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Reviews - Accessories
Written by Scott Byers   
Saturday, 12 August 2006
Article Index
Ergodex DX1 Input System
Out of the box
Software
Keys
Conclusion
Page 3 of 5

Now keep in mind that up to this point I have yet to even touch the software provided with the unit, save the brief installation of drivers. Thankfully the driver installation did not even require a system restart. This was fortunate because by the time I was ready to play with the unit I was practically frothing at the mouth and squirming in my chair.

After a successful (and long I might add) test run of the DX-1, I decided to check out the provided configuration software. With a clean user-friendly GUI, this device becomes that much more desirable almost instantly. Almost every function of the GUI is impressively intuitive despite the complicated nature of the device. Shown below is an image of the main form of the GUI.

Image



Here is a screenshot of the keystroke record dialog.

Image



It was from this dialog that the true power of the DX-1 became glaringly obvious to me:

Macros!

Almost immediately a handful of macro ideas for gaming run through my head. Combinations of keystrokes that are tedious or difficult to execute flooded my brain and I could barely contain my excitement. I should say, perhaps, that I could contain my excitement only as long as it took me to try to record one of those complicated macros using the GUI.

Now obviously the GUI is necessarily complicated for truly granular macro recording, and I could understand that. It’s very detailed, outlining keystroke down and up, time between keystrokes, and pretty much every other detail imaginable for macro recording. This was way more work than I’d hoped.

So then it hit me; Why don’t I try to record a macro using the record button and save myself some time?

I venture back into my game and attempt a macro recording that would execute the following actions:

  • Change to Grenades
  • Wait for Grenade to arm
  • Throw Grenade
  • Wait required time after throw
  • Change back to primary weapon.



So I set the stakes pretty high for my first macro, but this was the same thing I was going to attempt using the macro editor when I became frustrated and left to go eat a hot-pocket and regain some confidence.

I was certainly hoping that real-time recording would be possible but I had my doubts since the requirements for my macro included both keystrokes, wait times, and mouse clicks all in the same recording. With high hopes, I pressed the record button and that familiar “tapping” began and I started to record my macro, waiting the necessary time between events.

Not only did the DX-1 accurately record every keystroke, including the mouse click, but it also accurately recorded the time between the keys. I bound the macro to a button on the board and heard the distinctive “pop” confirmation. I pressed the button and low and behold it was like magic before my very eyes as the macro executed flawlessly.

The true power of the DX-1 was revealed and I was forever converted.



 
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