Another strong point of The Claw is the way it works- it is a fully hardware only solution. That means there's no potentially buggy software to fiddle with; it just works. To program one of the buttons you select one of the memory banks (there are two, although I only ever needed one so that's more than enough), flick the “record” switch, press a button on The Claw then press the button you want it to correspond to on the keyboard. In fact it can store a sequence up to 5 keyboard buttons per Claw button- handy for quickly buying your beloved AWP during a Counter Strike game or doing a crouch. It's even simpler than it sounds, and if you had trouble understanding my description of the process then you need help. I even managed to remap half the buttons during a Counter Strike game fast enough so that I didn't get shot and could jump straight back into the game in seconds. The cable plugs into your PS2 (the keyboard port, not the console of course) port although the design unfortunately means that on some machines it will partially block a USB port. It is also PS2 only, so if (like myself) you have a USB keyboard with extra USB ports built in you'll have to have it plugged into a USB port and the PS2 port to work with The Claw while still also working as a mini USB hub.
In action, the Claw performs well. My hands are a touch smaller than most so I had a little trouble pressing two of the thumb buttons, but I could still activate them when needed – I just had to shift my hand forward a bit from its normal position each time and I soon got used to doing this. Otherwise each button was right where it should be – permanently at your fingertips. I've also heard that its comfortable for people with large hands as well as “normal” ones (whatever normal is) so if anything, most people are likely to have a better experience with The Claw than I did. The buttons give a solid click, which is good, but their rugged design does mean they can be a little too hard to press, which could potentially slow your reaction times down fractionally, though personally I found that having to apply relatively firm pressure to each button meant that my hand was a little sore after a lengthy gaming session, but then it often is with a keyboard too. The hardest thing to work out with The Claw is just exactly how to map the buttons, but again, give it time and you'll work out your personal favourite set up. Here's a diagram of what my controls ended up as, mostly for use in Counter Strike, Unreal Tournament and the Team Arena demo (configuration sheet courtesy of Ferraro Designs):
One thing you'll note, and this has been troubling me about The Claw before I laid hands on it – there is no obvious “walk backwards” button. In any FPS game this is crucial and after years using the standard WASD or arrow key configs nothing else feels the same, so it's a little disappointing that it isn't set up with a button behind the middle button to act as a reverse button. I'm sure those who use the right mouse button to move forward won't find this a problem, but personally I did at first. I eventually got used to using my thumb to press the “walk backwards” button though, but having a more obvious “walk backwards” button would've been nice.