Verdict: A great value, comfortable gamepad with forceful rumbling

The P2500 is the more basic sibling of the P3000 and retails at a much more affordable price. The main reason for this is a lack of wireless connection, but the 1.9m cable should be long enough for most rooms. Plus, it has force feedback - something that other similarly priced gamepads can't boast.

Button layout is virtually identical to the P3000, plus it has rubberised grips for coping with those tense, sweaty-palmed moments. However, it differs in that a single button toggles between analog and digital modes (although frustratingly there's no indication of which mode you're in), and there's an extra button to turn force feedback on or off.

Responsiveness and comfort were as good as with the P3000, and the force feedback feels slightly more aggressive than the Logitech Cordless Rumblepad in Need for Speed: Underground. But neither can ever rival a decent force-feedback steering wheel for driving games.

At this price, however, the P2500 is our wired gamepad of choice. The shift button gives much more control than the Logitech Dual Action Gamepad and the addition of force feedback is well worth the extra £1.50. If you don't mind the inconvenience of wires then it really is without equal, especially at just £18.

• Cases - 21st November 2008
• Motherboards - 24th October 2008
• Gaming Headsets - 26th September 2008
• Dream PCs - 24th September 2008
• Headphones - 12th September 2008
• Media PC components - 22nd August 2008
• PSUs - 14th July 2008

• Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB - Hard disks / storage
• Asus EAH4870 TOP - Graphics cards
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro - Sound cards
• Multiwinia - Games
• Zotac GeForce GTX 260² - Graphics cards
• Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2 - Graphics cards
• Scan 3XS X58 Core i7 - Desktop PCs