3Dconnexion SpaceNavigator PE (Personal Edition) 3D Navigation Device USB ( 3DX-700029 )
by 3Dconnexion
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List Price: Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of 3Dconnexion SpaceNavigator PE (Personal Edition) 3D Navigation Device USB ( 3DX-700029 )
Customer Review: 6DOF is SO fun!
Summary: 5 Stars
I am really enjoying this product, I feel it was affordable, and I recommend it. I use SpaceNavigator for solid modeling in SolidWorks2008.
It took about 10 minutes to get a hand feedback feel for 'flying-through-space'. It took a couple hours before I felt I could control my model views faster with SpaceNavigator than with my 2D mouse.
CON: After using the gizmo for a few weeks I find it a dubious claim that it increases productivity at all. I did not buy this product expecting this to be a productivity booster.
CON: The driver and control panel software are esoteric, but when I put a quarter on the left side of my monitor, a coke can on the right, and pray to the correct hindu god, it works!
PRO: Nevertheless it is REALLY fun to use and superior for presenting and inspecting models in groups. I have also found it improves the look of screen capture demo videos. I can make the model dance and float with the music, it adds a nice flourish here and there that breaks the monotony of an instructional demo.
For the price I recommend this to any solid modeler. I hope to see more applications using this device. I hope to watch this product line evolve and improve as competitors enter the market.
Customer Review: Less than I expected.
Summary: 3 Stars
I am a professional photographer and I spend many hours using Photoshop to retouch pictures. I don't do much with 3D programs so this item turned out to be a disappointment for me. I expected it to be fully customizable like my Logitech keyboard where I can assign key presses to any action. This device has drivers for various programs and what they do is basically what you get. You can define actions for side buttons but NOT for the action of the main control knob. The driver for Photoshop CS4 is very crude and works in a jerky fashion... not at all like the smooth action of the CS3 driver. It makes it hard to control zooms and pans precisely. I hardly use the device at all since the custom keys on my keyboard are much more useful than the actions of this device (since I don't use the 3D part of Photoshop). When I fire up Google Earth, I can see how cool it is to use the device to navigate around in a 3D space but I don't do that very often. I wish I could assign the twisting motion to make Photoshop rotate images, but there is no way to do that. I'm sure that this is a great tool for people doing CAD or other 3D modeling... but it's not for me, a hardcore Photoshop retoucher.Customer Review: My Boss is impressed
Summary: 4 Stars
Once I saw this product I couldn't stop thinking about how much it would make my life better (at work/school) when doing 3D modeling. I am all about innovative input methods. I purchased this model to try out the 6 axis of movement concept and I love it! At work I am able to fly around and walk through our 3D models to get a better idea of the spaces we are creating in our architecture. I primarily use this device with SketchUp where it is especially handy for navigating tight interior spaces and getting a good view of the piece I am working on. My boss is even impressed as to the things I can do with it and enjoys seeing the model move around the screen in such a fluid manor.
The only negative things I have to say about it are: 1. I have issues with the device sliding a small bit on my desk when pushing it to the limits in any direction. 2. I should have sprung for one of the models that includes programmable buttons because I still have to move my hand from the device to the keyboard very often negating some of the efficiency gained. 3. There are some minor aspects of the software it comes with that I find lacking but perhaps that will change.
Customer Review: Flimsy & inconvenient
Summary: 2 Stars
[...]Pro:
* It indeed feels cool to control Google Earth with it.
* To a degree, senses your force, i.e. the further you push the knob, the faster the object on the screen moves, although the gradations are few.
Contra:
* It feels very flimsy. I'm afraid it would break in no time.
* It is VERY HARD to make it do precisely what you want. For example, when you try to pan, you will eventually fall into tilting, even though you didn't mean to. Tilting similarly tends to turn into zooming, and so on.
* The springs are too tight. After just about 10 minutes, my muscles are aching.
* The device isn't supported "natively". As you know, you can plug in any mouse, joystick, keyboard, etc., and Windows will recognize the device and make use of it immediately. Not with this one, it requires software download (the CD has obsolete version)
* That software download size is ENORMOUS!!! 100+ Mb!!! Come on guys, the whole 3D Studio package took less than that a couple years ago, but 100MB for a freaking DRIVER??? You oughtta be kidding.
So all in all, you better buy a 6-axis joystick.
Customer Review: 3DConnexion - The Spaced out Navigator
Summary: 1 Stars
Ok, My review of this product is going to be very brief. If you are looking to purchase the SpaceNavigator for ONLY SUPPORTED 3D applications which you can find located on their website [....] then great. If you are looking, as I was to use this as a Jog Wheel for video editing or even to load the software as an assignable joystick port, then stay away from this product.
The developers for years have yet to release an "Assignable" driver for this product. Users of the forums have developed their own which is not Windows authorized and cannot be loaded onto your Vista machine without serious hacking. The list of applications this item supports is impressive for those into ONLY 3D Modeling but absolutely worthless to everyone else.
I would check to see for other options.
Overall the equipment itself is sleek, nice but doesn't weigh enough for pull options. The problem is, I purchased this to use with Adobe After Effects and Vegas Pro as a Video Jog Wheel. However, the drivers do not support these applications so all I have now is a $[....] paperweight.