by Mike Shea on 19 March 2003
I've been playing a lot of Everquest Online Adventures on my PS2 and impulse bought a Logitech cordless PS2 controller (Amazon Link) and Logitech cordless USB keyboard (Amazon link). Since EQ requires the use of a keyboard it meant a lot of wires, extends, rat nests, and general chaos. Switching to cordless input devices seemed like a good idea.
The controller is the better of the two devices. With four AA batteries, it's heavy and big, but nicely shaped. The analog pads are excellent, the buttons are very nice. The four shift buttons are a lot bigger and more spread out than the standard PS2 controller, which takes a little getting used to. The digital direction pad is a problem area, it isn't a standard + design but a big circle. Often I have cast the wrong spell or drank some costly water because I hit the wrong way. I would have much preferred the standard nintendo cross. The range on the controller is 20 feet, plenty for a typical living room. If you let the controller sit, you have to hit a "mode" button to resynch it to the transmitter.
The wireless keyboard isn't quite as good. It only has a six foot range and seems a little difficult to initially configure. As long as it is within range it works quite well. The size and touch is solid. Its a little bulky for a lap keyboard but the lack of a cord makes it quite nice.
One thing that torked me off was this idea of "cordless" when both transmitters have cords on them. What would be nicer is something that plugged directly in without needing anything else hanging from the deck itself. A streamlined deck with just a couple of IR transmitters sticking out the front would really be "cordless".
Overall I think both the cordless controller and cordless keyboard will make it a lot more user friendly to play EQ Online Adventures. So far I am very happy with them.