Joysticks

[Guest]

The article "Joysticks For Flight Simulation Using A Lever To Fly A Plane!" is the first bad article I've ever seen at THG. It's obvious that very little research was done before writting the article.

Here's a list of the things that bugged me most:

- I would like to have seen some CH Products. CH has made some of the best sticks ever, and deserves some good press to help them market their very high quality products.

- Somthing incredibly important but not mentioned is that The Sidewinder Precision 2 can't be used by people with large hands - it would be imposible to press button 2.

- Regarding the Logitech Extreme Digital 3D, my heart stoped when I read "Nor is there anything bad to say about the rudder function." The rudder action is extreemly problematic on this stick. Many people complain about it on the web however, Logitech denies any issues. Although they will send you a new stick if you complain about it, but you better hope the new stick doesn't also have the problem.
The problem is noticable when calibrating the rudder. As you move the rudder left anr right, the input is twitchy. Somtimes very twitchy.
You can disable the rudder using a screwdriver, but you'd probably only want to if you have rudder peddals. In order to calibrate the stick, you must enable the rudder. Unfortunatly the screw is very hard to turn on all Sidewinders, and since the screw is made of plastic, the screwdriver will quickly destroy the screw.

Overall, I'd like to comment that the contents of the article concentrates mostly on the simplicity of use of the sticks rather than actual features or performance. On such grounds I suggest the article be renamec "Joysticks for Dummies."

Any other opinions?

caladai

 

[Guest]

I cannot agree more - I have always considered this site to be competent and accurate - so not this time, but perhaps for another reason than yours.

However, the incompetence of the writer is disclosed on the first page:
"For starters, we rejected anything that moved or vibrated randomly in all directions. These "power" effects have never been much use in flight simulators; in fact, they are more of a handicap than anything else, because they make it all the more difficult to guide the joystick with precision. We'll be doing a comparison study of these jittering and vibrating levers at a later stage, for the benefit of fans who still prefer the 'live' stick."

The writer is obviously unaware of the fact that a ForceFeedback joystick only performs exactly what the program tells it to. The above quotation gives the impression that the FF Joystick has a life of it's own. Not so.
I wouldn't give up my MS Sidewinder FF2 for anything when flying, for instance, MS Flight Simulator. How would I tell when the wheels of my 747 touches down if I didn't have the feeling and response in the joystick? It would be like running a hot knife through butter, and a precision landing with a smooth touchdown would be almost impossible.

No, this so-called evaluation is without value since it has faulty and incompetent input values. And, just in flightsim, it ends with a crash.

/ Johan

 

[Guest]

I have to agree, with the last statement particularly - simplicity appeared to be what the reviewer was looking for in the sticks, rather than functionality. I thought the Saitek, in particular, got a hard time - considering it's price point, and the sheer amount of programming options available, this stick should have scored far higher - it's only significant competitors retail for much, much more - and for complex simulations, this kind of HOTAS is very much the way to go.

I've owned the X-36, the X-45's predecessor for over a year now, and I'm very pleased with it indeed. Assuing that what I've heard about the X-45 (that it's basically a repaint of the X-36) is true, I'd say;

The tricky programming interface described in the article amounts largely to clicking on a picture of the stick and hitting the key combination you want to be assigned. You can go into assigning cycling commands, changing repeat delays etc, but there is no need to, and on my version at least, these "advanced" options aren't the first thing presented to you by the interface.

Ergonomically, I find the stick to be fine - the "unusual contortions" said to be required to reach some of the buttons I find to be movements of, at most, half a centimetre from the natural resting position on the stick. Given the programming options, it's quite possible to assign the buttons you find hard to reach to lesser used functions.

I found the comments on the missile launch button odd too - on the X-36, the "cover" doesn't have to be moved at all (flipping it up makes the button "safe")- assuming that to be the same on the X-45 (which, afaik is just an X-36 in new clothes) I don't really see how the cover could be much of a hindrance. And the objections to the mode switch seemed petty - I've found it to be a useful function in most simulations of modern aircraft - one mode for navigation, one for A-A combat, one for A-G, or whatever - the advantages seem to outweigh the disadvantages.

The point about drivers may be fair (I don't own any other Saitek gear, so I don't know) but to be honest, the rest of the article seems so determined to dislike the X-45, I found it hard to trust the assertions made.