1st HOTAS T16000M or X52 Pro

[Django]

Looking for my first HOTAS setup. Narrowed it down to

 

 

Thrustmaster T16000M £94

http://www.thrustmaster.com/en_UK/products/t16000m-fcs-hotas

Saitek X52 Pro £154

(Not X52 because I keep hearing about QA issues???)

http://www.saitek.com/uk/prod/x52pro.html

What do people think?

[AegisFX]

X52 pro was my first setup. Worked well in arma 2/3, got me through DCS A-10C and FC3. I didn't mind it, but I eventually started to have issues with the axis, and the buttons would sometimes stick later on in its life. I'd take the TM right now just because I haven't used it yet, and I like its physical design vs the x52p.

[Sokol1_br]

Saitek X52 Pro £154

(Not X52 because I keep hearing about QA issues???)

 

 

QA issues is not related to one Saitek model in particular - although more evident in X-55 - became general issue of MadCatz products in last years.

 

Sample: http://imgur.com/gallery/XSJVW

 

Functions by functions X-52 PRO give more "bang per buck" than FCS HOTAS.

 

TWCS throttle is relatively new in the market, their durability is unknown.

Use conventional (low cost) potentiometer like Saitek throttles.

 

T.16000M stick design is very mehhh, has half of base buttons in "wrong side", only 4 buttons on grip, no pinky button...

Edited April 11, 2017 by Sokol1_br

[SageInferno]

For what it's worth I recently bought the Thrustmaster Warthog and I'm born away with the quality. I started with the T. Flight Hotas but quickly found the limitations.

 

Amazon UK has it for £279 which is £40 less than I paid so it's a decent deal.

 

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[Snails161]

I have the T16000 Hotas setup, flight stick very responsive and crisp, throttle feel a little plastic like, but throttle action buttery smooth, I'd recommend it to any one. Got mine on amazon for £94

[Mars Exulte]

X-52 is ok, but has some real design flaws. I'd suggest anything but it, tbh. I've heard good things about the *nvm* that's not the stick I was thinking of. I was actually thinking of an older TM Hotas.

 

Regardless, I'd still just forget the 52. I had one. Works well enough, but the MFD is useless, often flickers, and the controls are joined together with a *short* PS2 cable for some stupid reason.

Edited April 11, 2017 by zhukov032186

[dburne]

Between those two I would go with the TM stick.

[=Pedro=]

I have TM (just a stick) and it's very accurate (pitch and roll solved by high precision HALL Sensors). I would recomend! ;)

[Sporg]

Looking for my first HOTAS setup. Narrowed it down to

 

 

Thrustmaster T16000M £94

http://www.thrustmaster.com/en_UK/products/t16000m-fcs-hotas

Saitek X52 Pro £154

(Not X52 because I keep hearing about QA issues???)

http://www.saitek.com/uk/prod/x52pro.html

What do people think?

I have the x52 std and I would definitely have bought the T16000M instead, had it been available back then.

 

The x52 stick suffers from a marked deadzone that you cannot get rid of.

Apart from that, later samples (like the one I got) also suffers from some QC issues like unstable electronics (crashing when using elaborate profiles etc), spiking potentiometers, and potentiometers not centred correctly etc.

 

What I hear about the T1600M is that the stick is very accurate, you have twist stick or a throttle tipping lever to choose from for rudder control, the slew hat on the throttle is even better than the one on the TM Warthog.

 

I don't know about the TM profiles, but the T16000M is using the same SW as the TM Warthog, so it can't be half bad.

The Saitek SW is notoriously unstable when using profiles, so basically it has been useless to me.

[AegisFX]

For whatever it's worth, I've been debating whether to get a setup now and wait for the f18 module or wait. I'm only flying the su33 and f15c so I'm not needing a lot of input.

 

If I get a stick in a month, it would be the TM.

 

And while I didn't touch on it before, the saitek software is true garbage..

[Perfesser]

Many of us got an X52 to start but let's face it, the stick is crap. No amount of lubrication or shimming makes it smooth for more than a couple of days.

 

The CH Fighterstick is 2 levels above it's price point for feel and quality. Use the money you save and get a nice set of rudder pedals(not CH).

 

This is not my review but it may as well be.

Edited April 11, 2017 by Perfesser

[hansangb]

Is the newly announced Virpil joysticks in the same price neighborhood? It may be worth a look.

[Sokol1_br]

...Virpil joysticks in the same price neighborhood?

 

Nope, VirPil T50 (only stick) price is "two/three floors" above. :)

 

https://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=3107971&postcount=482

[TripRodriguez]

Depends on whether or not you are a risk taker.

 

X52 Pro is much sexier. I really liked this setup when I had it, but it died as Saitek setups are prone to do and so I moved on.

 

T16000M is super accurate and fairly reliable but looks and feels a lot less sexy. I think I'd go for this option but it depends on what's important to you.

 

Mortgage your soul for a Warthog HOTAS. =D I did and never regretted it. The only complaint about it is the stick gimbal but it's really not bad at all if you do a little work on it and the grip and switches feel amazing.

Edited April 12, 2017 by TripRodriguez

[Sokol1_br]

T16000M is super accurate and fairly reliable but looks and feels a lot less sexy.

 

In X, Y axes only, because their twist rudder and throttle slider is not different of any other low cost joystick. Twist on mine work OK for less than one year. :noexpression:

[Django]

Thanks for everyone's replies. I haven't used a HOTAS setup before so I don't want to overspend, nevertheless the CH Fighterstick is a more expensive option I had considered. I think I'll go for the TM16000M, I already have CH rudder pedals. As a first setup this will let me experiment and work out my ideal requirements.

[Sokol1_br]

You can easy 'MOD' T.16000M installing a pinky button and connect this parallel to one base buttons, this pinky allow you double the functions of top buttons/HAT.

 

http://forum.il2sturmovik.ru/uploads/monthly_08_2015/post-683-0-56808800-1439970591.jpg

 

Sample - just find a more convenient button (e.g. above picture), more short than this used.

 

https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/294901/the-great-t16000m-button-mod