PowerMate or SpaceNavigator, best out of the box?

TahoeTexan · 09-08-2007, 11:42 AM

I am considering both the PowerMate and SpaceNavigator to supplement my touchscreen and MacMini. Out of the box (with little configuring) which one will work better? From what I have read the PowerMate will require configuring for most of the apps and it seems the SpaceNavigator will require configuring and maybe some hacking.

I will be running OSX and XP with Parallels, will both of these work?

Jirka Jirout · 09-09-2007, 01:38 PM

PowerMate was a good choice back in 2002. It cannot generate too many events and its encoder is not the best I have seen to put it mildly. It did a good job for me though, when there was no other choice.

SpaceNavigator or NuLOOQ are probably the best controllers today. NuLOOQ comes with a good driver that allows you to assign keystrokes to different events. SpaceNavigator can do the same with ControllerMate software (USD 20 or so) or you can support it directly in your front-end as we do in QCar (the vendor provides a good SDK and support, so integration with an application is easy).

If you can't decide, just toss a coin, either of them will be a good choice :-) I use NuLOOQ in my Tatra and SpaceNavigator in my Volvo:

inh · 09-09-2007, 01:46 PM

There was recently an app released for the space navigator that lets you do a lot with it when working in a car pc environment, click the driver dev link in my sig. Also, there is a free software release that was released on the 3dconnextion forum that lets you do just about anything with a space navigator.

TahoeTexan · 09-09-2007, 03:46 PM

Jirka, for the NuLOOQ you have installed do you not use the gray ring controls?

Jirka Jirout · 09-09-2007, 04:02 PM

No, I removed the gray rubber ring completely and only use the top part. The complete NuLOOQ would be too bulky for the middle console of the Tatra. The scroll wheel and 5 buttons are quite sufficient for me.