Question good, low price joysticks?

[zeldafan156]

hi, i bought a joystick a while ago(months) and i was thinking of a new one,the slider is starting go out and the stick itself is weird, it like, goes half way, then stops, then requires MORE strength to pull back further, im not sure if this is normal as this is my first stick, anyway, im looking for a good, durable joystick for around 60 and under. im looking at this... but people are sayng it has calibration problems (http://www.google.com/products/cata...og_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDcQ8wIwAw#)

and this is what i have (http://www.google.com/products/cata...og_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CFsQ8wIwAQ#)

by the way i need this for COMBAT SIMS like il-2,lock on, ect, oh and please share anny sticks you use yourself, thanks

 

[Hielor]

I use the Logitech Extreme 3D Pro, and haven't had any issues with it. It's a good stick for the money.

 

[zeldafan156]

I use the Logitech Extreme 3D Pro, and haven't had any issues with it. It's a good stick for the money.

are you sure? what are you using it in?, because my friend even says his plane is always tilting to the left in il-2,and hese sure its not prop torque

 

[Unstung]

The Logitech Extreme 3D Pro is good, except that I started encountering rudder problems after 1-2 years. Still lasts long. Then I switched to the Thrustmaster T Flight Hotas X, heh. There's also the Saitek Aviator which I'd recommend.

 

[Hielor]

are you sure? what are you using it in?, because my friend even says his plane is always tilting to the left in il-2,and hese sure its not prop torque

I've used it in FSX, IL-2 1946, X-Plane, and a few others, and I've never noticed a problem.

Does your friend have a problem in any other game?

The Logitech Extreme 3D Pro is good, except that I started encountering rudder problems after 1-2 years. Still lasts long. Then I switched to the Thrustmaster T Flight Hotas X, heh. There's also the Saitek Aviator which I'd recommend.

Don't get the Aviator. It hasn't received very good reviews, and some design decisions on it are just "wtf" (like the throttles being in the front).

 

[hribek]

You could also build your own...

 

[zeldafan156]

I've used it in FSX, IL-2 1946, X-Plane, and a few others, and I've never noticed a problem.

Does your friend have a problem in any other game?


Don't get the Aviator. It hasn't received very good reviews, and some design decisions on it are just "wtf" (like the throttles being in the front).

strange maby your lucky lol, i mean every site i go to, threes reviews all on the same problem, it going bad and you apparently not having the ability to calibrate it

 

[Hielor]

strange maby your lucky lol, i mean every site i go to, threes reviews all on the same problem, it going bad and you apparently not having the ability to calibrate it

Maybe I am lucky...I've had the thing for well over a year now, and I don't know how long the guy before me had it. I guess it might depend on how you treat the thing, I'm not very rough with it.

 

[halcyon]

I have a CH Fighterstick that's just sitting in my closet.
I also have CH pedals to go with it. Going to be moving within a month so I have to get rid of it.
If you're interested send me a PM.

 

[deltawing777]

I use the Logitech Extreme 3D Pro, and haven't had any issues with it. It's a good stick for the money.

No offence hielor but please DO NOT buy this joystick. I have 2 of them also.(one for me one for my son) It sucks in battlefield,arma2,Battelfield bad company 2. Its very "glitchy", and the logitech profiler mapping software sucks.I wouldn't recommend this joystick to anybody. I would recommend going to newegg dot com and reading thier reviews on joysticks and making a decision based on that. Just my 2 cents

 

[Hielor]

No offence hielor but please DO NOT buy this joystick. I have 2 of them also.(one for me one for my son) It sucks in battlefield,arma2,Battelfield bad company 2. Its very "glitchy", and the logitech profiler mapping software sucks.I wouldn't recommend this joystick to anybody. I would recommend going to newegg dot com and reading thier reviews on joysticks and making a decision based on that. Just my 2 cents

- I've never used the logitech profiler software.
- The games you've listed aren't exactly the pinnacle of flight simming.

We've already established that I'm apparently extremely lucky when it comes to this stick. I'd still personally recommend it, because I've had nothing but good experiences with it.

That said, I agree with reading online reviews of sticks before deciding on which one to get.

 

[Dambuster]

Eugh...IL-2

And I've always used a Saitek Cyborg Evo (it worked well for about 4 years) and now I'm using a Saitek X-52. I had a few teething troubles with the X-52, but once I hooked it up to a powered USB hub, all worked well. If you decide to get one of those, let me know - I'll show you one or two tips on how to make it a bit more reliable.

Also, whatever joystick you do get: when you use it, try not to let the weight of you arm press down on it - that will wear it out over time.

 

[dutchpirate]

Another vote for the Saitek Aviator. All the extra toggles on the base and three modes to choose from give you LOTS of config options. Flying the XR-2, I have Atmospheric, SCRAM, and space modes. Dual throttles is nice too, main/hover or main/retro are what I usually use, although left/right mains would be fun to play with. Twist yaw control as well and under $40 on Amazon.

 

[n122vu]

Eugh...IL-2

And I've always used a Saitek Cyborg Evo (it worked well for about 4 years) and now I'm using a Saitek X-52. I had a few teething troubles with the X-52, but once I hooked it up to a powered USB hub, all worked well. If you decide to get one of those, let me know - I'll show you one or two tips on how to make it a bit more reliable.

Also, whatever joystick you do get: when you use it, try not to let the weight of you arm press down on it - that will wear it out over time.

I have the X-52 & have no qualms with it. What teething troubles did you have, and what difference did you notice with the powered USB hub? Also interested in the reliability tips...

ty,

n122vu

 

[deltawing777]

- I've never used the logitech profiler software.
- The games you've listed aren't exactly the pinnacle of flight simming.

We've already established that I'm apparently extremely lucky when it comes to this stick. I'd still personally recommend it, because I've had nothing but good experiences with it.

That said, I agree with reading online reviews of sticks before deciding on which one to get.

Ok let me be a little more precise. The joystick is very "glitchy" and isnt mapped very well in FSX with PMDG addons and accelerator nor does it work very well in X-plane either. In orbiter its so "glitchy" Im lucky if while even using the "twist" of the handle I can get it to go down the runway straight. It jumps all over the place. This being out of the box new and Both joysticks did it. And yes Hielor you must be an exception to the norm. :tiphat:

 

[Ripley]

A very good cost/quality joystick is the Thrustmaster T16000M.
CH is one of the top brands though not the cheapest, go for it if you can afford it.

I have a Thrustmaster Cougar, still going strong, bought from SimWare.
http://www.simw.com/sfr/hardware.html?cat=41&dir=desc

 

[Zatnikitelman]

To help rescue Hielor, I too have had very good experiences with the Logitech Extreme 3d Pro. I have however started noticing the twist-axis problems, but only here lately. I've had this particular one for at least 3 years now (maybe more?) and went through two others both of which met with untimely bounds-exceeding accidents rather than failure on their own. I may try to replace the potentiometer to see if that's the problem, but usually unplugging it and replugging it back in helps greatly. But yes, I too would recommend the 3d Pro, it's a very sturdy joystick and offers very good response.

 

[zeldafan156]

No offence hielor but please DO NOT buy this joystick. I have 2 of them also.(one for me one for my son) It sucks in battlefield,arma2,Battelfield bad company 2. Its very "glitchy", and the logitech profiler mapping software sucks.I wouldn't recommend this joystick to anybody. I would recommend going to newegg dot com and reading thier reviews on joysticks and making a decision based on that. Just my 2 cents

does the fact that battlefield isn't a flight Sim have anything to do with it?

 

[Dambuster]

I have the X-52 & have no qualms with it. What teething troubles did you have, and what difference did you notice with the powered USB hub? Also interested in the reliability tips...

ty,

n122vu

Initially, I had problems with it intermittently cutting out (I've heard that the lights and MFD on it draw a lot of power), but after I got a powered USB hub, these stopped. At one point before I got the powered USB hub, I had one or two BSODs due to the stick drawing too much power (at least I think that's the reason), but they didn't happen at all after I got it.

Also, the stick has a cable that runs between the throttle and stick unit. This has a very irritating tendency to come loose, which causes it to uncalibrate (VERY annoying...I've lost countless dogfights because of that one). The best workaround I know of is to use a pair of pliers to make the ends of the connecting cable into an oval shape instead. Here's a graphic I made a while ago for someone else about this:

Since then I've also realised that you can use needlenose pliers on the inside of the metal ring, to force it to spread out a bit more. That should be better than what's shown in the diagram. Also, you only need to do that by a few fractions of a millimeter. It won't solve the problem 100% of the time, but it was definitely good enough for what I needed.

Overall, I'd say the X-52 is an excellent stick. Make sure you get a warranty with it, just in case something goes wrong, but for it's price category it has several excellent functions.

 

[Tex]

I use the Logitech Extreme 3D Pro, and haven't had any issues with it. It's a good stick for the money.

:hesaid:

I owned my first one for 2 years before needing to replace it, but it was cheap for lasting 2 years! On my second one now, close to 2 years again and it's still going strong. If you're looking for a cheap solution that works, I too recommend this joystick. I use it for Orbiter and FSX primarily.