With the rise and rise of console gaming, there isn't an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 player who doesn't feel at home punching the buttons and triggers on their controller. So when the same gamers wanted to try out the joys of PC gaming, the manufacturers obliged by producing gamepads designed along the same lines, so they wouldn't feel lost figuring out combinations of keypads and mice.

Saitek has been at the forefront of PC gaming peripherals for some time and its latest forays into this area have produced the P3200 Rumble and the Cyborg Rumble. Both are designed to support both classic PC gamepad configurations and Microsoft's new Xbox 360 controller standard (although it's virtually identical to the PS3 controller) but the Cyborg contains extra features like an FPS button for shooter lovers and Precision Mode to decrease sensitivity.

Being the cheaper of the two options, the P3200 Rumble doesn't have those specialist features. It does, though, feel comfortable in the hand and have a classic layout with two quick-fire shoulder buttons, two analogue triggers, an 8-way D-pad, two analogue joysticks and six responsive buttons (including Back and Start). There's five feet of cable, which is better suited to those with USB 2.0 ports at the front of the PC; otherwise you might need to buy an extension.

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The installation CD includes both the driver and the Saitek Smart Technology (SST) software that enables you to adjust all the programming options. You'll be pleased to hear that the software supports Windows XP, XP64 and Windows Vista so you won't have to do any partitioning of operating systems to make use of the controller.

Saitek's Immersion rumble technology can be felt as soon as you arrive at the test page, where each button lights up on the corresponding diagram as you press it, accompanied by some rousing, earth-shattering effects ranging from chainsaws and car engines to heartbeats and rotor blades. The 'force' page will allow you to increase or decrease the strength of the rumble and further tweaking can be done to deadzones on the analogue sticks and triggers.

If the game you're playing has support for gamepads then you may not need to make use of the SST programming software, but if it doesn't then this is invaluable as the instructions are clearly laid out with illustrations on how to marry up functions between gamepad buttons and keyboard assigns, including using both shift buttons and creating macros.

A solid, reasonably-priced PC gamepad with excellent rumble effects and easy to use, versatile programming software. It should be an ideal complement to PC gaming for console fans.