[Grizzly]

You see, I am done twiddling with serail connection joysticks and very old soundcards. I want a good joystick. So I am going to need your recommendations

Some hints:
I'm rather heavy handed.
I am right-handed
I live in a rural area, far away from any shops that sells these things, so I've got to order one.

So. Any recomendations?

[Herra Tohtori]

Budget? Purpose? Will you need twist handle rudder or are you planning on getting rudder pedals as well?

From cheaper to more expensive (based on Finnish prices):

Saitek Cyborg Evo

Thrustmaster T.Flight HOTAS X

Saitek Cyborg Evo X

Thrustmaster T.16000M

Saitek X52 HOTAS

Thrustmaster HOTAS Cougar

CH Products


Whatever you settle on, my recommendation is not to get a Logitech stick...

[Dilmah G]

Amen. My personal recommendation is the Cyborg Evo. Just go easy on the trigger.

[chief1983]

If you want to ebay for one, I recommend a Microsoft Sidewinder Precision Pro for a one stick solution (make sure it's the model that comes with the USB adapter, the first gen won't work with any adapters) or the Saitek X45, their premier HOTAS before the X52.  The X45 has a rocker switch on the throttle for rudder axis instead of a twist stick, which I prefer but not everyone agrees with that.

[Nuke]

go with the cougar or ch. x52 is ok, but its more looks than function in my opinion. oh and the cougar is total metal construction, so you can abuse it without ****ing it up. i lean to ch, because it has really good configuration software.

[chief1983]

Yeah CH wins hands down, unless money is an object

[Herra Tohtori]

Thats' why I put it last on the list...

[colecampbell666]

How much money do you have? I'd suggest the EVO Force, or thge Cyborg X. NEVER GET A LOGITECH.

[Ziame]

NEVER GET A LOGITECH.

Why? I've got Logitech stick and i'm very content about it

[Akalabeth Angel]

Yeah what's wrong with Logitech? I've been using the same wingman since FS2 came out or even before that

[Herra Tohtori]

I've had three Logitech sticks (Extreme 3DPro, Force 3DPro, Force3D. All of them showed same symptoms of inaccuracy and axial corruption.

Opened them up in frustration and compared their innards to Saitek's ones.

This is what I found. Saitek's pot on the left, Logitech's "pot" on the right...

[Nuke]

from my x52 exploratory i found that it used hall sensors instead of pots, but made a big mistake by placing it on a rack and pinion ger train which looked kinda loose. good idea, bad implementation. though i heard later models and the pro version got around that problem. either way switched over to ch and really dont have any plans to switch back. but i might give the cougar a try if i ever come into an excess of money.

[Mongoose]

It's a damn shame that no one else ever followed the old MS Sidewinder way of doing things.  Optical sensors for the win.

[colecampbell666]

About Logitechs, I had three go to **** on me within days of buying them. A Force 3D and two Wingman Attack 2's.

[Nuke]

It's a damn shame that no one else ever followed the old MS Sidewinder way of doing things.  Optical sensors for the win.

i kinda liked those sensors, they were very precise and gave a nice smooth reading. also its the only joystick i remember seeing surface mount electronics in. my sidwinder force feedback was a good controller certainly worth what i spent on it.

[chief1983]

What's sad is even MS cheaped with the Sidewinder 2 stuff.  The Precision 2 has a notorious problem of static building causing it to fail intermittently, until it's unplugged long enough to discharge.  This problem is far worse than it ever was on the Sidewinder 1, even the one with the USB adapter.  I've got both, so I can speak from experience on this even though it may sound copied from the Wiki article.

[Mongoose]

I'm just glad that my old 3D Pro is still alive and kicking, and even gladder that a crazy awesome member of the Descent community designed and manufactured a custom gameport-to-USB controller for it.  I can get by with my Cyborg Evo in FS, but I need that 3D Pro for Descent.

[QuantumDelta]

As much as it seems to be against the advice here, stay away from the Saitek series.
I have a Cyborg Evo and honestly the keyboard is a thousand times better.
I've used other joysticks (I can't speak for the x52) and seriously the original sidewinder wipes the floor with the Cyborg series (*Having trouble remembering any of the other names though, one of them was FREAKISHLY expensive too, looked like it had been taken out of a bleeding space fighter cockpit, or a tank, or something, but it was seriously heavy duty, must have cost him a bomb had like, 3 banks excluding the main stick, with switches and all sorts of **** on (+thruster + some LED panel he used for some other flightsim), ridiculous setup, wonder if I still have some pics from my visit).


But yea, Cyborg series TERRIBAD.

[chief1983]

Glad I'm not the only one not a fan of their mainstream sticks.

[Herra Tohtori]

Glad I'm not the only one not a fan of their mainstream sticks.

They have their faults, but they have a very good price/quality ratio.

Personally I have removed all center springs from my cyborg evo and it improved significantly with that simple action.