Razer Nostromo / Belkin N52TE Review

--> Watch the Video Review <--

Summary:

The Razer Nostromo & Belkin N52TE is a compact external usb gamepad that allows you to quickly access the most commonly used keyboard keys in FPS & MMO games.

The layout is designed to be ergonomic so its comfortable for long periods of use and feels natural to the body.

They pad is pretty well built, looks nice, and has backlighting allowing you to see and use it easily in low light conditions.

The real strengths are the software that lets you assign a new key function or macro to any of the individual keys, and then toggle on the fly between 3 different key bindings that you design yourself within the software.

Logitech offers a similar device the G13 & G15 that you can also take a look at if you interested in a product like this.

I do think these devices are best suited for laptop gaming where a keyboard is too big to pack and forces you to push the laptop further back so you can have a place to keep the keyboard.

With a small pad like this you can keep the laptop in the normal position right infront of you and just place this to one side and your mouse to the other.

Its definitly best suited for games within the MMO and FPS genre but I found it works wonderfully with Magicka, and since you can program the keys you can easily make it work for lots of other games as well.

Its just a matter of if you feel you would like a dedicated keypad or if your fine with the standard laptop keyboard you already have.

Be sure to watch the full review by clicking the link at the top of the post and let me know what you think about the review!

-ViciousXUSMC

 

Nice review. I just can't get over how you can use it with games when you lose numbers 1 - 5. Aren't those essential for FPS and especially MMO's?

Edit: I realize you can customize the buttons and but it just seems like most games need more access to more buttons right away.

 

I'll check the vid out when I can. Love my n52te and definitely getting the Nostromo if it dies (not likely since mine's already over a year old)

@kfruit: I set the d-pad for 1-4 and the button above it to 5. Kinda annoyed that the diagonals are difficult to press precisely though

 

Nice review.

I've sworn by my n52te for a couple years now...gaming with a "normal" keyboard just feels weird now

It's also very handy for going to LAN events. Between a couple of coat pockets or one backpack compartment, I can bring my Mamba and n52te wherever I go, without having to pack a full gaming-grade keyboard like I used to with my old Logitech G15.

As for games needing more buttons, I've never had trouble covering all the necessary binds. The n52te has a total of 27 individual binds: 15 "normal" keys including the spacebar, 8 directions on the D-pad, one thumb trigger above the D-pad, and a two-directional clickable scroll wheel.

 

The biggest problem I've found with it is that while the main keys are 'you don't have to think about it', the space bar isn't - many's the time I thought I pressed it and it hasn't engaged. It's due to the cost-saving design, which kind of ruled it out for me over the long term. I still have it somewhere but I don't use it anymore.

 

I did think that the space bar is not very ergonomic pressing sideways with the thumb instead of squeezing like a trigger, that would be more ergonomic I think but maybe not as fast.

 

Yeah - it's not so much the ergonomics as the construction of that key. You know how 'long' keys on a regular keyboard have a steel support that helps to press the key down evenly even if it's pressed off-centre? Even though that key is the size of e.g. a backspace key on most keyboards (which are nearly always thus supported), it's made just like a single key - so it 'binds' when you press it off-centre, which is what the steel support would prevent. As I said, cost-saving.

 

I've gotten used to the spacebar key over the years...now if I ever try to game on my laptop, I find my thumb instinctively hovering all the way over my touchpad when I'm trying to hit space

 

I have the Belken version, powered by Razer. I like it but it can be a little hard to use in WOW.