This movement, though slight, is annoying while playing a game, as most players like having their peripherals feel very firmly planted. Whereas the original n52 made use of a single rubber foot, the six rubberized feet of the n52te allow the entire device to rock forwards and backwards slightly if the user puts weight upon the tail end of the palm rest, which is what naturally tends to happen in use. We were also displeased with the revised placement of the stabilizing feet. We really wish the plasto-rubber of the palm area had been applied to the joystick head as well, as this would have offered much better grip. The joystick head mounted on the D-pad does offer extra leverage, but its surface is very lightly textured hard plastic that isn't easy to get good thumb-traction upon. Though Razer certainly did improve the aesthetics of the n52 in the 'te' addition, not all of the refinements prove beneficial in a utilitarian sense. Other Razer additions to the design include a removable joystick head that snaps into the center of the digital D-pad, a plasto-rubber coating on the curving palm area that matches the coating on the DeathAdder mouse, and revised placement of stabilizing feet on the underside. The backlight cannot be dimmed, which is somewhat unfortunate as it is quite bright, but it can be turned off completely for a more stealthy appearance. The n52te's keys and mouse wheel are illuminated in Razer's favorite tone of blue, which makes it look rather attractive when in the presence of Razer's Tarantula keyboard (review) and DeathAdder mouse (review).
Like its predecessors, the n52te offers an array of keyboard-ish keys arranged in a futuristically-ergonomic array, coupled with a mouse-wheel and digital d-pad.īelkin worked with popular gaming mouse manufacturer Razer in crafting the n52te as an upgrade of the existing n52, and the influence of the mouse company is pretty easy to identify. The 'te' stands for Tournament Edition, and signifies the product as an evolved version of the popular Nostromo SpeedPad n52, which was itself a follow-on to the original Nostromo SpeedPad n50 (review circa 2002). Products like the Zboard Fang (review), WolfKing Warrior (review), and Warrior XXtreme (review) offer extra keys arranged in different ergonomic arrangements to allow for easier and more convenient access to the critical buttons for FPS action.īelkin is now diving into this market with the new n52te.
Today, gaming specific mice and keyboards abound, and the growing complexity of FPS and MMO titles has even spawned a new breed of peripherals that offer total alternatives to WASD keyboard keys. Back in the earliest days of the FPS genre when games like Wolfenstein 3D were blowing people's minds, gamers had to be content to combat their opponents armed with nothing more than generic mice and the standard W, A, S, D keys on their beige keyboards.