The layout of the Keypad is tidy and easy to find your way around. As you’d expect the full QWERTY layout is there, along with Shift, Caps Lock, Escape and arrow keys. Shoulder buttons provide alternative characters (punctuation marks and so on) and alternative functions (like making the left/right keys act as up/down). There’s also three Keypad-exclusive hotkeys, two of which let you access your messages or friends list with a single button-press. The third activates the touchpad function, which turns every QWERTY key into a laptop-style mousepad.

Using the Keypad is peasy, unless you have seriously pudgy fingers. I’ve also found the buttons are lacking in tactile feedback; sometimes you’re not sure whether the buttons are actually being pressed as they lack a decent ‘click’, and since you’re often looking down at the pad when you’re typing you’ll only find that you’ve made a mistake after you’ve finished writing. And you have to correct it with the slightly cumbersome arrow keys.

Other flaws are rife but minor: it charges through its own USB slot, so you can’t charge it while charging your controller. What’s more, the touchpad is simply useless. After you’ve calibrated it using the two shoulder buttons (RTFM springs to mind here) it’s useable enough, but even then the controller’s own left/right stick combo is fine for scrolling and navigation.

Apart from these tiny flaws, it’s great to use, comfortable, and – touchpad aside – practical. It’s perhaps not as easy to use as a proper keyboard, but if you don’t have one available to use then it’s a viable alternative. It’s better than typing with the PS3′s on-screen keyboard and it’s worth the purchase alone for that. For applications such as Home it’s essential gear, as you can’t see what everybody else is saying when typing with the on-screen keyboard.

Worth the purchase then? If you don’t have a keyboard already, then yes. Otherwise, it’s simply a novelty for a few minutes and then nothing more.

For more shots of the Wireless Keypad, check out our Flickr gallery!

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