Issues with your account? Bug us in the Discord!
Joystick recommendations?
Biggles
<font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
in Zocalo v2.0
I'm in the market for a new joystick, having decided to retire my MS Sidewinder Precision Pro (even though it still functions perfectly) and get a force feedback stick. What's a good stick to get? I need lots of buttons (the precision pro has 9), 4 axes (including throttle), and at least one hat switch.
Comments
Ive got a nice ole Cyborg 3D and it rox
Well, not with force feedback but you really wouldn't want it.... this is stiff enough without it.:D
Thats tweaking a partial file recovery in my memory... but I'll be damned if I can put the peices back... this is supposed to be funny right ? a literary reference ??
Back on topic here:
Stay clear of any MS joystick. They all have breaking-hat-switch-itus. I'd look to see if you can find a Logitech Wingman Strike Force 3D. (force feedback, two hat switches, and 10 buttons...if you consider that the scrolling wheel on the base as 3 in one) I've been using this stick for the last three years and I've never had a problem with it. Ever. You don't even need to install the Wingman software as XP detects everything just fine on its own.
The saitek one that SB mentioned also looks quite nice, although the button placement looks a little odd.
I also have had no problems with any generation of MS Force Feedback joysticks. In fact, I find both of them to be really good and comfortable, and very sturdy. Never exactly had a HAT switch break...
However, I would suggest the Saitek X45. It doesn't have FF, but boy, does it have everything else. :D
I'd still like to get an Act Labs Force RS Racing wheel with the GPL Shifter... Nothing like a 6-speed manual shifter combined with the best FF Wheel made by mankind.
The good Saitek stuff is amidextrous, and configuarable as stated. It's great for my big blacksmiths mitts...thats why it looks kinda odd because its made from alot of movable/removable components.
Saiteks service is good too.. I broke a trigger (my fault, it dropped off the desk at a bad angle) and I rang the local agent and they sent me a replacement without much fuss.
Well, I also have a question regarding a joystick for my Notebook: No FF, but three axes, coolie hat and a thrust switch for a low price (around 30 Euro).
I have focused on a Saitek Cyborg evo, USB. Has anybody experience with it?
[B]force feedback has been linked to bad joint health and RSI type stuff... I'd avoid it.[/B][/QUOTE]
Yeah, and so has typing, and so has walking down the damn street. It's not like I plan on using it 8 hours a day 7 days a week. I use my joystick for about the time it takes to play through Freespace 2 once a year along with the occasional flight in flightsim as it is. I just want to have a nice joystick with force feedback for when I do use it.
The force feedback version of the joystick I told you about on irc, the Wingman Extreme.
Worf
[B]I have focused on a Saitek Cyborg evo, USB. Has anybody experience with it? [/B][/QUOTE]
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Bekenn [/i]
[B]I got two Cyborg Evos[/B][/QUOTE]
They're quite good, a definite improvement over, for instance, the Wingman Extreme (my previous joystick), with much smoother movement and better feel in general. The base takes some getting used to, and the throttle is located at the very rear, but this works fine provided you have the stick directly in front of you. The handle is completely adjustable, works great for both right- and left-handed folk. I preferred the button arrangement on the Wingman Extreme, but that arrangement couldn't have worked on an ambidextrous joystick. Once you get used to not hitting three of the thumb buttons by accident, it works well enough.
especially considering youre a programmer and you spend most of your waking hours in front of a screen.
There's only so much you can do with voice activation, (as yet anyways).
As an aside, if you are a geek, that also means by default you dont have much luck with the ladies, ergo... you need atleast one functioning wrist..:D
Seriously, I doubt RSI would be much of an issue so long as the feedback effect could be toned down as needed or the effects are limited to what one would actually experience when driving or flying a non fly-by-wire aircraft (or a FBW aircraft equipped with some type of feedback system; i.e., a "stick shaker", etc) or any other "real world" situation. I'm not ignoring RSI (I suffer form the occasional aches and pains in my hands & wrists which certainly are due to RSI); I just don't think it should be a reason to avoid certain products (or other things) if one is careful.
[B]...Certainly nowhere near as much of a concern as standard typing. [/B][/QUOTE]
or Spell Checking...
:D
Thanks for your independent opinion. :) I think I'll buy the stick.
@CurZ:
Thx too. I want to use the Saitek for generally games like I-War, LockOn and Söldner.
Well, and nice cat you have (my girlfriend said "süüüüüüßßßß" [engl: sweet] as she watched that scene for the 10th time ;) ).
[B]I've heard good things about the MS sidewinder FF 2. I've also never had any problems at all with the hat switch on my current joystick.[/b][/quote]
You may not have, but many have. Thats the reason why MS got out of the gaming hardware business was because they got so many RMA's on their stuff. For a long time, all you had to do was say "my hat switch broke" and that was all there was to it. You got a new one, no questions asked. It was THAT bad.
[quote][b]The saitek one that SB mentioned also looks quite nice, although the button placement looks a little odd. [/B][/QUOTE]
Personally, I could never use one of their sticks. Not only is the button placement all wrong, but the hat switch is always too high to be comfortable to use. (and yes, I do have large hands. I've got the longest fingers of anyone alive in my family.)
...lemme guess, you played with it in the store and formed an instant opinion..:D
[B@CurZ:
Well, and nice cat you have (my girlfriend said "süüüüüüßßßß" [engl: sweet] as she watched that scene for the 10th time ;) ). [/B][/QUOTE]
That's Puss-in-Boots from Shrek 2 ;) (though i'd recommend seeing it in anything but german... I've only seen Shrek in english, and the german shrek 2 is just... aargh..)
[B]@CurZ:
Thx too. I want to use the Saitek for generally games like I-War, LockOn and Söldner.
Well, and nice cat you have (my girlfriend said "süüüüüüßßßß" [engl: sweet] as she watched that scene for the 10th time ;) ). [/B][/QUOTE]
I do have one problem with the Saitek, and that's the stiffness of the stick. I find it interferes with the accuracy you might require from flight/space sims. Though it might just be because I've been using CH sticks for a very long time (they're extremely accurate).
Ah yes, Puss in Boots. My wife went crazy about him too ;)
[B]Vert me ole china, did you bother trying to adjust it dude ? you can remove the 'heel' and move it up the joystick shaft so that the hatswitch is well under anyones thumb...
...lemme guess, you played with it in the store and formed an instant opinion..:D [/B][/QUOTE] THE NIMBUS 2000!
[B]Vert me ole china, did you bother trying to adjust it dude ? you can remove the 'heel' and move it up the joystick shaft so that the hatswitch is well under anyones thumb...
...lemme guess, you played with it in the store and formed an instant opinion..:D [/B][/QUOTE]
Yes I did adjust it. I'm not stupid you know.
[B]I do have one problem with the Saitek, and that's the stiffness of the stick.[/B][/QUOTE]
Huh... it seems quite smooth to me, but that might just be because I was using the Wingman before this.
[B]Huh... it seems quite smooth to me, but that might just be because I was using the Wingman before this. [/B][/QUOTE]Good, so I'll get the Saitek b/c I used no CH stick before (I had Logi Wingman and MS SideWinder).