The first thing I can say for the Thrustmaster unit is that it has a logical button layout and design. Where I found the Saitek remote solid-feeling and more stylish, Saitek dropped the ball bigtime when they mapped the buttons. Menu choices are made with a small, offset button that isn't even labelled correctly. Thrustmaster did things right, following the idea that it's not smart to make people hunt for buttons in the dark. A clump of directional buttons on the front-center make navigating menus easy, and smack in the middle of four directionals is a Select button. This makes running through DVD menus or CD song-lists a breeze. Playback buttons including search features, live on the bottom of the remote, while buttons on top and each side control fine tuning of audio, titles and moving between high-level DVD menus. Buttons are consistently sized and shaped, which doesn't help much for tactile recognition, but placement really is everything in my book.
On the PS2 side, we have something interesting. Instead of deciding between pass-through port or nothing, Thrustmaster chose a sort of compromise. A base unit, which serves as storage for the remote when not in use, also has the infrared receiver and two plugs. One plug goes to the Controller 1 port, and the other plug serves to route controller input when the remote isn't being used. The stand itself doesn't rest far from the PS2, but the extension plug gives you another foot or so on the controller. The combination remote port and extension cord is kind of cool, but where to place the stand is the question. One last piece of goods, a soft rubber skin that goes around the controller, was split when I took mine out of the package. Mostly this looks like a design flaw, and the skin is barely useful in any event. The remote functions fine without it. Batteries are included, and response for the unit seemed fine.
