throttle Wheel"
I tried using the existing profiles in games and found that they just weren’t compatible with my style of play and control configuration and so after a few tries with various games set about creating my own from scratch or at the very least stripping down the existing ones and making them to meet my requirements.
I found the key to success is to remember you are no longer using the keyboard and start experimenting. You have the freedom to completely alter the way you play games so you may as well go a bit crazy and try anything you can think of because it’s often these ideas that work best. It was in this frame of mind I made a huge breakthrough and decided to reject using the WASD configuration for control and instead used my thumb and the D-Pad. It makes perfect sense when you think about it, how often do we do just that when playing on a console game? That leaves all the other keys free to bind to whatever you like and once I got used to using one of the thumb buttons on my Intellimouse explorer for jump I was cooking on gas.
"The bottom of the SpeedPad clearly shows the superb build quality of this product"
I still regularly make changes to my configurations as new ideas cross my mind or I decide I dislike something the way it is. But the key factor to making the SpeedPad work well is to keep on using it until it starts to become second nature like the keyboard is for most people. To start with it feels sluggish and limiting but it just needs to be given the time for your brain to acclimatise itself to this new way of thinking.
Because I have quite large hands I found it more comfortable when I removed the palm rest. But even with it my hand was quite happy resting on the SpeedPad and I have had no problems reaching any of the buttons. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the SpeedPad is as nice to use as it looks and the same can be said for the software.
"SpeedPad with wrist rest removed"
Tactical Board
The software for this board is as well designed as the boards buttons are laid out. I have been unable to work out how to launch it without creating a new game profile which is quite irritating. Once you do get into it, it seems to be fairly similar to the Belkin in terms of how it works but with a kind of unfinished feel to it. It just doesn’t feel like a final release but more like a beta piece of software. It looks ok but when you actually start using it then you start to notice little things that should have been picked up in final testing and improved.
The buttons are all labelled but this could perhaps do with some rethinking in any future models. The command buttons are labelled C1-C12; the Thumb buttons T1-T7 etc. I found it hard to remember what was assigned to what especially the top two rows which are 22 virtually identical buttons and the choice of black text on blue buttons doesn’t exactly make their numbers stand out, in fact you have work really quite hard to read the top line (navy blue with black text). Is it me or shouldn’t that type of thing have been spotted before release? It does seem to me that that am emphasis has been put on features and how many they can fit in and they have not put in the time and testing needed to get these all working to a satisfactory standard.
In the software the different zones are split into separate tabbed sections in which makes it easy enough to assign a set of similar commands to each section but the real problem is remembering which command was set to which key in that section and that can only be learnt by either studying your profile very hard for a long time or playing the game until you start to remember where things are. I feel maybe there are just too many keys to use on the Tactical board for it to really ever be totally practical. Also the positioning of the Command Zone keys isn’t ideal and you have to physically move your entire hand to use them, the same is true of the Communication buttons.
"Tactical Board with Wrist rest fully extended. You can also see the thumb Zone buttons mounted in their sliding and rotating mechanism"
Included is also software to make the most of the Command Zone buttons or “Chatterbox” as it’s dubbed on the box. There is a piece of voice communication software similar to the likes of Roger Wilco which I was unfortunately unable to test as no one else I know has heard of it let alone has a copy and actually uses it.
"Chatterbox buttons including volume on left of device"
The build quality of the Tactical Board is also a bit suspect, the buttons are flimsy, everything has a cheap plastic feel to it and instead of enhancing it the adjustable parts feel rickety and seem to have been an afterthought. The thumb zone which slides up and down and rotates 30° needs to rotate another 5° to be in the ideal position for my hand. That is even more irritating than if it was unadjustable, then I’d just have to accept it. Instead they taunt me with the prospect of a perfect fit for everyone and then leave me a few degrees short of my optimum position. It may be I have abnormally shaped hands but I’ve not drawn comments on them, much :)
"The Command Zone raised up by its fold out keyboard style feet"
The Claw
This is the final contender in the race and I have to admit I am quite impressed. Unlike the SpeedPad which comes from Belkin and has the full support of their design staff and in house programmers this item is just someone’s bright idea that has actually had the fortune of making it off the drawing board.
"The claw viewed from above"
The claw is quite striking in design as I mentioned previously and has to be the most natural to use. It has far fewer buttons than the rest but due to their layout I found it easier to break free from my keyboard. It is always tempting to keep the same fingers performing the same actions as they would on the keyboard when you create a new profile, but I found if I used my little finger which perches on button number 10 as a shift button I could quickly and easily double the functions of all the other buttons. Normally I just use my little finger for crouch (CTRL) and perhaps walk (SHIFT) but now although it only uses one button it is far more use than it ever was before.
"Is it just me or does it look like a large piece of deformed liquorice?"
The buttons have no markings on them but that doesn’t matter because there are so few of them and they are numbered from right to left in pretty much the order I personally would have chosen. Your hand sits with your fingers directly over the buttons. Your little and ring fingers are both only over one button, your middle finger is over two buttons (backwards and forwards) as is your index finger although those two buttons are side by side. Finally the thumb has a square of four buttons available which makes sense, if we aren’t going to make the most of having opposable thumbs then what’s the point in having them.
"4 buttons for your opposable digit to play with"
I found that this controller was ideal for simpler games especially console ports or games that are co developed for the PC and Console market. This type of game has to simplify the controls and reduce the number of them so that they can be performed with a standard gamepad. The splinter Cell Demo and Hitman 2 are both perfect examples of this and with my extra mouse buttons to perform a couple more functions I have become quite adept with this combination.
"The two buttons for both the middle and index fingers can clearly be seen here"
