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PC-Dash 2
by Kurt Giesselman

Sequels often represent a big unknown. You saw the original movie, listened to the artist’s previous album, or owned last year’s model automobile. The Phantom Menace was a disappointment for many Star Wars fans but The Runaway Bride was hailed as another great Richard Gear, Julia Roberts love story. Go figure? Previous performance is no guarantee of future earning, so my broker tells me.

So perhaps it is understandable that I felt a surge of hope mixed with a rush of trepidation when Ali Farmer handed me a prototype of the new PCdash2 and a CD-ROM with the soon to be released new version of the Saitek Gaming Extensions (SGE) that supports it. I had been asking weekly for a unit to review after I had seen the USB cable hanging off a sleeked down PC-Dash at E-3.

The new slimmed down PCdash2

I will do my best to focus on the changes and improvements to the PCdash2 hardware. Frankly it is very difficult to completely separate the flexible design of the SGE programming software from the enhanced functionality of the new PC-Dash 2.

The PC-Dash 2 is totally redesigned from the tip of its USB plug to its glowing LED mini-joystick. The new SGE installation program is much more ‘intelligent’ than previous versions. Support for all Saitek USB controllers is loaded with the initial installation. The loader looks for any connected Saitek devices and configures them. Any Human Interface Devices using generic drivers (items shown as HIDs in Device Manager that are not keyboards or pointing devices) are cleared out.

This improves on the previous setup which required the new user to rigorously follow a step by step installation procedure (software first then hardware or an uninstall of both hardware and software was required to correct the installation). The intelligent loader can detect any Saitek USB device currently installed and will detect and install new Saitek USB devices as they are plugged in to available USB ports.

New ‘run application’ function

The thirty five programmable keys are labeled with the icons for the default command set. These shortcuts are built during the installation phase of the PC-Dash 2. The installation program searches your hard drive for an Internet browser, word processor, spreadsheet, calculator, a mail program, and a spell checker. It even creates two shortcuts for your two favorite web sites plus the Official Saitek web site. There is a shortcut key to launch Saitek Gaming Extensions (SGE).

This slick installation is fully automated in that it searches for a standard group of programs. If you are using an unusual set of office suite applications then you may have to point the SGE setup program to the applications to be assigned to each hot key. The software will try to choose the most powerful application in each type, such as MS Word over Notepad, if more than one is available. SGE identifies your default web browser and assigns the standard shortcut keys found across the top of your browser. At the end of the installation the installation program asks for your two favorite web sites so be ready with the URLs.

The keyboard is still a membrane type, a feature I am fond of (I once spilled a glass of wine on my portable’s keyboard. Not a happy story.) Saitek has improved the keyboard by adding a positive click of tactile feedback to the actuation of the keys. No more guessing if you fully depressed the key. The smaller footprint is the next change, an improvement in my mind.

 

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