Joysticks?

[Beirut]

Let us know when you've got it. Always happy to hear reviews.

[hoom]

I still have my M$ precision 2, haven't been using it much & the #1 button hasn't been working properly from the start but it works ok for me.
Must say, chances are its replacement will be a variant of Cyborg, they are very nice.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

That spring at the base of the stick looks fragile. Any problems with it, guys? I have a Logitech Wingman which is amazing except the twist axis is screwy, making it very difficult to play some games, especially older ones like Tie Fighter that don't let you disable the axis.

[/Resurrection]

[Beirut]

It's a very well made flightstick. Not fragile at all. I've had no problems with mine.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

The stick is pretty robust, you don't need to take any extra precautions with it.

One of my friends has bought a HOTAS joystick of some sort from Saitek, I'm probably going to pick it up for a test-drive while he's away, so I'll give a full review after I've tried it out.

[Beirut]

One of my friends has bought a HOTAS joystick of some sort from Saitek, I'm probably going to pick it up for a test-drive while he's away, so I'll give a full review after I've tried it out.

Looking forward to it.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

Okay I've had the joystick for about two days and have gotten some time in with it, so I'll give you a preliminary review.

It is a refurbished Saitek X52 http://www.saitekusa.com/usa/prod/x52.htm

I don't have enough time with it to really dig into the more complex feature like the three modes you can switch between on the fly, or the game profiles that you can create, but that's all icing.

The stick itself is very well made, though it was a bit uncomfortable at first. I really like how the trigger can be puchsed down part way and all the way for two different functions. I use the first one for machine guns and the second for guns and cannon and it works quite well. Also the stick is very stable and I think it is better for precision gunnery than my Cyborg Evo. The safety cover for the button I use for bombs is also a nice touch, it feels really good to lift it as I'm diving in for the kill, drop the bombs and then flick it back when I'm done. The layout of some of the buttons is a little bit funky, and I can never imagine using the ones on the base because they just aren't handy if you have one hand on the stick and the other on the throttle, but someone with more HOTAS experience may find some use for them, or they could be good for things such as flaps and gear. Hmmm other thoughts on the actual joystick....Not too much else yet I guess, after a while it begins to get really comfortable and feels really real I guess. I guess what makes it more real is that it has raised buttons rather than flat ones.

On to the Throttle thingy. This part of the HOTAS rig is a bit less comfortable, and the position of some of the buttons and dials seems quite odd, but that is probably just because I am on my second day with it. The throttle bit itself is very comfortable (if you don't try to reach for buttons or anything) and moves very smoothly. Many of the buttons are very conveniently placed, but those on the back side of the of the rig are hard to reach, for now, and no I don't have tiny hands, they just aren't positioned in a particularly natural spot for me at this point, though that would probably change if I had a lot of time with it. It also has a nifty little stick that functions as a mouse, but it moves the screen (the look feature in IL-2) so slowly that I usually just reached for my trackball mouse when I wanted to look out the side to survey the damage I'd done.

That's it for now I'll post again either tonight (it is a wee bit past midnight here) or Sunday (when I must return it) to let you know if I've acclimated to it anymore, or have anything else to share about it.