Belkin Nostromo N52 game controller (not N50) $24.23 @ Buy.com (price changed)

[Gentle]

When I first saw this deal the price was around $23.50 or so...

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10356583&loc=101&sp=1

Removed incorrect information from post relating to a $25 minimum order requirement to qualify for free shipping. My apologies, I read incorrectly.

3/3/2004 Update: I went and ordered this and a patch cable I needed anyway. All in all, this worked out o.k. for me.

3/11/2004 Update: Price is increasing... New price listed is $25.97

3/13/2004 Update: Price went up again... New price listed is $26.49

3/15/2004 Update: Price dropped back to $25.97 again.

3/19/2004 Update: Price is again $24.23.

Gentle1969

 

[BlueWeasel]

Nice price...I may consider jumping on this one.

Welcome to AT!

 

[mercuryswitch]

oh, cool! this is a good price.

welcome to AT! if you're like me, you can post 100+ posts a day =P

 

[Ziptar]

I have an N50 and Love it.. still wonder why I would want the N52??? Anyone have a reason for me to jump on this??

 

[elravager]

anyone find a $1 purchase to push it over $25? or something worthwhile for $6 instead of paying for shipping?

 

[SpaceHulk]

I bought an N52 because I thought it would be an upgrade from my N50 (Wich I reallly love) and I am very dissappointed.

The added row of keyboard type keys at the top are handy and are really the best improved feature, however, that's where the improvement ends. The keyboard keys feel sticky and are too difficult to depress and don't rebound as quickly as nessecary for me.

The other added buttons are the orange button above the thumb Dpad and a thumb button below the Dpad. Both of these buttons have fatal flaws. The orange button takes way to much force to depress, so much force, in fact, that when my hand is resting on the controller and I depress the button, the controller moves. The thumb button on the other hand, is worse, because it sticks and remains depressed, the poor placement of that button makes this phenemenon worse because when you hit the button with your thumb you often hit it off-centered, which causes the button to depress at an angle and it gets wedged as its depressed.

Bottom line......More buttons do not equal better.

Sorry to thread-crap, but I don't want fellow ATer's to buy this controller thinking that it is better than the N50.

 

[MonkeyWithAnUZI]

Who, hol dit there hoss! I can't believe I'm going to argue with someone whose name is my favorite game!

I've had 3 n50s (wore them out badly...I'm a gamer-a-holic ), and revceived an n52 for Christmas.

The keys were kinda stiff at first...but they loosened after a month's use.
I like the extra rigidity....I don't accidentally perform any action. I might add there was a flakey problem with the n50s, where pressing multiple keys (say, moving and shooting, and suddenly a completely different action occured). Not with the n52.

The extra buttons are a joy...I don't touch the keyboard except to chat! The Nostromo software lets you import your old n50 settings, and add additional key binds for the extra keys.

The scroll is much more controlled...actually useful.

The orange button above the d-pad is tough, but it's great for games like Raven-Shield..I use it for firing rate (something I don't want to arbitrarily or accidentally switch)...heck, I used it for UT/UT2k3/UT2k4 as a special dodge macro (oh yeah, you guys do know you can setup macros on the button? Mine does a jump/double jump/jump...real handy when the battle gets hot).

The other new button, below the d-pad, is great too....It's faster than any other button, which I use (again, for Raven-Shield) to fast switch back to my main weapon. I found this useful in Counter-Strike and BF192/Desert Combat also.

There, a pro argument.

I think it's a great evolution from the n50, IMHO.

 

[SpaceHulk]

Maybe I just need to work my controller over a couple more weeks in order to "loosen up" the buttons....or maybe I should RMA this unit.

Anyway, $24.23 is a great price

And MonkeyWithAnUZI, I will probably be running a couple games of Spacehulk at Gencon in Indy this year.

 

[carmat4]

I purchased a N52 about 3 months ago.

Im very happy with it since now I can adjust the position of my wrist and I dont suffer from wrist disconfort anymore. I would recomend this item to any one who plays COD, and AA type of games. Someone did point out that the bottom row of keys are a little sticky, and I agree, but it's not too bad. plus they get better as you brake it in. THe extra buttons on the N52 are great for games with many functions like AA, which im currently using every single one of them.

I have to say that this thing was well built to stand my punishment, and the only thing I dont like is the non adjustable wrist rest.

I paid about the same when Compusa had it on sale.

 

[weepul]

is this like a glove controller? how long does it take to get use to?

//krunk (^_^x)

 

[Gentle]

My understanding of how the product operates (not actually a user of the product, *yet*) leads me to believe it is not like a glove controller, but more like a separate sub-keyboard with a directional control and mouse wheel attached.

Gentle1969

 

[elravager]

nope, they were charging shipping on this deal... I checked my basket from yesterday, $6 shipping, emptied basket, re-added the product and voila, no shipping this time.. good deal, I'm finicky I wouldn't buy this for ~$30, but I'll buy it for $25

 

[bman46]

kool

 

[thebestMAX]

Thanks, been wanting to upgrade.

This is a small keyboard unit. I play sitting back in my desk easy chair with the N50 on my left leg and mouse on my desk.

Love this thing but surprised so many gamers have not even heard of it!

Just ordered, $24.xx with free shipping.

 

[carmat4]

Originally posted by: thebestMAX
Thanks, been wanting to upgrade.

This is a small keyboard unit. I play sitting back in my desk easy chair with the N50 on my left leg and mouse on my desk.

Love this thing but surprised so many gamers have not even heard of it!

Just ordered, $24.xx with free shipping.

That sounds comftable, I may try it.

I really wish, it had an adapter to attach it to the end of the arm rest. That would be perfect.

 

[Bri79]

I'm in. I went to BB to play with the demo model to make sure I wanted one.

 

[phlashphire]

How is this controller for driving games?

 

[Gentle]

I would think an actual "wheel" controller would be more suitable for driving games than this device would be.

Gentle1969

 

[Razorguts]

One complaint about the N50 (and newer N52, so Ive heard) - there is an issue where holding down a combo of buttons can activate other buttons that actually arent being pressed. I think Nostromo was going to address this with driver updates to the N50 (they never did), and someone mentioned that the same problem exists in the N52 I had an N50 and sometimes this problem was very frustrating.

For example, you're playing a FPS... you hold a button to crouch (C, let's say), then another button to creep (shift, let's say), then when you hit forward (W, let's say), it would activate some other button on your N50 that wasn't being pressed. In my case it was usually the Q key which caused me to LEAN.

Anyway, just a heads up that this problem still exists. But, I bought in on the N52 at this price regardless Will use it as backup to my Thrustmaster Tacticalboard...

Razorguts
Herff College of Engineering

 

[blacklit]

bought mine last week at this price. i think it's worth it -- but i've only played it with Quake, MoHAA and CoD -- i didn't want to wear out my keyboard.

the keys are stiffer (similar to older keyboards but quieter), but i don't think it's a problem. it's essentially an enhanced and customizable "left side" of your keyboard (you can even use it to type). i find it makes gameplay smoother, for example, you can assign the Save command to one of the thumb buttons. the mouse wheel lets u switch weapons so your right hand can concentrate on aiming and shooting. it's nice to play without having to move either hands too much... you get the potential benefits. on top of that it's comfortable... ergo... adjustable palm pad too... not to mention sturdy.

you can tack on a single Verbatim CD-RW ($1.xx) for free shipping. at this price, i would recommend it... cool, simple, functional, and likes the budgy. paraphrasing the reviews out there... i think it's a gamer must-have. jump on it ~

 

[jus10case]

Yea they are really nice if you suffer my problem...when playing my fps games, I alwasy die looking for a key, and with the nostromo's all the keys are right there.

 

[AlexPton]

This sounds pretty cool, I might get one to try it.

I remember back in the day when I used to play Quake (1) "professionally", we had huge problems mapping our keyboards. I had every key on my keyboard bound to something. which became a problem when I had to do something like hit alt and f4 (or control and c) in quick sucession (try and guess what would happen sometimes).

My friend in my clan was even more hardcore: he would bind his keyboard multiple times over... for example, if he hit shift or something like that, it would cycle and remap all his keys through 3 different configs. for example, if he was doing quad duty, then he would be using one set of key mappings, and if he had to shift jobs mid-battle, he would hit shift to map his keys to armor guarding duty, or something like that. with 104 keys (or more) mapped 3 times over, that was a lot to keep track of... don't know how he did it.

anyway, to make a long story short, "you young whipper snappers have it easy these days".

 

[Spartanfool]

I also have both and I like the n52 better. Don't get me wrong, the n50 is a great product, but after using it it for a year, I felt the n52 offered better options with the additional keys and buttons. Yes, it takes some getting used to after the n50, but I am very pleased with it overall.

Spartanfool

 

[Gentle]

Just a note, they are increasing the price on this one.

Mine arrived on March 10th and it does appear to be a very solidly built controller.

There are 14 keys in the keyboard section.

There's a mouse wheel near your left index finger, a D-pad, a "fire" button and a spacebar all within reach of your thumb.

It's even got some LED's on it to let you know when you are using the three different modes you can use on it.

The key profile program seems very well thought out.

I just need to use it a bit to know all the various options available.

Overall, I like the hardware so far.

Gentle1969

P.S. I failed to see in the manual the process to adjust the palm-rest. The palm-rest cover has some pegs on it that connect into some holes in the top of the controller. It is a very tight friction fit, but just be patient and it will separate and you have two choices for the palm-rest available to you. I believe you can even run without the palm-rest if you want.

 

[thebestMAX]

Mine arrived on the 9th, ordered on the 3rd.

Havent used it a lot yet but so far an improvement. Now if I could buy something that would not let me get killed.........................................