Saitek Cyborg command unit OR Nostromo Speed pad??? - Page 2

Superwombat · June 19, 2008, 09:49 PM

Well this is clearly an old thread, but allow me to post my 2 cents.

I own a Saitek Cyborg Command unit.

Pros:
1. Large number of buttons and shift states. I don't personally use any shift states, I do use every button on the pad for one keybinding or another, and they are all comfortable to reach as needed.

2. Decent programming software. THE ORIGINAL software (On the CD it ships with) is easy enough to use, I taught my wife how to use hers in a 10 minute session.

3. Comfortable for a wide range of hand-sizes. I only put this because my wife loves hers, and she has teeny-tiny hands, and I love mine and I have big-ole hamfists. So they must have found a good happy medium there.

4. The thumbstick is easy to use and get used to. Took be about 3 minutes to be completely comfortable with using the thumbstick for movement. Far less time than I had anticipated.

5. Comfortable for long-term use. I've gone on a number of marathon gaming sessions since getting this pad, and no fatigue in that hand at all.... (Mouse hand however.... ouch!)

CONS:
1. Adjustability is a joke. The cyborg line in the past has been famous for extremely adjustable gaming devices.... this aint one. you have ONE adjustment, which is the angle of the analog thumbstick. Personally I don't feel it NEEDS a ton of adjustments, but if you thought you could move more things than that (Which I did when I purchased my first) Just be forewarned.

2. NEVER EVER EVER uprade the software. Saitek released a software update several months back, which is not an update as much as an entire rewrite from the ground up. If installed, it will erase all of your profiles, and your gamepad will stop working. At which point you will check Saitek support, and find that this new software is pretty much an epic fail, and doesn't work for anyone.... oh yea, it's also got a non-functional de-install utility. According to Saitek, the ONLY way to get the original drivers working again, is to edit your registry by hand, and remove all references to Saitek software. To be honest this is the one thing that really made me despise Saitek. Took me 2 days to finally get things working and programmed again. Just don't update the software and you'll be fine though.

3. Analog stick is fragile and can get flaky with age. I saw some people commenting that the analog stick was better than a d-pad just because it is analog. For THIS purpose (Playing WoW) There's really no functional difference. I played around with the idea of binding the bands so if I moved the stick a little bit I would walk, and if I moved it a lot I would run, but in the end that would just be stupid. I can think of maybe 3 times in the history of WoW that I have needed to walk somewhere, and the / key works just fine for those rare occasions. I did find that after several months of extreme grinding, the stick has begin to loosen up, and at times it can now be difficult to stand still, as the stick sometimes tells my toon to jump to the left for no good reason. Honestly I'd prefer a D-pad for the durability in this case.

This isn't really a recommendation for the Saitek, altho I have one, like it, and will buy a replacement of the same kind when this one breaks. Just thought I'd share my personal experience since it seems like virtually everyone on this board went for the Nostromo. :-)

Edit: Just browsing thru the interwebs after posting this, and noticed that Saitek took my advice, and changed the analog thumbpad to a D-pad for thier latest version. I wonder if they'll pay me royalties? :-P

Debuff · June 20, 2008, 08:53 AM

wow, there are some really good reviews on this comparison. Nicely done.

forketta · June 20, 2008, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mingetuft

hold down a relationshit

I love this typo!!!!! IF this is a typo. What would Sigmund Freud have written now......

Night Owl · June 20, 2008, 09:27 AM

OP wrote:

"So... when it comes to my birthday I have a problem... What does my girlfriend get me...

Well I have 7 guitars and effects, I have a sweet custom built road bike, nice badminton bat, car, pasta maker blah blah. I have everything I want or need in life it seems!

<<edit>>

So any tips or advice?"

--------------------------------------------

Well, I use the Nostromo and love it......but personally, I think your girlfriend should get you a mirror, so you could look at yourself and see how fortunate you have been in life, and see how incredibly self centered this all sounds--and perhaps step back and wonder what you could give back.

Sorry....I know this post was a few months back, but this just kind of made me ill to read, knowing how much suffering there is in the world.

Kiralyn · June 20, 2008, 09:57 AM

Don't knock the guy for being happy. All the suffering blah blah, don't be happy because there are people that aren't as happy as you blah blah... I say gratz on finding in life that which makes you happy. Hell, the guy just wants to know what to get for his birthday. If that makes you self-centered, you can toss me on that wagon as well.

Anyway, I've owned both the N52 and the Saitek, and as of right now, I'm just using my G15 v2. I had problems with longevity on both devices, and neither device has a key press to the quality of even an ok keyboard. I started with the N52, and had a couple keys get to be hard to use. Bought the saitek, which I liked a lot better, and had one of those keys screw up. Also, the software would occasionally 'stick' a key in the press position, not a hardware issue but something in the software.

When that started getting on my nerves too much and I saw the newer version of the G15, I said screw it about bought the keyboard. The layout is similar enough that it didn't take a whole lot of re-learning from the saitek, and I've been a lot happier with it that I was with either extra controller.

Personally I use wasd on the keyboard still, and can hit the g-keys with my pinky, but I know a lot of people have switched to using esdf instead. esdf on your keyboard gives you more key-bind options that either of those controllers, unless you're really into the shift-states. I think a good keyboard will suit most people better than any extra input device currently out there.

June 19, 2008, 09:49 PM	#11 (permalink)
Superwombat Registered Character Info Chardyn 65 Gnome Warlock Garona US PvE Guild: Que Sera Sera	Re: Saitek Cyborg command unit OR Nostromo Speed pad??? Well this is clearly an old thread, but allow me to post my 2 cents. I own a Saitek Cyborg Command unit. Pros: 1. Large number of buttons and shift states. I don't personally use any shift states, I do use every button on the pad for one keybinding or another, and they are all comfortable to reach as needed. 2. Decent programming software. THE ORIGINAL software (On the CD it ships with) is easy enough to use, I taught my wife how to use hers in a 10 minute session. 3. Comfortable for a wide range of hand-sizes. I only put this because my wife loves hers, and she has teeny-tiny hands, and I love mine and I have big-ole hamfists. So they must have found a good happy medium there. 4. The thumbstick is easy to use and get used to. Took be about 3 minutes to be completely comfortable with using the thumbstick for movement. Far less time than I had anticipated. 5. Comfortable for long-term use. I've gone on a number of marathon gaming sessions since getting this pad, and no fatigue in that hand at all.... (Mouse hand however.... ouch!) CONS: 1. Adjustability is a joke. The cyborg line in the past has been famous for extremely adjustable gaming devices.... this aint one. you have ONE adjustment, which is the angle of the analog thumbstick. Personally I don't feel it NEEDS a ton of adjustments, but if you thought you could move more things than that (Which I did when I purchased my first) Just be forewarned. 2. NEVER EVER EVER uprade the software. Saitek released a software update several months back, which is not an update as much as an entire rewrite from the ground up. If installed, it will erase all of your profiles, and your gamepad will stop working. At which point you will check Saitek support, and find that this new software is pretty much an epic fail, and doesn't work for anyone.... oh yea, it's also got a non-functional de-install utility. According to Saitek, the ONLY way to get the original drivers working again, is to edit your registry by hand, and remove all references to Saitek software. To be honest this is the one thing that really made me despise Saitek. Took me 2 days to finally get things working and programmed again. Just don't update the software and you'll be fine though. 3. Analog stick is fragile and can get flaky with age. I saw some people commenting that the analog stick was better than a d-pad just because it is analog. For THIS purpose (Playing WoW) There's really no functional difference. I played around with the idea of binding the bands so if I moved the stick a little bit I would walk, and if I moved it a lot I would run, but in the end that would just be stupid. I can think of maybe 3 times in the history of WoW that I have needed to walk somewhere, and the / key works just fine for those rare occasions. I did find that after several months of extreme grinding, the stick has begin to loosen up, and at times it can now be difficult to stand still, as the stick sometimes tells my toon to jump to the left for no good reason. Honestly I'd prefer a D-pad for the durability in this case. This isn't really a recommendation for the Saitek, altho I have one, like it, and will buy a replacement of the same kind when this one breaks. Just thought I'd share my personal experience since it seems like virtually everyone on this board went for the Nostromo. :-) Edit: Just browsing thru the interwebs after posting this, and noticed that Saitek took my advice, and changed the analog thumbpad to a D-pad for thier latest version. I wonder if they'll pay me royalties? :-P Last edited by Superwombat; June 19, 2008 at 09:59 PM..

June 20, 2008, 08:53 AM	#12 (permalink)
Debuff Subscriber Character Info Debuff 80 Orc Warlock Sargeras US PvP Guild: Fenrir Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 0/40/31	Re: Saitek Cyborg command unit OR Nostromo Speed pad??? wow, there are some really good reviews on this comparison. Nicely done.

June 20, 2008, 09:27 AM	#14 (permalink)
Night Owl Lurker	Re: Saitek Cyborg command unit OR Nostromo Speed pad??? OP wrote: "So... when it comes to my birthday I have a problem... What does my girlfriend get me... Well I have 7 guitars and effects, I have a sweet custom built road bike, nice badminton bat, car, pasta maker blah blah. I have everything I want or need in life it seems! <<edit>> So any tips or advice?" -------------------------------------------- Well, I use the Nostromo and love it......but personally, I think your girlfriend should get you a mirror, so you could look at yourself and see how fortunate you have been in life, and see how incredibly self centered this all sounds--and perhaps step back and wonder what you could give back. Sorry....I know this post was a few months back, but this just kind of made me ill to read, knowing how much suffering there is in the world.

June 20, 2008, 09:57 AM	#15 (permalink)
Kiralyn Socialist Warlock Character Info Kiralyn 80 Human Warlock Mal'Ganis US PvP Guild: Self Titled Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: ??.??.??	Re: Saitek Cyborg command unit OR Nostromo Speed pad??? Don't knock the guy for being happy. All the suffering blah blah, don't be happy because there are people that aren't as happy as you blah blah... I say gratz on finding in life that which makes you happy. Hell, the guy just wants to know what to get for his birthday. If that makes you self-centered, you can toss me on that wagon as well. Anyway, I've owned both the N52 and the Saitek, and as of right now, I'm just using my G15 v2. I had problems with longevity on both devices, and neither device has a key press to the quality of even an ok keyboard. I started with the N52, and had a couple keys get to be hard to use. Bought the saitek, which I liked a lot better, and had one of those keys screw up. Also, the software would occasionally 'stick' a key in the press position, not a hardware issue but something in the software. When that started getting on my nerves too much and I saw the newer version of the G15, I said screw it about bought the keyboard. The layout is similar enough that it didn't take a whole lot of re-learning from the saitek, and I've been a lot happier with it that I was with either extra controller. Personally I use wasd on the keyboard still, and can hit the g-keys with my pinky, but I know a lot of people have switched to using esdf instead. esdf on your keyboard gives you more key-bind options that either of those controllers, unless you're really into the shift-states. I think a good keyboard will suit most people better than any extra input device currently out there.