Speed. It’s what client’s demand, what artists who always get the job done pride themselves on. Besides the neural and dextral ability of the user, the second most important variable is the input device. The keyboard and mouse have been the standard for years. Personally, I feel that having to regularly hit shift-ctrl-t or somesuch defeats the purpose of a so-called ‘shortcut’. Having to continually access nested menus and buttons consumes valuable time and energy, and most importantly, interferes with the flow.

I searched for some other options. Mainly I was looking for a keyboard alternative. There is a product called the Zboard, a keyboard with swappable skins for each application. I will not bother explaining how ridiculous this premise is. Another option was 3dconnextions’ device. The cost on this unit is prohibitive to most users and will be ignored here. After much searching I stumbled across Belkins Nostromo Speedpad. Mainly marketed as a gaming device, it seemed perfect. The hand rests very comfortably on a mini keyboard with a scrolling wheel, and a directional pad.

Currently the Speedpad comes in 2 flavors, the N50 and the N52. The N50 has 10 keys, a scrollwheel and a thumb accessed 8 way directional pad. It uses a standard wired USB 1.1 connection. The N52 is the model created with the feedback from users of the N50. There are obviously more buttons, a thumb switch which toggles key subsets (see below). The scroll wheel acts more like a mouse, unlimited spin and is clickable. There is also an added action button above the D-Pad.

One potential problem for users is that the device is made for the left hand. As I can see, its the only downside of this device.

The software is intuitive and quite flexible. You can assign single keystrokes to the keys, or complex macros that can take into account time delays between strokes if you so desire. The Nostromo also has 3 leds. These indicate key subsets. You can assign a button to act as a toggle, swapping subsets. Once you have your keyset for a particular application, you can save it as a profile. Loading different profiles is a quick and painless trip to the taskbar.

Below I have created 2 templates for the N50 and N52. Initially, it may be confusing/overwhelming remembering the keysets you've programmed. You may place either icons or text in and around the buttons and print it out. Try putting it on top of your existing keyboard, this way you can see if your keysets are good for your particular application. If you find yourself still continually accessing your standard keyboard, add those keys/strokes to your keyset.

Also, you may download/upload profiles. If you would like to add your profile, feel free to email it (preferably with the keys mapped onto the aforementioned template) to nostromo@everflow.com.