Razer Improves The World's Favorite Gaming Keypad

[digibucc]

I have never heard about somebody actually using this kind of gadgets with succes!

Then, the name Nostromo is ... problematic. There is already a Nostromo company, in the same business.

Thank you for correcting or illuminating me!

IIRC, Logitech also makes something alike... G13 Gamepanel

But is this really practical during a fast paced shooter, p.e.?

really? have you ever tried one? I have owned a Wolf King, a N52te, and a G13. stick with the g13 as the stick is in a more ergonomic place - but I loved my n52te. it totally changes long-session gaming. it is comfortable, fast, and programmable. what's not to like? as far as shooters- YEAH! I can't even use a regular keyboard and be competitive anymore. the layout just throws me off and even the best "gaming keyboard" is simply not comfortable. ergonomics are where it is at.

I use it all the time as does my wife.. Love it. Won't game with out one anymore.

exactly

Yup. If you want something for FPS you need this......

http://www.techfresh.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/mad-catz-cyborg-7-gaming-mouse.jpg

I'm using one now and its awesome!

i am using a g13, this mouse, and a g110. a few macros on the 110 for chat stuff, like sorry and thank you. everything else on the g13. the only thing about this mouse is you can't reprogram the fine aim, dpi switch, or profile switch buttons. I emailed and they responded a future update will allow the profile switch button, but never fine aim or dpi switch. even so, 4 programmable buttons and second wheel are enough customization for my mouse hand

they are also REALLY useful for things like photoshop and illustrator. a thumbstick and easy macro keys at hand are a blessing. WASD as Cut Copy paste delete for example, fly through my work.

also, anything that is boring and repetitive. a lot of time in coding applications for work i have to go through and rename hundreds of variables to a standard convention, removing automatic formatting by Adobe - this makes 10 minutes of work equal hours of repetitive copy paste deleting. and the scripting for logitech macros is very flexible.

 

[Depth]

Razer Improves The World's Favorite Gaming Keypad

Ah fantastic. Just when I thought my favorite gaming keypad couldn't get any better...

 

[RallyRoach]

I'm still using my n52 Speedpad for all my gaming, which includes mostly FPS (COD, L4D, half-life 2, Battlefield 2 & BC2), as well as for anything else (Mass Effect, gears of war, etc).

I use the thumbpad for movement, then the keys for whatever I need.

Honestly, I tried the n52te, but brought it back once I discovered the software was different. No problem, was just lazy and didn't want to re-enter my profiles. Bought a NOS n52 on ebay and will continue to use it until the drivers go out of date

 

[majestic12]

I'll stick with my Tarantula I think.

Edit: Firingsquad sucks with the sharing of their images!

 

[Haytch]

I have the G13 atm and i am utilizing it together with the G27.
Granted it failed at being a decent FPS tool, but that was only because of the games i like to play and the style i like to play them in.
I look forward to playing with the Razer Nostromo in the near future. I just hope its availability is not like the Razer Tron series.

 

[digibucc]

I'll stick with my Tarantula I think.
http://img.techpowerup.org/101122/tarantula.jpg

Edit: Firingsquad sucks with the sharing of their images!

no offense against the tarantula, but i don't get why people would use a full sized keyboard, when they only use half the keys anyway. the n52 and the g13 have plenty of keys, in a comfortable and arranged place, ergonomically angled and takes up less desk space.

it took me all of an hour to get used it, now i can't even understand how people can play current games requiring fifteen plus binds, on standard keyboard!+

Granted it failed at being a decent FPS .

the 13? how so?

 

[Grendalsh]

Since you asked...

Nostromo is the brand name that Belkin originally released the n50 and n52 under. When they worked with Razer on the n52te, they dropped the Nostromo brand name, but that's what the 'n' in n52te stands for.
I've used the original n52 till it died just in time to upgrade to the n52te. I've used it for several MMORPGs, FPS, and even RTS, and it's been far and away an improvement over trying to game on a keyboard. Keyboards were designed for typing. Gaming keyboards are like Enduro family vans.

While on face value it appears the Nostromo only has a few buttons, consider.
1. The n52te had 3 color modes, so 3x as many buttons to bind to.
2. Most games you can use modifiers like shift, ctrl, and alt.. bind those onto the Nostromo, and you can easily get 60+ keybinds off one mode using combos. You can also combine these modifiers with the scrollwheel, the dpad, or even your mousebuttons for additional keybinds..
3. As long as you can rebind the game's hotkeys, you can lay out your game's commands however YOU like on this. For instance, in StarCraft2, using Grid hotkeys, you can directly map the command panel (5x3 grid) to the Nostromo.

@nienor
The new Nostromo has an entirely upgraded internals - chipset, dpad, macro support, 5 more color modes, and an improved profile editor. In theory, all those 90% solutions that the n52te had just got bumped to 110%.

@f22a4bandit
I use a MS optical thumb ball for all my gaming. Before that, the Logitech trackman thumbball. Coupled with the Nostromo, it's parallel to console gaming with dual thumbsticks. Quite rocking.

@Bjorn_Of_Iceland
First, you can edit the Nostromo's keys. I move Jump to one of my mouse buttons and use the lower thumb button as an "OJEEBUS!" button; some ability that I can only use rarely, never want to use by accident, but when I want it I'll know EXACTLY where it is.

@Vancha
See above about having enough buttons for an MMO. ~100 keybinds just on one color mode enough for ya? So far, I've played EverQuest, World of Warcraft, Lego Universe, WarHammer, StarCraft (1 and 2), teh Halos, Day of Defeat, HalfLife2, and many more with the N52te. While I suck at most of the games, the N52te was a champ.

Shameless plug - If you'd like to see examples of how to setup and use the N52te/Nostromo with World of Warcraft or StarCraft2, check out my YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/grendalsh. I'll have a review of the new Nostromo up as soon as I can get my hands on one.

 

[Vancha]

@Vancha
See above about having enough buttons for an MMO. ~100 keybinds just on one color mode enough for ya? So far, I've played EverQuest, World of Warcraft, Lego Universe, WarHammer, StarCraft (1 and 2), teh Halos, Day of Defeat, HalfLife2, and many more with the N52te. While I suck at most of the games, the N52te was a champ.

Assuming the D-pad can be used as 4 buttons, and the scroll wheel as 2, I count 72. 18 buttons + 4 modifier states (Shift/Ctrl/Shift+Ctrl/Alt). How do you get ~ 100?

I do see how it could be used with MMOs though. Thanks.

 

[Grendalsh]

Assuming the D-pad can be used as 4 buttons, and the scroll wheel as 2, I count 72. 18 buttons + 4 modifier states (Shift/Ctrl/Shift+Ctrl/Alt). How do you get ~ 100?

Ok. First, there are 5 modes. Normal, shift, ctrl, alt, shift-ctrl. (buttons b01 and b06 can be pressed at the same time for a multi-combo. b06 and b11 can be too, but that's just getting silly, and a bit of a pain to reach.)
Then, 15 buttons (don't forget the lower thumb button), 3 values on the scroll wheel (up, down, click), 4 values on the dpad, for 22 'keys'. This is purposefully not including the upper thumb button, as I use that for Escape, which doesn't combo well. (though now I think about it.. I'll have to doublecheck this)
So, 5 modes x 22 keys = 110 keybindings. And thats just on one mode.
Assuming I used the number row as my base 12 bindings on one mode, I could use the numpad on another mode for another set of combo values.
That's not including using the modifiers against your mousebuttons. For instance, I have a 5 button mouse (including scrollhweel).. So 2 mousebuttons plus scrollwheel for 5 values. 5 modes x 5 values = another 25 bindings.

Of course, this only works for games that let you set custom hotkeys. StarCraft2, for instance, has preset keymaps, so you can only use what it allows. But for MMOs, it's more than plenty