The instructions are pretty straight forward. It involves installing the drivers from the CD-Rom first, then plugging in the Pro Gamer. The software supports Windows 2k and Windows XP (32 and 64bit).

Once the software has finished installing and finding the device, it will start up the profile program. If you are lazy, you can visit Saitek's website to download pre-made profiles. They include some FPS games like Call of Duty and Doom 3 and some RTS games like Rome: Total War and Dungeon Siege 2. You can quickly switch between profile modes by flipping the mode switch in the upper left.

In the dark, the keys light up red, green or blue depending on the mode you select.

Programming your profile is pretty straight forward. Once the program is started, click on each button and then press the corresponding key on your keyboard. You can also program one key to perform multiple actions.

After using it a bit to play Counter Strike, one major downfall of game oriented keypads is the inability to communicate with anyone else on the server. To do so, I'd have to whip my old keyboard around to type a message out to my teammates. Of course, this can be remedied by using a voice service like Ventrilo. However, that can get annoying on a public server; not everyone wants to hear your voice while playing.

The ability to adjust the thumb pad is useful as not all thumbs are created equal. However, after long use my hand did ache a bit due to the arch design. I also found the top row of keys (17-20) were a bit hard to reach during intense gameplay.

Overall, if you have the extra cash to spend, then this may prove to be a fun gadget to own. I still prefer the wide range of options provided by a conventional keyboard.

Thanks to CrazyPC for sending over this sample!