Ahh, joysticks. What an interesting subject.
I used to have a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro. It has a solid base, great grip, superior button layout and crappy electronics.
Seriously, it would have been a killer stick. But, Logitech apparently decided to go cheap on internal parts, which has caused quite many of these sticks starting to have anomalous behaviour after some time of use (varies). Mine was absolutely great during the first months. Then it started to lose calibration after a few minutes of play, the problem gradually worsening. The feel was gone, the deadzone grow fast and re-plugging it only helped a few minutes (at best). For example, y-axis lost some 80-90% of it's negative portion - so that even ven you pulled the stick back all the way, it only sent a 10-20% signal to comp, causing only very little pitching up. Additionally, the z-axis (handle rotation) usually also lost some 60-70% of its right portion in a similar way - causing the rudder only function properly on left side. It sucked. So, when the x-axis ALSO started having these symptoms I decided to get a new stick.
I bought a Saitek Cyborg Evo. It has a little less solid base, practically three less of useable buttons, good, but not so great grip, and superior feeling caused by primary quality electronics. Plus, the throttle control is awesome. The handle adjustments are of course handy, but practically the only one having any real meaning is the wrist rest adjustment that can be set for left-handed also. Though it has to be said that the mentioned wrist support should be a bit wider IMO; the edge of my palm would sit more comfortably on right where the edge of the support piece.
So, it doesn't sit into hand as well as Logitech, but as far as I'm concerned, that doesn't help much if the stick doesn't work properly. It's not much use if all you can do is to keep it in hand and admire its feel...
The Saitek has been in use soon about 4 months, thus far I have had no problems whatsoever. The thing has been plugged onto my computer ever since; I have had no need to even re-plug (re-calibrate) the device. Installing it was easy. Very easy.
And, the lights are cool, too.
Anyway, I like using the joystick and mouse in conjunction, actually. Practically I use mouse for slow battle or accurate shots and joystick in more hectic dogfight.
Sometimes I grab the stick with left hand and take care of movement with it and aim more accurately with mouse simultaneously.
Talk about weird preferences, eh?