SAITEK X65F NEW CONTROLSYSTEM

[sobek]

Groove ...:music_whistling: Pics are good, but I would like to hear your opinion as a simfreak! :D

 

I want to order the G940 or the Saitek....just dont know which is more appealing to me....hmmmm :helpsmilie:

 

My opinion on the g940: Don't get it unless they fix the driver issues. Really, don't, yes it is a nice piece of hardware but you're going to hate it for it's bugs.

[Pilotasso]

Just wait untill it gets 3 months old, and the bugs will be the least of your worries. :)

Edited March 25, 2010 by Pilotasso

[sobek]

Just wait untill it gets 3 months old, and the bugs will be the least of your worries. :)

 

I know, i had spikes in less than a month of sporadic use. :mad: Well, according to logitech, that was one faulty batch. Given that a friend of mine owns one since ~November and has no spiking, i'm led to belive them.

 

But let's not derail this thread :)

Edited March 25, 2010 by sobek

[Groove]

Gimme a couple of days guys and i will answer your questions :D

[Feuerfalke]

Anyone interested in pics?

 

Oh, yes, we are!

[Lancelot]

Gimme a couple of days guys and i will answer your questions :D

 

Well? What are you waiting for. ;)

 

Please, beside the pictures, also explain how the programming its done, if it use the same STT software that X52, and the feeling of the hotas.

[sobek]

Gimme a couple of days guys and i will answer your questions :D

 

Have you had a little time to use it yet? Really interested in your first thoughts. :)

[Pilotasso]

Groove, your failing to fulfill your promise... :D

[sobek]

Groove, your failing to fulfill your promise... :D

 

Be nice, he's a busy man :)

[sobek]

X65F approaching price of 300€ here in Austria.[1]

 

[1] http://geizhals.at/a517550.html

[M31]

Just noticed this topic, already posted some feedback in the Hardware forum, I'll re-post here, bought it last week from Scan.co.uk for just £272.40 delivered inc VAT, never hesitated and ordered it straight away, the next day the price was up to £299.99 inc VAT, must have been a price mistake but they honoured the lower price for me, still a good price though, most UK stores are selling it for £350 inc VAT.

 

...

 

Hi, Just joined the forums today, am currently waiting patiently for my FC 2 to download.

 

I've been Flight Simming for over 20 years now and owned a lot of flight controllers, currently have a TM Cougar with hall sensor mod and old TM Rudder Pedals, Saitek X-52pro that is about 2 years old as well as their rudder pedals. The X-52 pro has never let me down and I really like it ... However I felt it was time for something new and bought a new Saitek X-65F Force Sensing HOTAS last week and absolutely love it. I was unsure how I'd like it, not having tried Force Sensing before, it did feel strange initially, but I adapted very very quickly. So far I've tried it in FSX Airliners, GA AC and Helicopters, the Helicopters are taking a little longer to get used to but I know its going to be fine. Black Shark feels brilliant and with the 600 + button presses available, its seems to be made for it, I love Rise of Flight too, and amazingly once you forget how inappropriate this type of controller is for a sim like that, it works amazingly well.

 

The X-65F is extremely high quality ... I own all Saitek's GA Flight stuff too, and the X-65F is the best quality item they have produced yet.

 

It does have Force Sensing Rudder Twist, but I've disabled that as I prefer traditional Rudders and use the Saitek ones with it.

 

Before ordering FC2 this morning I installed Lock On and again, this HOTAS just seems built for a sim like this ... I'm really looking fwd to FC2 now :)

 

Some pics.

 

 

 

[FullerGer]

I also got mine today

 

[Pilotasso]

weird...the silver hat is shown on the left on saiteks reference picture... :huh:

[M31]

weird...the silver hat is shown on the left on saiteks reference picture... :huh:

 

You're right ... its changed a fair bit since the early promo shots ... I think the final throttle console for the force settings looks much better though.

 

[JG27_Arklight]

IIRC, I read somewhere that the hats can be moved by the end-user to suit individual preference.

[hitman]

guess ill be putting my hardly used x52 pro up for sale...

[*Rage*]

guess ill be putting my hardly used x52 pro up for sale...

 

Wanna ship it to the uk? ;)

 

I might die soon if I dont get my FC2 fix...but alas no joystick.

[hitman]

Wanna ship it to the uk? ;)

 

I might die soon if I dont get my FC2 fix...but alas no joystick.

 

gimme a good reasonable price and its yours...havent used it in over a year so its just gathering dust. shipping wont be cheap though...

Edited April 4, 2010 by hitman

[cjmonkey]

So what's it like for Black Shark? Does it work well? Doesn't feel weird?

[ZaltysZ]

Tell us more. Especially the bad things (try to find as many as you can).

 

Also, I have some specific questions.

 

Is it really made from metal? How much metal? Can you describe it as elegant or heavy duty one (will it, except electronic parts, survive if used as hammer?) ? I ask this because lots of advertised "metal" nowadays is softer and weaker than my plastic toys when I was a kid.

 

How is the cabling? Does throttle and stick connect to PC separately or are they interconnected? If they are, what type of cable? Are the sockets loose?

 

Is there a strong feedback? I mean, is there a strong feeling that you have pushed a button? Something like you have when using keyboard from 198x? :)

[EtherealN]

Is there a strong feedback? I mean, is there a strong feeling that you have pushed a button? Something like you have when using keyboard from 198x? :)

 

Oooh, those keyboards were so awesome. The clicker on the keyboard of my old IBM 286 was awesome, and getting the same tactile feedback (though maybe not the sound itself) on stick buttons would be awesome.

[zakobi]

Oooh, those keyboards were so awesome. The clicker on the keyboard of my old IBM 286 was awesome, and getting the same tactile feedback (though maybe not the sound itself) on stick buttons would be awesome.

 

If you miss them, SteelSeries have the 7G ;)

[Wolfman]

Hi,

I own a Saitek X65F for a day now and used it for 2 hours. Tried it with Falcon4. So there are a little more issues that I'm not too happy about. But more on that later.

 

Is it really made from metal? How much metal? Can you describe it as elegant or heavy duty one (will it, except electronic parts, survive if used as hammer?) ?

The stick, stick base, trigger, throttle and throttle base are all solid metal. I wouldn't use it as a hammer though, too little weight on the head and it handles weird for that purpose ;). Everything else is plastic (including the bottom of the stick- and throttle bases).

 

How is the cabling? Does throttle and stick connect to PC separately or are they interconnected? If they are, what type of cable? Are the sockets loose?

You can't operate the stick alone, you have to connect it to the throttle. The throttle has a USB cable (length 2m) and the cable to the stick (PS2 type, length 1,75m) attached. There is another cable for the displays and switchboxes, also of type PS2. So all cables are non removable attached to the throttle.

 

Is there a strong feedback? I mean, is there a strong feeling that you have pushed a button?

Everything you can push gives an audible and tactile feedback. There isn't much force needed to push.

The hats offer almost no resistance in moving them. In my opinion that stands in stark contrast to the rest of the setup, because it gives you a feeling of holding a very cheap piece of hardware.

As an example, the mouse cursor is pushable, but you can't really push without moving the mouse it's so easygoing

 

Overall impression: I like the force sensing, but they have to work on the centering issue (it's a little bit offset)

The stick is good, the throttle not. The movement of the throttle offers too much resistance, the hats and buttons are not ergonomically placed, the mechanism to hold the two throttle levers together can't hold them together without play. And coming back to what I mentioned at the start of the post, I miss a rocker switch like on the TM HOTAS Cougar. But that is a special for the F-16. But why make a force sensing stick, which is only used in a F-16 AFAIK and not have a replica of the real F-16 HOTAS setup? Licensing I guess...

[edit]

I saw also a little spiking of the throttle and rotaries in the Falcon4 setup screen, but not in the Saitek Test Center SW.

[/edit]

IIRC, I read somewhere that the hats can be moved by the end-user to suit individual preference.

The hats are exchangeable on the stick.

 

To sum it up: too expensive right now

 

Cheers Wolfman

Edited April 13, 2010 by Wolfman
corrected spiking statement

[ZaltysZ]

Wolfman, can you tell more about centering issue? Is it like this: stick is centered in the beginning, but eventually (while playing) the neutral position shifts?

Edited April 13, 2010 by ZaltysZ

[Feuerfalke]

After the pre-release-pictures people feared that you'd accidentally press the red button when operating the the left coolie-hat. Is that possible/likely?