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Combined performance

Lets look at a game that I tested carefully with the Nostromo products – Unreal Tournament. In order for the Touchsense to work on the game, I had to download the patch, which was conveniently placed in the GameMouse CD. After getting the patch, the game completely changed. I was actually able to feel the realism of the weapon vibrations through the mouse. The "feel" of the game was good, the vibrations changed when I switched from the plasma gun to the rocket launcher. The reloading of the rockets can actually be felt and when the rockets explode near you, it was like the mouse was getting hit – huge vibrations that can even be felt on the other side of the table.

The n50 Speedpad provided a huge advantage as I played the game. I could jump, give orders, switch weapons and even quit the game right from the pad. No more fumbling around.

Another game, Diablo 2, worked really well with the Speedpad. Although there was no Touchsense patch for Diablo 2, the keys were mapped fairly easily and the comfort of gameplay was next to sitting in an extremely comfortable recliner. Eventually, I found I could not play Diablo 2 without the n50 anymore (Who knows how bad I'll suck at both games once I return the devices after the review).

Once again, the importance of the keyboard comes back into view. The chat functions in both the games mentioned and on the other I've tested require the keyboard (unless you can chat using 10 keys).

Conclusion

Overall, the Nostromo n50 and the n30 cannot be graded together. Both are good tools of game play and both makes your gaming life a little easier to live.

Firstly, on the n50, as many people I've asked would like – a third row of keys and maybe a separate shift function to switch between different settings would be nice. But if you don't play a lot of games with complex key structures, you will probably find the n50 to be most useful. The comfort level in this device speaks a lot for itself, I find it to be one of the most comfortable devices I have used in my long gaming life and also the layout of the keys is positioned well so that every finger can find the right key - fast. I was quite impressed with the n50's performance. Belkin had definitely done a favor to the hard-core First person shooter out there with its n50 Speedpad. For something under $40, the Speedpad is definitely a must have for the FPS player and a good alternative to a game pad.

On the n30, there is a lot to be said about the design and it would definitely be graded a lot higher if it had a sloping back. Apart from that, the mouse serves its function well. It is very responsive for a trackball-operated mouse and definitely very stable to move around. The scroll wheel is very responsive and I found it to be of great help when switching weapons in FPS games. Overall, Belkin could really improve on the design of its mouse and maybe observe some of the sloping designs used by Logitech to make the hand position more comfortable. Also, the release of many more game patches to support this technology will also help greatly as currently, only a handful of games support the Touchsense technology. At $35 for a mouse, the n30 GameMouse should be considered a valuable device to buy only if you are a serious gamer and own (or plan to own) one of the games it supports (to find out, go to www.belkin.com). Any other reason is invalid to buy this mouse, as it serves no function on the desktop but to entertain toddlers.

Overall, my ratings are as follows:

The n50 Speedpad at a high 75 %
The n30 GameMouse at a moderate 70 %

Lowest Prices on the Net for the n50 Speedpad

Lowest Prices on the Net for the n30 GameMouse