Introduction
Today we are having a look at something for gamers. It’s the Nostromo speedpad N50. This is supposed to be a unit that will help you play FPS games easier. You control the whole unit with your left hand which leaves your right hand for your mouse. It seems to have all the buttons for gaming so it might even help you playe easier. We are going to have a closer look how it fits in your hands and what functions it does fulfill. Stay tuned.
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Specifications:
Sophisticated, cutting edge software and drivers lets you use the SpeedPad in combination with the n30 Gaming Mouse for excellent control in any keyboard-based game. Also works with any other mouse.
10 Programmable Keypad Action Buttons.
Programmable 8-Way Directional Pad.
Throttle Wheel.
Ergonomic Comfort for Enhanced Game Play.
The product:
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Belkin has made this product but we got this from hardwarecooling. The product was very well packed I have to admit. On the back we find a bunch of instructions what you can do with this little device.
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Included in the box with the Speedpad there was a manual along with a cd that holds the drivers. The Speedpad is actually pretty comfortable for your hand even though it has a weird look 
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It comes with 10 keys that you can program as you want, basically it’s like a keyboard with the most neccessary keys. 10 keys should be enough to program with…. or? On the side we got a throttle wheel and a 8 way pad that is nice to also program for use. The throttle wheel is placed in the wrong place. It’s to much in the middle and you have to move your whole hand to use it. One possibility would be to move it to the right side of the keys that way you would just need to move your finger a little to be able to use it even in FPS games.
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We can see that the hand rest if removable if I does not fit your hand. You just pull it off or just push it on. I prefer the hand rest but after using it for awhile my hand got tired so I removed the hand rest and it was comfortable that way also.
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The cord is about 2 meters in length which is enough so you can even move it around if needed without having a tight cord…
This is the program which you use to setup you profile of what the buttons should do. There is a bunch of pre-made profiles already for games that were popular when this came out. Personally I tried the Quake 3 profile but it could not find the file so I just put my own profile together It’s easy to assign buttons and what they should do.
Usage:
I dont really know why you should buy this. Everything can be done on a normal keyboard already. Although this is easier to use for n00bs so it might be a good tool for them. I was easy to use and felt nice while fragging a few bots in Quake 3
Conclusion:
This is the hard part and I don’t really know what to say about this product. It sells for around 20$ which is not really alot but I would personally put my money on something else. The throttle wheel was placed completely wrong and that’s a major issue. The buttons are easy to push down and they felt nice to play with. The hand rest part was really good and if you don’t like it you can just remove it. All in all we give this 3 out 5 for new thinking but with still some flaws.
Pros:
+ High quality
+ Easy to configure
+ Well packed
+ Hand rest is removable
Cons:
- Hand rest could have been in gel or something soft to be more comfortable
- Throttle wheel is placed wrong
- Not really necessary
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