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| Brand: Belkin
Buy New: $34.99
Rating:  27 reviews
Platforms: Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Operating System: Windows 2000
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.2
Dimensions (in): 11.3 x 9.8 x 2.9
Warranty: Limited lifetime warranty
MPN: F8GFPC001
Model: F8GFPC001
UPC: 722868332702
EAN: 0722868366387
ASIN: B00005U2DX
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Box a little smushed, contents inside new
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 27
 Best PC Gaming Device of It's Day October 6, 2004
Logan Morley (Durango, CO)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
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.
 I am a Pro Gamer.... August 8, 2004
Dra8er (Looking at you through my crosshairs...)
7 out of 35 found this review helpful
I am a Pro Gamer, current earnings to date for the year of 2004 are $18,000. I compete in several leagues, Just recently my clan took 3rd in the CPL Extreme Summer World Championships in UT2K4, & I am currently ranked as the 7th best player in the world for FPS games (as reported by the GGL, WCG, CPL,& iON Gamers) & will be @ the WCG in San Francisco in Oct.
So this is an abomination, it cannot even come close to replacing the mouse & keyboard. If you are serious about FPS games, do not waste your money!!!
I does take awhile to learn, & overall you are left with something that only functions @ half the level of a keyboard. I tried hard to like this product & devoted near a month of my time mastering it. But if you need a quick reaction time, this is not the tool. May I recomend the Zboard Crossfire, besides the good old keyboard this is the only product that can compete!!!( & I belive that the Logitech Wireless Keyboard & mouse w/ fresh batteries is the best out there!)
Dra8er
Why aren't there six stars available? February 27, 2002
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
As I glance over at my Nostromo I am almost reverent about it. I do not always rant in a positive way about new computer products, but about this I will rant. I am a serious Age of Empires series player, and now have moved into playing Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds, and cannot imagine how you could play these games without a Nostromo 50 device.
I own a Microsoft "Strategic Commander" also, having purchased that first, since nothing else was available, but kept longing for something which was simpler and easier to use, something with a more ergonomically perfect layout. The "Strategic Commander" has some serious faults in use and I find those faults have lost me too many games played against adept opponents on the Internet.
But Nostromo's device came out, I saw a review announcing it on "Tech TV's" "Screen Saver's" web site and didn't hesitate to go out and get one that day. I am that addicted to my games!
There is simply no comparison between this and all the other gaming devices I have used. It has everything I could possibly think of to put into a game controller, especially for a RTS game. Every one of the ten keys can be individually programmed as you see fit using the included software. You can assign a single key, like a number, which allows you to move groups of units around in the AOE games, or program macros for the various keys, so that you can order units to build the buildings you need. The separate modes made possible by the various colored keys, red, green, and blue, allow you to have a separate "mode" you can use, so that it is like having four different game pads available to you.
I find the ten key system to be ideal, it seeming far more natural to me to have "keys" like this to push when I am using the thing, and the "dial-pad" you can use to control directional moves, if that is what you want to do, is far more natural to use than the one on the "Strategic Commander." I do not use it to move, instead having programmed these extra keys with functions like "Control" or "Alt," which are very useful in AOE games. You need these to assign units or groups a number, and to cycle to them in an instant when you are in the midst of the game.
Every "profile" you create for any of your games can be saved in the software's easy to use modes, and you can use the "load-out manager" to install them for each different game. There are ready-made profiles for various games available with the included software, and you can also download them from their website. I don't use these because I have made my own and find it to work best for me.
An extra benefit of this device is that you can use it for things other than games. I have a normal calculator's keypad programmed into one of the profiles, and I can enter figures with my left hand in a far more natural way for myself than the usual external keypads included on the keyboard for this purpose, as well as an external plug-in type to use with a laptop. I programmed the dial-pad with the addition, subtraction, division and multiplication functions, and it works great for me.
In the various flight simulator games the throttle control that is built in is a boon, and I have been able to finally fight a good dogfight with some of the aces out there.
I cannot recommend this product highly enough, and no, I don't own stock in the company! Buy one and play a mean game!
Awesome, just awesome. March 9, 2002
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
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.
Great product - too bad it's not compatible with Win XP! April 2, 2002
Mark Coons (Normal, IL USA)
4 out of 13 found this review helpful
I really like this product, when it works. And on my Dell Inspiron 8100 it doesn't work very often. Win XP is a great operating system that is very stable unless you try to run the Nostromo software - then XP crashes, every time.
Consequently I cannot load any game profiles so the Nostromo is just an attractive paper weight.
Blekin recently updated the software and drivers, which I downloaded and installed but it did not help any.
If you use Windows XP think twice before buying the Nostromo n50.
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