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The PC gaming crowd has for years been betrothed to the keyboard as its main gaming device. With dozens of keys you could possibly use, the keyboard's flexibility, alongside the mouse's precision, makes it ideal for many types of games. With the greater complexity though in games over the past few years, input schemes started to become a bit convoluted and efforts were made to place the keyboard's enormous flexibility in a more convenient package.

Belkin released one of the first such efforts in the form of the Nostromo Speedpad n50. It was a left-handed device sporting a keypad with 10 keys, a scroll wheel and an 8-way directional pad. It also came with Belkin's Nostromo Profile Editor software that allowed you to customize the buttons in a variety of ways. The original Speedpad was generally well received and, in 2003, Belkin released a successor, the Speedpad n52. As competitors like Ideazon also come out with gamepads to partly replace the keyboard, I thought it be interesting to revisit Belkin's second iteration and see how it holds up today.

The Nostromo Speedpad n52’s main feature is the keypad with 14 keys. To the right of the keypad is an 8-way directional pad with two additional buttons above and below it. Finally a scroll wheel is located beneath the keypad. The gamepad also sports a removable palm rest that can be adjusted for comfort.

In total the Speedpad features 27 buttons a pretty decent number in itself, but the hardware is only half of Belkin’s solution for gamers. By default, the Speedpad's buttons are assigned to the left side of a QWERTY keyboard, with W-A-S-D brightly identified with orange arrows. The buttons below and above the D-pad default to the Space key and Alt respectively. The Speedpad's software, however, allows you to assign any function to all the keys, including the D-pad and the scroll wheel. You can also program macros by recording your keystrokes. This includes the option to insert delays and even mouse buttons in the macro, so you can program the most complex set of instructions you can think of. Furthermore, the software allows you to assign up to 4 functions per key by way of shift states. With one button assigned to switching between shift states, that means a whopping possibility of 104 functions in one hand! You can also program different button to a specific shift state. Each state is indicated by a different colored LED underneath the Space button. Along with the Profile Editor is the Loadout Manager with which you can automatically or manually load saved profiles.

The possibilities look wondrous, so how does the Nostromo Speedpad n52 feel in use? Using it regularly for Rome: Total War and Battlefield 2, the Speedpad decidedly makes for a more convenient way to play, bringing as many controls as you want within reach. The main keypad and the scroll wheel are very responsive. For the fun of it, I've also programmed a profile for use in general computing applications such as Firefox, Word and others. In my limited time in that context, I can see the Speedpad having a lot of uses outside of gaming. There's a moderate learning curve in using the device. After about two weeks though, depending on how often you use, there's no more difficulty with it. My only other complaint in regards to the Speedpad n52 are the two buttons above and below the D-pad. The former requires a very firm press to push it down, actually requiring somewhat of an effort. The latter had the very opposite problem, it was hard to tell if you pressed it or not and, with your thumb movements, it's pretty easy to hit accidentally. Otherwise, Belkin has crafted a fine addition for PC gaming enthusiasts, one that is incredibly versatile and convenient.