joysticks

I really enjoy having this controller attached to my OS X iMac - the blue glow is very cool, and everyone who sees it says "Wow, what's that for?".

However, it's not as useful as I hoped it would be. I like to use iMovie and Final Cut Pro a lot, and hoped that the Powermate would work as a jog-shuttle contoller for quickly selecting frames and edit points. Well, the Powermate control software does allow mapping of keys to the left/right movement of the Powermate, but it's not quite enough to make it super useful. You can't set edit points for example, and the frame advance and rewind isn't very fast or easy to use.

Yes, it does make a great volume control for iTunes. BUT the nature of the Powermate is that it controls either the entire system or a specific application depending on how you have set it up, so it's possible to get confused and start scrolling through a webpage rather than adjusting the volume as expected. And don't forget that iTunes and the computer as a whole have separate volume settings - which one are you adjusting?

After a month or so of use, I find I use the Powermate to do these things:

1. Wake up my iMac when it's in Sleep mode
2. Impress friends with it's pulsing blue glow.
3. Er, that's about it.

It's still cool, but if you want a shuttle controller for video work, buy a dedicated shuttle controller, not the Powermate. If you enjoy having a lump of machined metal that glows on your desk (like I do) the Powermate is still worth getting.

Note: the driver software for the Mac was recently updated to version 1.5, which addresses some issues I listed above. For example, it's possible to make the Powermate ONLY work as a volume control, and avoid some confusing behavior.

This has got to be the coolest thing I have bought in the past year. Beautiful brushed aluminum knob that is just the right size for normal adult human hands. The bottom is a translucent rubberized plastic that does not slip across your work surface when you're turning the knob, but it is easy to move. It's well weighted and it feels sturdy, not like a flimsy piece of plastic.

Two blue LEDs inside give the translucent base a beautiful Mac-esque glow. The Powermate is compatible with Mac OS 9, Mac OS X, Windows XP, Win 2000, Win ME & Win 98.

Great for multi-tasking - use one hand for your mouse, while the other hand spins the knob. The knob can also be 'clicked.'

The Powermate can be programmed (comes with a CD w/ software to program it) to perform varying functions in different programs... from adjusting the volume to scrolling up, down or left, right.

This is a fine piece of industrial art that's also functional. You'll feel like you've traveled forward in time - this is a cool space-age looking doo-dad and it is a very very handy input device.

So many people are probably baffled by this device. They think it is just a knob that does nothing but look cool, but these people are WRONG. You can do so much with this device. It has per-application settings, so you can have one setting for iMovie and another setting for the Finder, etc... You can have this device alter your sound volume, scrub through movies, perform commands. For example, you navigate through your iTunes library. The software is so open-ended, you can have a click simulate a key combo. The software even distinguishes between click and "long click."