Cyber Snipa Game Pad V2 (PC)

The Cyber Snipa looks good on paper; its layout is sensible and there are plenty of keys to easily map that are logically placed, it's just the fact this device's buttons are so stiff and unresponsive to operate that really kills it as a truly useful and usable replacement for standard keyboard.

I'm a big fan of Battlefield 2, and as anyone who plays the game online will know, knowing where specific keys are is critical if you want to avoid becoming someone elses kill. The Cyber Snipa looked good, it's just the responsive of the keys that means so often whilst driving a vehicle or just walking I find I'm not going anywhere - I've stalled - and this because you really do need to ram those keys down and hold them there.

Have never suffered from RSI or cramp before in my hands and can't believe the designers of this game pad could have so crippled an otherwise promising product. I agree also that the number keys are difficult to press and don't feel natural either - it's extremely difficult changing weapons as a result, another crucial task. I had to remap the usual 1-4 weapons change keys to ignore keys 1-3 as they are just too far away otherwise. Yes, an ENTER key and dedicated quicksave/quickload keys would have been far more sensible substitutes for the volume buttons. Oddly the volume up/down buttons actually have a decent feel and response to them. Shame they weren't all like that.

So, in summary the layout and concept deserves a 4/5 from me but usability is really very poor so earns 2/5. I am still searching for that perfect device and am considering switching back to keyboard for the time being. I've owned the original Nostromo game pad and that wasn't much cop either - the Cyber Snipa is better but marred awfully by those difficult to press, completely unresponsive keys. What where they thinking? FPS? You need to be quick - that's fundamental and this device fails utterly in this regard. I've also used the overpriced Ideazon Zboard, which features the same 'butterfly' WASD keys and that was far more responsive until it stopped working. The Cyba Snipa could've filled that space very nicely so it's a shame my search for a decent gaming input device to supplement my mouse continues.

Con's:

I'd agree with one of the previous reviewers in that the keys have a slightly unusual travel and do take a few days to get used to. I'd also suggest that numbers 1-8 (even 9 & 0) rather than just the 1-7 keys and maybe the inclusion of a couple mappable quicksave/load buttons for singleplayer games in addition to the F1-F4 buttons would have been welcome - and, as one other reviewer points out, an Enter key could be useful (especially for those games that refuse to allow complete customisation of key assignments) - the so-far-as-yet-unused volume up/down keys could have been omitted to make space. That said, no compact keyboard can possibly replace every button on a keyboard so these are merely minor niggles. One other consideration is that the manafacturer could have made is that the Z key seems to lend itself to the function (crouch) normally assigned to the Ctr key so this could have been altered.

And the blue light on the top is a bit too bright (mine's been blu-tacked).

Pro's:

It's a very solid and sensibly laid-out design which finally allowed me to migrate away from my arrow keys (why do gamers put-up with the skewy WASD orientation?) - I think that the layout based around the central QWEASD 'flower' is superb. I wouldn't be without one and whilst I can't conceive that it could possibly break I'd definately buy another if it did - maybe I ought to buy a spare now I've tempted fate...

Whilst the idea behind this product is great, the execution of that idea is flawed in so many ways.

The key layout whilst logical, is very widely spaced, and I have quite large hands yet I found it a struggle. Basically the numeric 1- 3 keys (usually the most important in fps) are virtually impossible to hit whilst using the direction keys owing to the reach. To compound this error, the numeric keys are little oblong strips, not easy to press round buttons.

Then we have the keys themselves. Not only do they suffer a long travel to depress them, but they have a horrible on off action, making soft precise control impossible.

I ended up giving mine away to a friend after buying the far superior Zboard merc gaming keyboard. A few months later I asked him how he was getting on with it, he told me he had gone back to using a regular keyboard as it was better for gaming.

A great shame because cyber snipa's gaming mice are fantastic, but this product is sadly a bit of a duffer, and in need of a major reworking to live up to its promise.