dammit! Dying joystick. What should I replace it with?
 

My Logitech wingman extreme digital is getting sloppy after 4 years of hard use. This was an awesome stick, mainly due to its ergonomics. VERY comfortable to hold for long flying sessions.

Now that it's time to replace, I've decided to go with a force feedback stick. I mainly use the stick for flight simming (I have a wheel for driving). Ideally it would come with a separate throttle. The only force feedback stick I've found that comes with a throtle is the Thrustmaster Afterburner Force Feedback http://us.thrustmaster.com/products/...skin=Joysticks

Looks OK, but I've owned 2 thrustmasters back in the 90's and they both crapped out pretty quickly. I've heard rumors that more recent thrustmasters weren't much better, but I haven't confirmed that. Anyone have experience with Thrustmaster's current lineup? Especially if you've used this stick I'd like your opinion.

Anyone have any other recommendations? I was gonna go with a Sidewinder Force 2, but Microsoft pulled out of the joystick business in November, and I can't find any that aren't used.

If you know of a better FF stick that doesn't have the separate throttle, I'm open to that as well. I can always add one when I add the rudder pedals later on down the road. I would like the twisting handle rudder control on the new stick though, to use in the gap between buying the stick and the pedals.

Thanks!

http://www.saitekusa.com/usa/prod/x45.htm

I don't know if thats exactly what your looking for but that is one sweet joystick :D

I had an extremely bad experience with the Saitek X-36,
The stick was hellishly inaccurate and impossible to calibrate properly. It was pretty much useless because I couldn't get sensitive enough control to handle a helicopter as smoothly as I would like.

I couldn't reach the full turning potential in any direction, and the curve of the turn wasn't linear to the amount of movement I put in the stick. I needed to have a massive deadzone to keep it from drifting and crashing me while I worked targeting.

It would be an amazing setup if the stick didn't blow so damn hard.

O_O I actually never used one in game I should have mentioned that but while playing with it at Bestbuy it made it seem damn nice

Sorry about that

Re: dammit! Dying joystick. What should I replace it with?
 

Your right, it is sweet. I was actually seriously considering it even though it doesn't have force feedback until I played with it at Best Buy. Damn thing's too small for my hand. My pinkie ends up being squeezed out toward the front of the stick due to the enclosed-loop design of the handle. Not only does that make it rather hard to work the pinkie trigger, but it's also rather uncomfortable. If it weren't for that one tiny flaw, I'd probably get it for the throttle alone. That throttle kicks ASS. The only one I've ever seen that's better is on the Thrustmaster HOTAS Cougar, but that's a $300 stick, and I'm not payin' that much!

Nice! :)


btw sipsake, if you know where I can find a few of those, let me know. I'm serious. My old atari is in perfect shape but the joysticks are long dead.

I have the Thrustmaster Cougar Hotas. It does not have force feedback, but as far as i am concerned it is a great stick. I recieved it in my hands the day after its limited release in the US and have not had a problem with it yet. Programming can take some time to learn but well worth it. It does also have a visual programmer also, but can take longer once you learn how to do the text based. It is also made so that you can replace the stick grip portion if it breaks(or they come out with differnt button setups), but as far as I know they have yet to sale the new grips by themselves.

I'd love to have a cougar, but $250 is a bit rich for my blood. I was looking more at the sub $100 joysticks.