Review: Keypad
Sony release another quality peripheral in the shape of the SixAxis keypadPublished 09/12/2008 at 11:16 by Michael
Sony is renowned for the quality of its official peripherals and the newly released keypad easily lives up to that tradition. Now that I’ve been discharged from A&E with fingers stitched back on and my arms sewn up after attemtping to remove the keypad from the packagaing, I can finally bring you a review.
Intended as an alternative to a full keyboard the keypad fulfills that function and more. Once you’ve stemmed your blood flow you’ll notice just how lovely looking the keypad is. It’s so gorgeously small and precise that you’ll probably fall in love with it right away. First off, plug in a SixAxis charging cable and let the keypad charge for a little while. Once it’s stopped squealing “Charge me, charge me!” you can get down to business.
The design is so good it’s as though the SixAxis is complete once the keypad is clamped to it, with the keypad following the curves of the controller. The extra weight is barely noticeable and it’s all so well balanced that you can easily play a game with the keypad attached and suffer no ill effects. Where the pad hangs over the shoulder buttons it’s recessed to provide extra room for your fingers. I tested this with a game of Resistance 2 – a game relying heavily on shoulder buttons – and there was no difference to playing without the keypad.
The pad is really designed to help facilitate quicker text-based communications, so I fired up the web browser and hit the forums. It takes a little while to get used to typing with the pad, but everything is there: Caps lock, Shift, Tab, Space, Backspace. I found the easiest way was to hold the SixAxis as normal, and use my thumbs to type while the fingers underneath the pad provided the solidity of a normal keyboard. It works well, and after a few attempts I no longer see the need for my USB keyboard. Sure, it isn’t as good as a ‘proper’ keyboard, but the trade-offs make it clearly the better option: It’s lovely; it’s wireless; it’s permanently available.
It does have a neat trick up its sleeve, and that’s the ability to turn part of the keyboard into a touchpad akin to those on laptops. Just press the touchpad button and then when you move your fingers over the keys it acts as a mouse. A brilliant little trick, but I still found it easier to use the thumbsticks to move the cursor. There are also a couple of shortcut buttons: one that brings up the XMB Message Box, and one that brings up your Friends List.
Sony has delivered another quality peripheral. It’s such a great design, it really is hard to imagine the SixAxis without it once it’s in place. The materials look and feel great, and the keys have a satisfying and reassuring feel everytime they are pressed. It’s perfect for the communcations it was designed for; quick and easy chat in games that don’t rely on voice-comms.
Comments
Please note that all comments are the opinion of the individual author and not TheSixthAxis.
djhsecondnature | 09/12/2008 11:23
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Well Done you’ve completed another sale! Sony will be happy!
Good review btw
Spotter5 | 09/12/2008 11:23
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Sounds good!
nice review
Manorhowze | 09/12/2008 11:29
Driving God
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Was considering getting this. I think you just made up my mind to get it.
Great review
hannes_truce | 09/12/2008 11:29
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give more bad reviews! you seem to be spending all my money… lol
cc_star | 10/12/2008 01:17
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yep, same here!
nofi | 09/12/2008 11:33
Wants a custom tag.
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Yep, I want one now. Thanks!
andytorr | 09/12/2008 11:38
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I totally agree, it’s a nifty little beast. I’m still getting used to typing on it though as the keys are quite small. Also, I keep thinking I’ve pressed the space bar, then look up at the screen and notice I’ve just written one really long word.
Michael | 09/12/2008 12:16
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You should have a parcel today, Mr Torr.
colossalblue | 09/12/2008 11:44
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I got one last week and was amazed at how nice they are. This review is absolutely correct, they take a little bit of use to get used to but once you’ve used it for a while it starts to feel really normal.
I did find that trying to use the touchpad before you’ve read the instructions that CLEARLY tell you that it needs to be calibrated isn’t a lot of fun, the cursor jumps about everywhere and you have yourself convinced that there’s something wrong with your finger.
Michael | 09/12/2008 12:11
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Aye, I forgot to calibrate it. I still prefer the thumbsticks overall, but it’s nice to have the option.
Withnail | 09/12/2008 11:53
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It’s well made and fits the controller well. I do find it quite difficult to use though, the keys are very small and I need to type very slowly and deliberately to get error-free text. Unlike a proper keyboard I find it impossible to type without looking at it. Also, somehow I keep managing to accidentally press shift then backspace, which clears all the text you’ve entered, and can be rather annoying to say the least.
However, it’s much neater than my previous solution of a full USB keyboard, the shortcut keys are handy, and I’m sure my typing speed will improve. It just about gets my recommendation, particularly if you have more nimble fingers than I do.
Michael | 09/12/2008 12:10
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Fair comment, for sure.
Pixl1983 | 09/12/2008 11:58
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One thing to note is that you can use it even when it’s detached from the sixaxis as it has it’s own battery. Quite useful for when you just need to pick it up for just the one message and don’t have to faf about fitting it on.
Great review, and I’d recommend this to anyone.
Michael | 09/12/2008 12:11
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Good point, I forgot to mention that.
Los Havros | 09/12/2008 23:41
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Cheers for the info, I was wondering about whether this was possible.
seedaripper1973 | 09/12/2008 12:25
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OI! is this the same one you’re going to send me for winning the ‘home’ competition???
*fingers in ears*
TRA LA LA (not listening) TRA LA LA LA…
Michael | 09/12/2008 13:02
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I’m judging the competition tonight.
And no, this isn’t the one the winner wins. That’s a brand new, still sealed keypad!
seedaripper1973 | 09/12/2008 13:19
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cool…so i get to shred my fingers and spend time in A & E like you…
(i realise im just ruining my chances here, but hey what the hell)
fredrikpedersen | 09/12/2008 12:53
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Anywhere they sell it for 18£ or under and have free shipping to Norway? One can only hope.
sibbor | 09/12/2008 13:01
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This sounds nice:
“Where the pad hangs over the shoulder buttons it’s recessed to provide extra room for your fingers. I tested this with a game of Resistance 2 – a game relying heavily on shoulder buttons – and there was no difference to playing without the keypad.”
Btw, I want to see some photos from your setup – holding the controller with the keypad attached
!
1) Any words on special characters, kan you use Swedish characters åäö? By holding down any function key or long pressing certain characters on the keypad.
2) How long does the battery last in the controller while you’re having the keypad attached?
3) Say you get a message in a game, is there any notification on the keypad that you’ve got an unread message? And can you click a button to view it?
Michael | 09/12/2008 13:05
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I don’t know about switching the character set actually. I’ll have to have a looksy tonight.
No idea on battery life yet. I imagine a fair while as it’s not something you’ll have on all the time.
You can click a button to take you to the Message Box or Friends List. There’s no notification on the keypad that a message has arrived though.
djhsecondnature | 09/12/2008 13:19
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Does it have a timeout like the controllers do now?
colossalblue | 09/12/2008 13:27
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There are no special characters on mine but the packaging for mine said “English Version” on the side and my instructions were only in English and German so there might be specific ones for Swedish too with that function. You can switch over to use the onscreen keyboard for special characters though.
I think I read somewhere that it lasts roughly 6 hours of usage (mine hasn’t needed recharged since I got it) and it definitely does time out and enter standby after about 10-15 minutes.
yogh_wayne | 09/12/2008 13:12
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Nice Review. I’ve pre-ordered one some days ago. It’s officially available in germany starting tomorrow and I just hope they’ll have enough in stock.
Jeebers | 09/12/2008 13:16
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Do they come in white or will I have to ying yang a black one with my white dual shock!?
colossalblue | 09/12/2008 13:28
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I’ve only seen black ones but it serves you right for being one of those posh importer types with your flashy white Dual Shocks…
Jeebers | 09/12/2008 14:07
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So harsh! I didn’t realise white dualshocks were still not out here. It is pretty damn flashy though.
discharge | 09/12/2008 14:22
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I’ve had mine for 10days now, and i agree with all you said about it, yes it takes a while to get used to it but once you have it sorted you’ll always use it.
There are special characters and the battery seems to have lasted the full ten days so far(although I’m not a heavy user of text chat).
As for message notifications…why would there be a notification on the keypad??, surely you’d see it on the screen??, or do you mean if you have notifications switched off on the ps3 – does the pad still inform you????, well I dont know……yet!
colossalblue | 09/12/2008 14:34
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how do you access the special characters? I can only get the usual punctuation marks and symbols, no accents like this –> óéá or like the o with the stroke through it. Not even an umlaut…
seedaripper1973 | 09/12/2008 15:25
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i think its illegal to try to ‘access special characters’, as theres some hoo har with regards to ‘taking advantage’
