So I've been looking at getting Freespace 2 (which has had nothing but amazing reviews) but I'm a bit worried that as I only have a laptop and no joystick that the controls won't be as intended. Can anyone tell me if the game is easy enough to play (and still fun) when I have a laptop keyboard and a mouse. I know it's cheap and you're probably all saying "Buy it anyways" but if i'm not gonna enjoy properly because of my keyboard I would rather be buying MDK :P
Thanks in advance!

Not sure if it's any help but the game is definitely playable with mouse/keyboard combo. Even keyboard only for that matter. But your ability to aim precisely would be reduced (compared to joystick). In other words you wouldn't become the best pilot ever but you would still be able to complete the game on lower difficulties. I think the game is good enough to make up for it but then again I could be wrong. Anyway, I personally love Freespace series, so I would recommend it. It has great story and you hardly find better space sim today.
I know. I know. I'm not much of a help :)

Hmm... I've never seen any reason why I should buy a joystick to play space sims :D I had no problems with both Freespaces played with mouse and keyboyard, so it certainly IS very well playable. And ejoyable :-)

Maybe you would enjoy it more with proper gear. You know, the feeling that you're really controlling a plane.. or whatever. But I agree that in these days there's hardly a reason to buy a new joystick. At least all the modern games are easily controlled with mouse. I prefer joystick though, for the "special" feeling that I am a real pilot. Guess I am a bit dreamer too :)

It can. But the movement isn't as fast as it is with an fps. It's based on your current ship's capabilities. You move your mouse and the ship will slowly turn in that direction. It takes same getting used to.

Personally I find a trackball/keyboard setup more precise than a mouse/keyboard or even a joystick setup. Imo it comes down to personal preference and practice.

I tried playing the game with a ps2 controller. Mapped the keys and such in a nice way, but it felt kinda weird since there are a lot of keyboard command. So I just went back to keyboard and mouse with a few changes. So I would say its worth it, been enjoying the game a lot and im gonna get the part 2 also xD.

I've tried the tutorial levels with both mouse+keyboard and joystick+keyboard.
Both are perfectly playable and I had fun with both, though personally I did find the joystick much more intuitive -- with the mouse you do sometimes have to scrub it across the mousepad a bit to do sustained turns, though I guess you would use the keyboard for that. I can see why a trackball might be preferable to a mouse.
I must say I found speed control easier with my joystick's rudder than with mouse+keyboard plus it meant fewer key bindings to memorise. In fact, in general, the joystick means many fewer key bindings to memorise. Maneuvers such as corkscrews, pull-ups and crazy Ivans were also, for me, much more intuitive with the joystick, but I'm sure with practice I could nail them with the keyboard, as I did for X3.
On the other hand, I found precise targeting easier with the mouse than the joystick.
BTW It's worth noting that you have to explicitly enable mouse support in the options: it's off by default and that confused me the first time around.
Hope this helps!
Edit: if you do get a joystick, I'd advise getting one with a twist stick such as the Logitech Extreme 3D Pro. By setting the twist to control roll, you can do corkscrews etc with just the joystick, freeing the other hand for targeting, power management, etc.

Thanks for the tip found it cheap on ebay xD

I'm only playing this with a mouse and it's fine. Set the sensitivity to max and you're sorted.
A joypad or joystick is desirable but not essential to have fun with this game.
Once it's pimped with freespace open it's the best $5.99 I've spent on a game for a long time.