Rating: 
Summary: Good idea, but it has a problem.
Review: I really wanted to love this game pad. It is well made and has great software to boot. However, when using my fav game Soldier of Fortune II I noticed a major problem. If you press more than 3 key's at the same time then a 4th key kicks in. This is a big problem. If you check the Belkin website under support in the FAQ's you will notice that they are aware of this problem, but they have no fix for it. It's been over 6 months from the last driver update.
Rating: 
Summary: Good.. except for one reason to stop me from using it.
Review: I'm a prety hard core gamer. When I first saw the Nostromo n40 Gamepad, I thought it would be the best thing for my gaming since the mouse. Installation was very easy to do - just plug it into the USB and insert the CD. The gamepad also felt very natural in my hand. It's also very easy to create different configurations for my games. It seemed prety great until I sat down and started gaming with it - it was then I found the reason why I never use this. The gamepad only recognizes up to 3 simotaneous button pushes at a time. If you press 4 or more, the pad goes crazy unlike what would normally happen with a keyboard. Pressing 4 or more buttons might not seem like something you do much but you'll be surprized how much you do (especially in FPS games). For instance, I was playing Medal of Honor with my Nostromo. I move diagonally right while crotched (a total of 3 button presses to do). While I'm doing this, I might press the "use" button. But because the nostromo goes haywire after 3 button preses, I would whip out a grenade and throw it at my feet. Although the nostromo had great potential, it's one serious flaw prevented me from using it more than three times. It's now somewere behind my computer gathering dust.
Rating:
Summary: Nostromo Is Not For Everyone
Review: I'm an avid gamer and I'm always looking products to improve my left hand performance in the games I play. A lot of excellent players in the Unreal Tournament and Quake gaming communities swear by the Nostromo game pad. Essentially, Nostromo weans the user from the keyboard, to a programmable pad designed to provide quick access to programmed sequence commands. For instance, in UT, the complete sequence to translocate involves three commands, 1. Get the translocator, 2. Fire or toss the translocator, 3. And finally hitting Alt Fire completes the translocator command completes the translocation. Notromo allows the user to complete multi-tiered commands, like translocation, in the stroke of one key, instead of three. This sort of shortcut will save time and as every gamer knows time is of the essence in executing a game command. The more savvy gamer will recogize that what I've just described is a simplified program to write "raw keybinds"; or programmable commands that can be tied to specific keys by accessing the game console and typing the word "preferences". It is admirable that Nostromo is providing a simple keybind program for the novice gamer, who knows nothing of the arcane mysteries of programming keybinds. Every gaming newbie should do everything in their power to level the playing field with the pros and Nostromo helps. The veteran gamer will realize that Nostromo is providing a program to do what he or she can already do themselves by writting and executing their own raw keybinds. The second advantage of Nostromo is the actual design of the game pad itself. It is designed to replace the keyboard with a compact unit that has ten keys, a directional pad and a throttle to replace often clumsy method of searching for the correct key on a full sized keyboard. Using the efficency of a well designed gaming pad, the user should be able to improve his or her game speed by improving reaction time. Yes and no...Nostromo does help some folks improve their fragging, but again the savvy player knows if they use the standard key pad on the keyboard, they will have 15 readily accessable command keys instead of Nostromo's 10. The design of the key pad on a computer keyboard is even faster and more than Nostromo's double-decker design of "Five over Five" command keys. Nostromo's design is too wide and the user must finger stretch to touch keys, while the compact design of the computer key pad requires no finger stretching. If you decide to use the Nostromo game pad, be forwarned: there is learning curve for the user and until you master the Nostromo device, your game will suffer. In my case, it made no sense to master and use the Nostromo technology because I had already developed a playing system using raw keybinds and the standard computer key pad that was superior to Nostromos. A final word of caution on Nostromo: The newer anti-cheat enviroments of Pure and CSHP are very unfriendly to any suspicious keybinds. As a result, many of the more exotic keybinds will not be usable in the newer anti-hack playing enviroments. To veteran players: I am a founding member of the notorious Magnificent 7 Crew. The Nostromo game pad is far and away the most popular gaming device in the world. Many awesome clan players from the Hairy Zark Assasins, the Virtual Space Cowboys, Guns of Death and the Black Legion swear by the Nostromo pad. However when I questioned some of the Nostromo enthusiasts in more detail, most of them admitted to me that they never tried the standard key pad, instead of hunting and pecking on a big keyboard. Before you spend 28 bucks on Nostromo, try using the key pad as your left hand command central, along with a Logitech MX500 mouse for your right hand. For advanced gamers the single most important improvement to your game will come from adding good graphics card, if you already have a reasonably good rig. The ATI Radeon 9200 graphics card (about a hundred bucks) will make a real difference in your game play. As we already know, however, it matters not whether you have a monster computer, an Logitech mouse, a Radeon graphics card, or a Nostromo game pad...what matters in the world of gaming is practice, practice and more practice.
Rating: 
Summary: great for fps
Review: If you play fps (first person shooter) games you MUST have this. No more keyboard pains. It is like having your mini keyboard with only the keys you need and plus. It is a breeze to program it (takes just a couple of minutes): you assign your favorite moves to the key you want and off you go. Plus there is a palm rest, that might make the difference you need for a few more frags.
Rating:
Summary: Best Game Accessory EVER!!
Review: If you want to win at any first person shooter, you need this game pad. Put away your keyboard and get ready to destroy everyone.
Rating:
Summary: Bye-Bye Keyboard
Review: Let me start off by saying that I used to use the direction keys on the keyboard for my FPS movements. The Nostromo is wonderfull compared to my old setup. Not only does it offer the same general layout I was used to, it also offers more keys, and they are programmable as well. You can also configure 3 different shift states for all the buttons. In fact, you can program in a combination of key-strokes for a single button. All in all this is a huge step up for me and I've barely scraped the tip of the iceberg. If you are already fully versed in WASD movement then you will not get as big of a gain out of the box but again, the n50 is VERY customizable. Also, I run Windows XP and have had no trouble with the n50 after downloading the newest version of the software. A must have!
Rating:
Summary: Best of the Best
Review: No question this is truly inovative! It is comfortable and best of all you can customize the keys anyway you want. You can have a different profile (or multiple profiles) for each game you play. This is the BEST game controller I have ever used.
Rating:
Summary: Best PC Gaming Device of It's Day
Review: The Belkin Nostromo Speedpad n50 is by far the greatest PC Gaming device of it's day. It debuted in 2001-2002, and I quickly bought one for 55.00 dollars. Every penny was worth this little guy. After about 30 minutes of gameplay you will never have to look down at the keys. This device is designed with one thing in mind, to create seamless gameplay between you and the game. You forget you are even using a gamepad, the controls become second nature, and your abilities and scores rise immediately. Now, for some more in-depth rating of this device, see below.
Functionality: Easily 5 out of 5 stars. There is a wrist pad that can be adjusted for different hand sizes to provide a better reach for the keys. 10 total keys are set in the top of the gamepad, designed and angeled perfectly for FPS players' typical controls. There is a D-pad that can be reached by the thumb, as well as a scroll wheel that can be reached by the fore-finger. Every single button can be completely customized on the n50, and three profiles can be created and 'hot-keyed' by a simple switch on the n50, so that you can switch profiles/key-sets 'on-the-fly' without having to re-program it. One of the best features of this device is the software that is bundled with it, and immediate customer support by Belkin. Simply stated, the software allows for immediate customization of any and all keys on the keypad, and get this, you can even create profiles in the software linked to any program in your computer. For example, I set profiles for Counter-Strike, Battlefield 1942, Vietcong, R63: Raven Shield, and Swat 3. As soon as I boot up whichever game, the software recognizes the game, and the gamepad controls for that particular game are selected automatically by the software. This is a truly amazing feature, and bundled with the fact that this is the most amazing gamepad on the market, for just about any platform, it makes for the greatest deal (and innovation)in gaming history.
Value: Now, this gamepad sells for typically less than 20.00 dollars, and is well worth every penny. There is a new version available now, the n52, which has new features, improved buttons and control, and enhanced software. The n52 (amazingly enough) improves a great deal upon the already nearly-perfect n50, and is priced at anywhere between 30.00 and 55.00 dollars, depending on where you buy it. I recently purchased the n52 from Amazon for 30.00 dollars, and am currently awaiting the shipping of it so I can crack it open and rule the FPS realm to a new degree. I will post a review on the n52 soon enough, but if you want an amazing value for one of the greatest PC products ever available, purchase the Belkin n50, and you will never use a keyboard again. Honestly.
Overall, a perfect gaming device that I have yet to see anything comparable to.
I would also recommend a number of other devices to go with the n50 or n52, particularly, the MX500 or MX510 Logitech series of mice, or if you have some series money, the BFG Boomslang 2100 mouse or the Adesso Razer Viper 1000 mouse. I personally use the MX500 Logitech Silver Mouse, and the n50 (soon the n52), and it is truly an amazing couple. Thanks, and enjoy the n50, an amazing product I cannot praise enough.
Rating: 
Summary: Great product, but I'm no hardcore gamer
Review: The N.50 is to first person shooter games (like "Quake III Arena" or "Half-Life") what Thrustmaster products are to flight sim games: a programmable game controller designed with the idea that you need never touch your own keyboard again. With a shape suggesting a hand, the N.50 has 10 keys - in 2 rows of 5, a traditional 4-way keypad ala your console game-pad and, for those moments in which your thumb might get bored waiting to use the 4-way pad - and for those even rarer moments when you might need throttle control - a throttle wheel! Entirely programmable using bundled software, the N.50 can be customized to fit your preferences for the most convenient fragging. Though combining many controller functions, the N.50 does not replace your mouse, which would have freed up a USB slot. (On the other hand, it's not like you'll be scanning pictures and downloading from your digital camera while blasting your closest pals to a pulp in some virtual deathmatch; and anyway, there's probably a limit to how many functions a single controller can handle at a shot). Fitting on your USB slot, the N.50 is a breeze to install. You won't need the N.50 software to work it, though it's essential for customizing its keystrokes (or as hardcore playahs say - editing its macros). The software installs easily as well. However, the software that came with my N.50 was not optimized for Windows XP. An XP-friendly version was available on Belkin's website, and that installed with no hiccups. Customizing keystrokes is incredibly easy - as compared to working the bugs out of my Thrustmaster setup. So far, I've only taken my N.50 on "Star Trek: Elite Force", though that game, based on the industry-standard "QIII" engine, is probably as good an example as any. One caveat - the quality of construction or whatever shows a shortcoming in relation to the directional keypad: even with practiced dexterity, I found that the control would sometimes move every way but the direction I actually wanted it to. Nevertheless, price-wise, the N.50 approximates a good programmable joystick. For its quality and ease of use, it's an indispensable peripheral for shooter games. One final caveat: I'm not a hardcore gamer - I don't play death-matches or on-line tourneys. Besides EF, perhaps the only other games I'll play are "Jedi Outcast", "Half-Life" and perhaps "Command & Conquer: Renegade".
Rating:
Summary: Awesome, just awesome.
Review: The Nostromo is a truly great product. If you play first person games, such as Ghost Recon, the Rainbow 6 series, AvP2, or any others, you're gonna want to pick this up asap. You have no idea how bad the keyboard is until you use this thing. It takes a little getting used to, and configuring is confusing at first, but after the first day, it was such a breeze to configure.
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