Living in a house that's constantly brimming with hard-core computer game addicts, we test and use a lot of PC harware in a very demanding fashion. A short while ago one of us learned about the amazing Belkin Nostromo n50 and how useful it is for games, and within days we all had one, for a low in-store price of under $30. Words can not describe the impact this controller has had on our game playing speed, accuracy, and comfort.
After using it for said games a few months instead of taking photos, I got drawn back into photography again and, almost deleriously, realized how useful a tool the n50 is for Photoshop! Basically, it's a 10-key keyboard and 8-way d-pad that you can map to key strokes, mouse buttons, and macros, and with 4 shift-modifiers you can cram up to 56 different functions all in a space that fits comfortably under your left hand, leaving your rigth hand completely free for a stylus or whatever you want.
Even the most awkward shortcuts and actions in Photoshop can be mapped to an easy keypress or two. I have increased my picture processing speed and comfort considerably since the n50 came into my life. :)
I'm honsetly surprised they they don't market it as an artist's tool as well as a gamer's tool. It seems like they're missing out on a decent market!
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