The Belkin Nostromo SpeedPad n52.

By: Avery R. Davis

Copyright (C) 2004 by Avery R. Davis

Belkin recently released the successor to the SpeedPad n50, the N52. Like the n50, the n52 a miniature keyboard designed for use by the left hand. The intent is to improve the ergonomics of mouse+keyboard control, especially for FPS games. All keys and buttons are completely programmable, including three shift keys. Belking claims to have made improvements over the N50: "Using feedback from hundreds of gamers, our engineers designed the n52's intuitive nature and stylish versatility to give you easy access to your arsenal of deadly maneuvers." The websites linked below have details I won't repeat. I want to discuss an aspect of ergonomics I haven't seen mentioned in other SpeedPad reviews, and to talk about how I have programmed mine.

The ergonomics I referred to is the poor use of the thumb by most computer users. If you look at a map of the human brain showing the areas that correspond to specific parts of the body, you will find that one of the largest distinct areas is for the thumb. Thus, more brain power if available for using your thumb than for your other fingers, wrist, elbow, shoulder, etc. So, it makes sense to me to try to use my thumb for major control of my computer interface. Thus, for my right hand, I use a Logitech TrackMan Marble instead of a mouse, which has a small trackball manipulated by my thumb, while my fingers operate the typical mouse buttons and scroll wheel. The n52 SpeedPad lets me make similar good use of my left thumb with an 8-way DPad, a button and a key. Another good ergonomic feature of using the n52 SpeedPad is that all keys and buttons are within reach of the fingers without having to resort to arm movement. Programmable keys and three shifts put all game functions literally at your fingertips without ever having to look at the keyboard or move your arm.

While Belkin does provide a really good software application for programming the key functions of the SpeedPad n52, it can take some time to figure out the best key assignments for you. The software also manages distinct settings for different games, saving them in profile files. The Belkin Nostromo website does have some profiles to download. I found these a useful starting point, but I made a lot of changes to customize the profiles to my preferences. Here are some examples of my preferences for America's Army:

Normally, the finger keys emulate the typical WSAD motion pattern, while the thumb DPad controls other motions such as jump, crouch, sprint and walk. My little-finger keys are all shifts: blue, green and red. I use red shift fo additional weapons functions: reload, swap hands, fix jam, etc., and the thumb selects different types of grenades. I use blue shift for communications, information, and game control. I don't use green shift in America's Army.

I play many different games, and to keep my customized key programming straight, I have created a "cheat-sheet" using an Excel spreadsheet. This depicts the keyboard and the SpeedPad, and labels the functions I have assigned the keys. I will try to make an example spreadsheet available in the future...

Here are some links for more information on the SpeedPad: