DonULFonso

Hm, yes, sounds like a good idea ;) : If CH would use stronger springs, some user could come up with a way to replace them with softer ones :rolleyes: ... and if CH then also would add some center play :( (and make it increase due to wear :o ), another user could come up with custom gimbals :p ... Modding for the modding's sake :rolleyes: , huh?

Don't ask me why they don't make their own REPLICA... I don't have the slightest idea, though I wonder just as well as you do. Maybe - hopefully - they'll do, some day...? But why should they make a METAL controller if their plasics is no ordinary cheapo but high quality material? Or, to come back to the topic of replica or not, why should they if the REAL controllers ALL are made of PLASTICs, too?!

Just out of curiosity ;) (tho' I'm sure I already know the answer), Revvin: is answering questions considered 'slamming others in the face' over at the CH Hangar :icon_roll ? According to Lange it seems to be the case on Cougar World :icon_redf , you know. If I wanted to 'surpass James Hallows' :icon_roll , Lange, then all I had to do would be to tell you to 'STFU with your complaints' and 'better not upset Guillemot' since 'everything is fine' :p - after all, who needs support or drivers anyway, and who doesn't fancy misaligned switches and an ill-designed circuitry? This probably - actually, more likely than not - might not be enough to 'surpass James Hallows', but at least to draw level with him :D if I'd only repeat it often enough (and probably - though I dare doubt it - might start to believe it myself :rolleyes: , sooner or - rather - later)... Maybe I 'went CH' because I simply couldn't stand this BS of years of appeasement and lies any longer?! Maybe I 'went CH' because I simply wanted to just enjoy my HOTAS without any worries about the present and the future (based on bad experiences in and memories of the past)?!

Well, to start at the start: I received my HOTAS Cougar for free, though not for nothing - I translated its manuals, and having a piece actually helps to understand it. Does that render the years I spent on CW with helping other users worth nothing? Does that imply that I must not report bugs and flaws? IMHO this never meant that I had to be(come) a 'fanboi'! I still consider the HOTAS Cougar the best controller as far as ergonomics are concerned. But it's far from even good as far as its stock quality is concerned, and it's an absolute disgrace where customer care and support are concerned. And it stopped being the most programmable controller some years ago when CH's controllers took over the lead with a vengeance. I've spent several years with telling the people not to blame everyting on their Cougars but do some basic trouble hunting themselves, starting with doing some RTFMing. I've spent several years with fighting for bug fixes, too, when there was reason to. I've hoped for some form of support to be established by Guillemot since some years, too. I finally had to realize it's but a dream: this controller, once hyped to be 'perfect', not only is shipped in a state far from that, but all too well know flaws and issues didn't get resolved and obviously never will, either. I finally had a chance to not have to worry about how long it might take before some part or other would fail, leaving me without a working support. I took this chance, after quite some time of thinking it over, because I don't owe Guillemot anything. Nor do other Guillemot customers - whatever they might have owed them, they've paid for their controllers and thus should have any right to expect them to work now and to be supported after purchase and to have a working support not only for cases under warranty. I have to thank a fellow CH user (who knows he's meant) and a certain lady at CH Products for making this possible. That's right, I didn't have to pay for my CHs either. FYI, I didn't have the means, either, as simple as that. But obviously these people, including Bob Church, BTW, esteemed what I have done for the TM community enough to consider it worth it. Does that have to mean that I'm not allowed to become a part of the community and that I shouldn't help other users? FYI, that's my way of paying for my equipment - and I dare say that I've 'paid' for my HOTAS Cougar times without count during the past years, I dare say. Add to that that several dozens of people who were interested in HOTAS system ordered their Cougars due to the discussions we had. However, I no longer can recommend the HOTAS Cougar due to the all to well known reasons: no matter what you do with the hardware is of no importance if you keep in mind that there's nothing you can do about the soft- and firmware. It's that easy. Period. A long time ago my initial decision to "go TM" instead of CH was based on valid points for me - valid back than, mind. The only item that's still valid is that the HOTAS Cougar is the only true replica with a dual stage trigger etc., and simply the best in terms of ergonomics. All other items on my list where the TMs had scored back then are no longer true this way: now it's the CHs that score, be it with over all quality and durability, smoothness of operation, features and capabilities and programmability, service and honesty of their stuff, customer care and support, etc.. Does that answer your question?

Couldn't have said it better. Guillemot just had bought the name of TM, hoping to dine off on its once great reputation, and have ruined it from day one that the HOTAS Cougar hit the shelves, what with a complete lack of any support that would deserve that name, and of any communication with their customers. Add to that their inability (not that they ever wanted to) of fixing the inumerable design-flaws that have been all too well known since day one as well and which the HOTAS Cougar has become (in)famous for: paint that's wearing off ('for immersion' to quote Cougar World staff, said James Hallows - then my two pieces must be faulty 'cause the paint didn't come off, or what?), a misaligned speedbrake-switch that'll break sooner or later if you don't fix it yourself, an ill-designed circuitry that's crippling the throttle's rotaries and leaves them with more deadzone than electrical range, dying pots due to a poor quality, and an increasing center-play due to the 'tolerances' that the lowest bidder provides, etc.pp.. You can 'mod' your HOTAS Cougar's hardware faults if you don't mind to spend twice as much money as you've already paid for your stock stick, but there's no 'mod' available to grant you 64-bit support which isn't even planned, let alone scheduled yet ('Guillemot has more important things to do' to quote CW staff, go figure!) or a bug-free soft- and firmware in general - the last time it took Guillemot two full years (no joke, unfortunately) to fix the buggy 2.x-series' drivers, so I wouldn't hold my breath, either. Yes, the HOTAS Cougar - just like its predecessors - in fact IS the only replica of the real deal that's available, and it IS the most ergonomic controller, too (small wonder if you consider how much time and money the military spent on developing it), and this probably makes it the most sexy of 'em all - but it can be quite a bitch, mind, what with all of its hard- and soft- and firmware flaws and bugs and issues and its complete lack of any communication, let alone support, from Guillemot. The HOTAS Cougar definitively is NOT the most programmable controller, thought - that's CH Products' products (ouch), THX to Bob Church's work of the past years. FYI, Bob Church was the 'father' of TM's F-22 Pro who introduced some raw but true programability to the TMs when he had worked for TM, but now he'ss been working for CH since the original TM kicked the bucket. And it's CH STAFF you see active on the boards, answering questions of users and providing TRUE support and who LISTEN to their customers, while TM staff - what's left of them, anyway - seem to be afraid of the death penalty for any sign of life, it seems. [/rant]

FYI, it's Bob Church, the 'father' of TM's F-22 Pro who introduced some raw but true programability to the TMs, not James Hallows, the author of the editor called Foxy AKA Fox Two, who once had worked for TM but now has been working for CH since the original TM kicked the bucket. FYI, Guillemot just bought the name of TM, hoping to dine off on its once great reputation, and have ruined it from day one that the HOTAS Cougar hit the shelves, what with a complete lack of any support that would deserve that name, and of any communication with their customers. Add to that their inability (not that they ever wanted to) of fixing the inumerable design-flaws that have been all too well known since day one as well and which the HOTAS Cougar has become (in)famous for: paint that's wearing off ('for immersion' to quote Cougar World staff, said James Hallows - then my two pieces must be faulty 'cause the paint didn't come off, or what?), a misaligned speedbrake-switch that'll break sooner or later if you don't fix it yourself, an ill-designed circuitry that's crippling the throttle's rotaries and leaves them with more deadzone than electrical range, dying pots due to a poor quality, and an increasing center-play due to the 'tolerances' that the lowest bidder provides, etc.pp.. You can 'mod' your HOTAS Cougar's hardware faults if you don't mind to spend twice as much money as you've already paid for your stock stick, but there's no 'mod' available to grant you 64-bit support which isn't even planned, let alone scheduled yet ('Guillemot has more important things to do' to quote CW staff, go figure!) or a bug-free soft- and firmware in general - the last time it took Guillemot two full years (no joke, unfortunately) to fix the buggy 2.x-series' drivers, so I wouldn't hold my breath, either.