Need new Hotas

[steel_tiger1]

Ok so I finally have some money to purchase a new Hotas. My Logitek pro joystick has been crap for years and has made flying DCS near impossible except for a few "fing" around flights. With the F18 finally around the corner I need to take a look at what is available or even better what might be on the horizon. I read all the crap about the X55 but it looks like the only real option right now. I am reading the trouble people are having with the Warthog now and for that kind of bank it had better be problem free. And Thrustmaster not supporting it to speak of. I need input (pun I know). Has the X55 matured enough to be a safe purchase? Or is something really good on the horizon?

 

Thanks

[Tricky11]

i have owned the Warthog for 10 months now i have never had a problem with it and it is far superior to the saitek x45 i used to own. warthog all the way:music_whistling:

[Devrim]

Personally although all craps about X55, I'm planning to buy X55...

[Mtnbiker1998]

I'm in the same position as you. A lot of people seem to use saitek stuff, but theres also a lot of bad things about them floating around the web.

 

I personally have been looking at the CH line of stuff. Its affordable, lots of buttons and aparently they haven't changed the design in 20 years 'cause it works that well.

[Harpoon]

I'm in the same position as you. A lot of people seem to use saitek stuff, but theres also a lot of bad things about them floating around the web.

 

I personally have been looking at the CH line of stuff. Its affordable, lots of buttons and aparently they haven't changed the design in 20 years 'cause it works that well.

 

I would get a CH but it doesn't have a twistable stick...

[rrohde]

I'm in the same position as you. A lot of people seem to use saitek stuff, but theres also a lot of bad things about them floating around the web.

 

I personally have been looking at the CH line of stuff. Its affordable, lots of buttons and aparently they haven't changed the design in 20 years 'cause it works that well.

 

I stepped up from a Saitex X-45 to a CH Pro Figherstick and Pro-Throttle setup, and I love it!

[FoReIgNeR]

Warthog with saitek pro flight pedals and trackir5 here for about a year and no problems at all. It's a lot of money to spend, but I have never have had any regrets. It has a HUGE impact on immersion, precision and overall flying skill. If any of these components would die on me I would replace them with the same hardware. If your cashflow permits it I would seriously consider it =)

[Gladman]

0 problems with my x55 and it's been a year I think. The truth is they are all cheap plastic on the inside. I've owned CH, and had no problems but that was back in the serial port days. Bought Cougars and they broke. Now I have the Saitek. No problems as of yet.

 

Dale

[fixen]

I have a tm warthog and it's great. It did have some problems aswell, but most of them have been fixed in the newer models (Problems with bad grease etc). I thought about buying a saitek x-55, but i am glad i didn't. Im reading about all kind of problems: drivers not working properly on windows 7/8, general build quality and button layout.

 

The warthog has it's problems aswell though:

- Price

- You need rudder peddals

- I would really recommend an extension for more precission.

Edited December 17, 2014 by fixen

[7rooper]

Honestly those HOTAS reviews aren't very reliable. They're usually done by people with little idea in what is needed for flight simulators and reviewed just for a few hours or minutes that aren't enough to give you a real judgement about quality.

I've owned the X-55 for 4 months now and all I regret is the lack of the CMS hat in the stick and an additional 4-way hat in the throttle. I use the red button in the throttle as a SHIFT modifier for a couple of hat switches to workaround this problem. Everything else can be perfectly mapped as the TM Warthog for the A-10C

As far as build quality I can say that the latest models are improved over the first batches. Typical complaints was the weight of the bases and a rattling sound inside the stick base but these issues were solved when they added metal weights inside the throttle and stick and the ferrite filters that caused the noise inside the base was hot glued.

As far as the sticktion problem just regrease the shaft and collar and align them where the friction is minimal.

The HUD software is buggy and sometimes causes me "Blue Screen Of Death" in Windows 7 64bits and for that reason I hardly ever run it.

I hope Saitek improve their drivers soon and be more proactive with their customer service

Edited December 11, 2014 by 7rooper

[steel_tiger1]

Thanks for all the insight so far. I am going to take the plunge on the x-55. Seems to make sense price wise. And nothing coming down the pipe to wait for it seems.