Meh, I disagree. I think there's a lot to be excited about here, to the point where I'm contemplating sale of my Virpiil CM3 to pick one up (though I will wait for some hands-on reviews first).
Some things I'm excited about:
+ Swapable detent frames. I never change the detents on my CM3 because it's just too much work. I keep an 16C-like setup with Idle cutoff and afterburner at all times, but then I have to do some major software changes to get things working for planes like warbirds, or in other games like IL-2, or Microsoft Flight Sim. This solves that by being able to swap between 5 detent setups with a single thumbscrew.
+ Onboard profiles swapping. When I swap my detents, I can swap to other profiles, which not only might have axis to button settings, but might change curves, how the encoders work, button temp settings, or a myriad of other things.
+ Button Modules. I really don't like how hardware companies seem to have gone towards the "turn everything into a 5-way hat" model. I don't know personally how often I'll be swapping these, they might just end up set and forgot (like my Virpil Detents), but being able to get things set up in ways that make sense (like a 3 way for speed break, which is currently on a 5-way with my Virpil, with 2 unused functions). I'm also hoping they'll have additional module designs down the line (sliding switch module please!)
+ Ergonomics. I've always found the virpil throttle to be to big to grip comfortably, with too many controls to easily reach all of them. This looks like a much tighter layout, in a more hand-sized head. Also the rubberized grip should feel super nice if it's anything like the MCG Ultimate. I don't know of anyone else producing a rubberized grip for the throttle.
Just generally, this seems like a nice bit of kit if you, like me, like to fly a lot of different things. That's why I went Virpil over Winwing (I mean who's really going to be swapping back and forth between the F18 and F16 grips on the Winwing?) And this just seem to increase the flexibility by an order of magnitude over Virpil.
I will say though, there's a few things I agree with you on.
The design for the 2 base modules is not at all exciting. They look too much like their mid-range NXT line and are missing an analog lever or 2. I'd love to see some beefy SH T80-T toggles on there. And the Virpil buttons have way better feel than these (if they feel the same as the NXT). Since it's modular though, I hope they're planning on producing some premium bases that we can swap this out for down the line.
In general, I think if you're only flying one plane regularly and Winwing makes a replica throttle for it, go with Winwing. But if you like to jump around to a bunch of different modules or sims, this seems like it will be the winner for simplifying that process without having to own multiple devices.
