Gman109

I used a 55" LG OLED for PC gaming last year. Burn in was noticeable after a time, you just can't get away from it with a Win OS, you'll have to be on the desktop/etc long enough over time for burn in to happen. Switched to an LG Nano Cell 65" instead, been running it all day, like 20 hours a day probably, on a PC desktop and for some gaming, and no burn in at all, still works like new after 6 months now. It's the best option IMO for using a TV for PC gaming until the nVidia 65" Gsync screens become available in a few months, and those will be 3x the cost I'm sure of the LG Nano Cell tvs, if not more. OLED looked great for PC gaming, and great at everything else too. Still use it for Netflix, best TV under $2000 is the LG Oled 55" IMO, so long as you aren't using it for PC gaming (burn in risk).

I too was expecting $100 USD, and would have paid it x3 for all our gaming systems, and for a couple of friends in need as well. As Rrhode and others have pointed out, the current discounted price is an extremely good deal when comparing the F14A/B/2 Campaigns/etc to other products on the market in the simulation genre, and other games in general. The time, research, etc, should all be rewarded, as should future support. Complaints on price are ridiculous IMO. Also, just an FYI, Heatblur contributed a substantial donation to Cap from The Reapers on his GoFundMe for his cancer treatment situation. VERY generous, and I won't forget, Heatblur would have had my support regardless of such action, but now, I'll do whatever I can to positively inform other sim pilots in other games about the F14 for DCS.

Wise choice IMO - I have all of the throttles available, and all of the past ones pretty much, and for the $ I think that the TM TWCS is superior to the CH throttle, it's closest and most similar competitor, and is much less expensive (relatively) as well. The TM WH throttle is great, but you can buy 3 or even 4 TWCS for the same price when you catch the TWCS on sale (the Warthog throttle never goes on sale from what I can tell).

I have a large hotas collection, including several TM WH/Cougars, 2 VKB GF first gens, 1 VBK GF revB new gen, 2 T50, etc etc. It's a very close match between the 2 best options the VKB GF and the Mongoose T50 IMO. I did a quick vid I'll be updating this week with much better quality, lighting, and info/opinion on the 2 sticks a couple months back. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHGMo5SntuQ&t=3s

CH in fact made a fantastic FFB stick, it has a Combatstick handle and a large FFB motorized base. I have one, I'll post pics of it tomorrow. Been out of production for 15 years I'd guess, I bought mine back in 1999. Back in those days quite a few sims supported it, I haven't used it in a long, long time, just sits on the collection display table, but I too think that CH could bring back FFB as an option with a new line of gaming sticks/etc.

Agreed ^^^. Until the VKB Gunfighter 2 revB came along, I used my CH Fighterstick as my primary PvP stick for Aces High 3, played that game competitively for 20 years now, and the light and easy motion of the CH stick was perfect for the constant fighting in AH3 for me. The VKB GF2 can be made even lighter, and I'm using it instead now, but it took 20 years for a stick to come along to supplant my trusty CH stick(s), and it only cost 4x as much (hah). Even with the issues I and others mentioned regarding QC/QA, I'd recommend a CH setup without hesitation, for the bang/$ ratio, it's incredibly hard to beat. Purchasing a VKB GF2 and VKB pedals cost me 2.5x as much as a CH setup (FighterStick, pedals, throttle), and the VKB setup comes sans throttle for now. Even a TM Warthog costs well over $625 CAD up here after tax/shipping, a full CH setup can be had for $150 CAD less easily, and again, comes with a unit the TM setup doesn't (pedals in this case). I wish CH would update their stuff - I feel their gimbal system is unique and fantastic still, making a metal stick based on say the F22/F35/whatever, a newer throttle shape as well, as well as an updated pedal - they'd sell, I believe that all the way.

Back around 2007 IIRC CH Products "sold out" to another company. Another sim pilot I've known at another game for 20 years now worked there, and has mentioned in the past that their quality and consistency has dropped considerably since then. I agree with him, and he obviously has much more info/knowledge regarding this - I've owned many full CH sets over the years, both of their pedal types, several Fighter and Combatsticks of both USB and gameport types, etc etc. The 2 sets I've purchases post "sell out" have an obvious drop in quality if you pull the units apart, it's like drunk children in a sweat shop assembled them and did the wiring/etc compared to the pre 2007 units. A TON more complaints across various forums can be read since then too. Still, overall, CH still makes a good product, it's just not as great or consistent as it once was IMO.

That's correct, when I had a similar problem having bent a pin a bit while trying to attach various TM/Virpil/VKB sticks on various bases, tech support at Virpil showed me how one can pull the plug on the base of the Mongoose stick out about a couple CM or so, even a bit more, in order to facilitate plugging it accurately into the base of...whatever base. Then once the plugs are connected gently line up the stick to its now extended plug and wiring back together, and then spin the outer connecting hub/whatever you want to call it.

Ok, thanks for the advice, that's sort of what I figured, just wanted to be sure I wasn't missing out on some resource or other. Between Youtube vids/Wags updates/etc/etc I'll compile my own list of sources to do my best to stay up to date.

I've noticed that the doc in the F18C folder of the DCS install is still dated back a couple months, and while Chuck's guide is much more up to date, about a month old, it's still missing a lot of the new features that have come out with recent updates. How do other players keep up to date on all the recent updates and new features in terms of docs or a manual? Is going through every single thread on the forum the only way I can catch up on the last 2 months of Hornet features and changes? Any other options here anyone can suggest? 1st world problems or what, but I still want to learn everything I can, and not miss any new features that have come out. Is following Wags pinned update threads at the top of this forum list the best option, or is there some other place I should look as well? Great job ED/DCS, such a fantastic module, I can't believe how quickly you're updating and releasing new features for the Hornet - other modules as well.

I have 2 T50s, and 2 VKB GF sticks (had 3 VKB GFs, but sold the RevbMk2 as I had 2 already and one was just sitting). There are positive attributes to both makers, and few if any negatives other than cost obviously for some. I could never pick a "winner", so I just have a couple of each, hah. I've posted and made a couple short vids on the differences/comparison between all the major Hotas out there right now.

I initially reacted like some others "why should I bother as I have all these modules already". It IS for newer players, I'll buy it anyway, sounds like some good features for all users. What I'm truly excited about is the dedicated server work. Been after this for a LONG time. What a great year ED/DCS is having, props to all of you involved with this company, never would have dreamed things would be this great.

Hrrm, interesting. Never thought of trying Steam DCS over standalone, I may give that a whirl and see the results. Heh, after switching everything over to stand alone, it'd be Murphy's Law to have to switch back, and par for the course. My Rift is also collecting dust (we have 2 others, lots of PC gaming stations at our places for the kidlets, wifee, and me). Going to replace the 2 remaining Rifts with Odysseys, luckily 2 of my newphews are in school and I'll get the student discount from Microsoft, as I doubt I'll find another used one for as good a deal as I did my current Odyssey. Regarding Ebay, I may sell my 2 remaining Rifts, donated one to another simmer that desperately wanted one but is out of work right now, my good deed for this year. If anyone knows anybody around these parts in need of excellent condition Rifts, I'll have 2 for sale shortly, and please shoot them/me a PM.

Same here, although today with flat shadows on - no stutters at all. Seems a bit random, I too suspect it's memory management issues. This is with my 8700k/32Ram/1080ti system, and my 6850(Broadwell E)/32/TitanXP performs identically pretty much. It's a work in progress still, but IMO you made a great decision both getting back into gaming, and getting the Odyssey. We had 3 Vives, 3 Rifts - sold the Vives, Rifts are far superior for sit down/cockpit gaming IMO. Now, selling the 2 remaining Rifts as the single Odyssey gets fought over by the 3 youngsters on our gaming stations on the weekends. I'll be running 3 (maybe even 4) Odysseys by next week. That's how much better I think they are over the Rift - and the Rift is fantastic.

Sold.

Hey Kirin (fellow AH 109 pilot of yore). IMO the Odyssey is very close to the Rift, far better than the Vive in terms of reprojection. When I get back home from travelling for the holiday I'll post more details, but reprojection issues is not something that I find to be an issue at all with the Odyssey, I haven't had any of the stutters others have had with shadows enabled either, not yet anyway.

Great deal - I just bought a set used for a good deal here in Canada, if I was in the USA I'd be getting cracking on this deal before they sell out. And I agree, the Odyssey is fantastic, a step up from the Rift and Vive for certain in my opinion.

My question too, if the answer is yes, I'll be buying some asap myself. So long as you're able to manipulate the cockpit controls/buttons, I'm in, as I have dozens of hotas including multiple sets of the newest VKB/Virpil stuff, and I have no interest using gloves to control the stick/throttle, even traveling. I do have a high interest in using them for every other control though, so I'm really looking forward to a DCS player's opinion on this.

Congrats Vlerkies, been following this as I had similar issues once with my 3rd Warthog's throttle. I know that feeling when all of a sudden you see green checks instead of red xs, and everything works again.

BlacleyCole, I'll be watching for your review - did you purchase one glove or two? I too like others don't want to give up my hotas, but would absolutely use these things if they work well at manipulating switches, buttons, dials, etc in DCS. I hope you're able to test this out, and if it does work pretty well - I realize they are still developing their tech - I'll be buying a couple pair at least myself.

What I did was use my lenses from VR Lens Lab (very cheap, made for the Rift, work great), and then bought a 25$ adapter which lets me use them in the Odyssey from Ebay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Oculus-Rift-Adapter-Frame-for-VR-Lens-Lab-Lenses/142391930424?hash=item2127386e38:m:mL9V0BHO6xAgkBgAcBgSkBw#shpCntId

Such great news, way to go again Razbam! Anyone else read the book "Red Eagles" about the (sort of) secret USAF unit flying Russian/Soviet aircraft? The chapters in that book about their Mig23s they flew gave me an entirely new respect for this fighter, the USAF pilots sure described it as an incredible machine, which tbh surprised me. I can't wait for this one, boy oh boy oh boy.

Vive Pro 2.0 kit, yes. Gets here tomorrow, should be interesting.

Having sold off the 3 Vives we had, and kept the 3 Rifts, we've been waiting to see how things settled out in the WMR landscape. I really wish we'd kept one Vive, now that Vive 2.0 requires the magic wall boxes to function (ordered one, and had to buy the sensors again, blarg, be here next week). In the meantime picked up a cheap used Samsung Odyssey, and decided to try it out. Wow - anyone IMO who thinks the Rift has equal or similar visuals needs to see their eye doctor. While not a revolution in graphics compared to the Rift, the increase in resolution and detail is markedly improved, certainly worth the cost of the Odyssey (I got it for $325 USD with about 2 hours total use on it, like new). I really liked the Rift, found it to be a better cockpit device than the Vive, and since we don't really do the room scale thing, where the Vive has some advantages, we ditched all 3 Vives and kept the Rifts as I said. Rifts have been working great with Aces High and DCS, Project Cars too, and a few shooters like Onward. Now, depending on how the Vive 2.0 looks and works - and honestly, for the price, I can get 2 Odysseys easily for one new Vive - I'm going to replace all 3 Rifts with the Odyssey. I like it that much. Only neg is that my $400 Asus motherboards Bluetooth don't work with the Odyssey controllers, and I had to buy a $20 dongle which worked instantly - pretty common problem, but man, you would think that such expensive MB with the wireless antenna attached MIGHT just actually work. Unsure if it's a driver issue with Asus or what, reports online vary, I just know that the $20 Staples Bluetooth wireless dongle worked within 1 minute of installing it with both Odyssey controllers. Anyhow, just my take, great tracking so far in DCS with the Odyssey, significantly improved graphics/visuals, which was my major complaint with VR - nice to see some incremental improvement, while I doubt the Vive 2.0 will be much better, I am looking forward to future advancements on this front. Very pumped to fly VR in DCS right now thanks to Samsung and the WMR experience. Anyone here try the lower cost WMR sets as well as the Odyssey? I only ask since there are refurbished units for $175 USD and even less that have come up for sale recently, and if the experience is even close to the Odyssey, I'd like to be able to recommend to others on tight budgets in other games I play to go that route.

This. Excellent summary in an incremental order IMO. The x55/56 quality/longevity seems to be a bit of a coin flip, many swear by theirs, others have nothing but problems. The lower cost TM hotas seem to be an excellent starter HOTAS, so if your budget is under $4 or 5 hundred dollars, it's probably a good place to begin. I have 2 dozen+ HOTAS I've collected over the years, right up to and including all the latest custom sticks and pedals (no custom higher end throttles, not until next month at least), and one thing I'll stand by is that any hotas is better than no hotas at all. Again, if your budget is under $150 grab the TM setup, the TWCS is actually quite good, I've got one, and IMO it's as good or better than the CH Pro Throttle, and with a decent stick, can serve very well (it has a rudder rocker if you can't afford pedals out of the gate as well). In fact, a CH Combatstick and Tm TWCS can be had for well under $150 if you find both on sale, and that's probably the best bang/$ out there for a budget hotas. The next best option is to search for used hotas. Kijiji.ca here in Canada plus the other usual suspects like Ebay/etc, usually yield one solid deal per month for me. I've purchased 3 out of my 4 Warthogs in this manner, 2 Cougars, and various CH and other units (Got my X65 Saitek for $150 USD like new there) for great deals. I've found like new Warthogs in the $250 USD range, so this is a viable option as well if you're patient - this source makes for a good "second" hotas, or your next "step up", as patience can be required for good deals to come along. As another example, I picked up a VKB Gunfighter base for $175 USD that was new in the plastic wrap still, and a 90% condition Cougar for $50 including the shipping, which works perfectly well.