Fanatec Head$h0t Controller

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The pad keeps with the current mousepad trend of being oversized.  This is a requirement for any gaming pad.  Fanatec's pad measures an impressive 15" x 12" at its widest point.  Useable mouse area is a bit smaller measuring roughly 13" x 10" with a silky smooth surface that feels like a Teflon cooking pan.  Notice the cutout for the wrist.  This allows for more comfortable use keeping the elevation of your wrist consistent as you pivot from side to side.  All the edges got plenty of attention from Fanatec in its design and were free of sharp or rough edges which can wear on your hand like sandpaper.

  

Incorporated in the pad is a USB hub.  The Fanatec Controller uses one USB port on your computer during use.  It replaces this by having two additional USB ports on the rear of the pad giving the end user lots of latitude to expand as needed.  Looking at the picture closely you see three traditional USB ports, one smaller USB port and a 5 volt power plug connection.  The Fanatec mouse attaches to one of these and then the pad attaches to the PC with another leaving you two.  We'll get to why the unit requires an external power source in a second.

The mouse looks a bit odd with its telephone type cord.  The cord measures only a mere 20" coiled.  It doesn't need more because it attaches to the Fanatec mousepad for interface to the PC.  In the context that the mouse and pad are a set, you have no worries but I'd like to see a mouse I can easily use elsewhere on a whim if I choose.  The short cable we mentioned pretty much eliminates any chance of that.

Taking a closer look at the mouse we see that each side has its finger rests extended.  This is a sign of some smart thinking.  The end user's thumb and pinky finger always hang off the sides of the mouse.  With this finger rest design you don't have them acting as brakes slowing you down.  Button wise we have six programmable buttons in addition to the wheel which also can be used as a programmable button aside from its scroll up and down function.

     

On the underside you have two small screw points that are wide enough to be turned with a small coin.  These adjust the physical size of the Fanatec mouse.  The left side as you see below can be adjust out giving the mouse greater width for folks with larger hands.

  

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