Belkin n52te Tournament Edition SpeedPad
The Belkin n52te SpeedPad is a gamers keypad built with gaming in mind from first person shooters to role playing and massive multiplayer games using the 16 button pad with scroll wheel and direction pad.
Ease of Use, Performance: 20/25
Look & Feel: 21/25
Features 24/25
How much I enjoy 20/25
Total: 85/100
Belkin along with Razer as the software genius creates a gamers dream, or at least a somewhat dreamy keypad especially designed for ergonomic gaming. The Belkin n52te Tournament Edition SpeedPad is a great gamers pad that includes 16 buttons with 14 arrayed just like the common gaming keys from the left side of a normal keyboard and more.
The n52te has the fourteen buttons from the left side of the keyboard that are the common ones used in gaming as well as the space bar and the left alt button. Of course you can reassign these buttons along with everything on the SpeedPad using the Nostromo Array Programming Software powered by Razer.
The n52te comes with the SpeedPad itself, a quick start guide and the drivers on a CD but you can download the most current ones from Belkin. The software installs easily and is just as simple to use as other Razer software programs which is very simple to use.
You can call up the program from the task bar quick launch icon or from your programs menu and assign any button on the SpeedPad to anything you want. The program made by Razer also allows macro assignments for advanced button use like having a program open or a sequence of buttons instead of just one.
The program for the SpeedPad is a really nice and easy to use along the same lines as other Razer control programs with very simple assignments for every button shown as a picture of the SpeedPad. Reassigning a button means you click on the button you want to reassign and a menu opens with a choice of keyboard and macro assignments or commands you can change keys to.
You also have three available sets of assignments coded Green, Red and Blue so you can have three different profiles for three different games or programs. You can not only use the keypad for gaming but also for programs like editing images or other often used programs that require repetitive use of specific keys or commands.
I have set one profile to use with Photoshop and it is handy to have an easy to use keypad strictly for the most often used commands I use in my work. I can see the SpeedPad as a double duty input device not only for hardcore gaming but as an alternate to the keyboard.
The SpeedPad is great for web surfing with its scroll wheel and direction pad with removable thumb stick that easily pops on and off of the center of the direction pad. If you want the control and extra height the control stick gives you can have it installed in the cross notched hole or remove it for a contoured thumb spot for your direction pad.
I found the SpeedPad is great for general computer use as well as the gaming so it is not just a single use peripheral only for gaming. You can have the buttons assigned to anything that can use a macro or key combination by simply creating macros using a record function that remembers whatever keys you press and then you edit, save and name it.
You can use delays for commands that require a delay between key presses or use the delays as part of chat and talk over a gaming system. You can assign keys to throw chats out when you want which is handy at times if you're playing multiplayer games and want a quick assignment for specific messages.
While using the SpeedPad does work well for general use or specific programs it really works well for games and first person shooters are especially great with it. Having only the keys you need at your fingertips as well as the added functions of a scroll wheel and directional pad means you can game and have the specific keys available with no extras to get in your way.
I have used the Belkin n52te SpeedPad for gaming with Sniper: Ghost Warrior, Transformers: War for Cybertron and my current favorite game Battlefield: Bad Company 2 as well as a few others. I found the single player games work very well and once you get used to gaming with the SpeedPad it does give you a bit of an edge as you can actually use the keypad and not have to look at it.
I found in gaming there just is not the confidence at times to hit keys and not quickly glance at the keyboard when performing a few tasks such as picking a specific weapon which is usually assigned to number keys. I have no problem with movements and the usual keyboard assignments for things but when it comes to using the number keys I always end up glancing at the keyboard for a split second.
This quick glance costs precious time during gaming and has in the past cost me lives during multiplayer matches so being able to switch wepaons with specific assigned keys is fantastic. The only problem I have with the Belkin n52te is the lack of maybe just four or five more buttons to include the numbers that are commonly used as weapon assignments.
I have been using the n52te for a couple of months and have enjoyed using it for gaming including both first person shooters and other games like World in Conflict and King Arthur: The Role Playing Game. The Belkin n52te worked very well and I had no problems using it, even with the directional pad which some have said they are having a problem with.
Forums and reviews have mentioned problems with the directional pad and the program that controls it but I Belkin and Razer has solved this problem with the most current drivers and control program. I had no problems using the directional pad once I realized it's not exactly configured as you would expect, it is laid out on its side.
The directional pad is pointing toward the side instead of pointing up but once you realize pushing toward the right of the SpeedPad is actually up on the directional pad. Once I realized this, first game I could and tried to use it on, I had no problem using it and reconfiguring it to what I wanted.
The SpeedPad is very comfortable for me but I do have larger hands, the palm rest does fit well in my palm but it is also adjustable. The palm rest has two sets of holes to be able to move it forward or back from the keys and allows two positions for your comfort.
The SpeedPad also has an on off button on the bottom for the back lighting so you can turn the back lighting off if you want but I found it worked well for gaming. I have had no problems using the Belkin SpeedPad and enjoyed using it for gaming as well as general web surfing and my recurring image editing.
I have gotten used to the n52te SpeedPad and will continue to use it for my gaming and as an extra quick and handy input device. Now that Belkin and Razer seems to have gotten the kinks worked out of the n52te SpeedPad I highly recommend it as a great keypad for gaming and more.