Virpil Alpha Prime - some thoughts

[Mr_sukebe]

I've now been a Virpil user for a number of years and currently use a CM3 Throttle, couple of their panels, a Hawk collective and a T50 base with a Virpil Alpha. 

The T50 base has been superseded with an FFB base, and it felt time to grab myself an Alpha Prime, so I did.  Thought that some might be interested in my view on the differences.  For ref, I've also used a Mongoose CM(1) grip, TM A10 and F18 grips.

So, the Alpha Prime, when compared to a standard Virpil Alpha:

• The body is heavier, cold and has a grippy texture to the metal.  It feels utterly solid
• The hats on the various 4/8 way switches have been changed and improved with newer, and IMO better versions that I find a little more ergonomic to use
• The scroll/encoder wheel seems to have been updated, such that instead of 3 physical clicks up or down to result in a button press, it's just one.  That was always some that annoyed me about the Alpha
• The trigger button has a less sticky feel to it
• I think that the rest on the side has been repositioned a little and works a little better for me
• The flip up trigger guard now registers up and folded as separate button presses, which is a good thing
• I have discovered a couple of issues, which is probably a result of running it mounted on my Moza AB9 base:
  • The button mappings have moved a little.  Might not sound that big a deal, but it has meant a need to remap every button on the grip for every aircraft that I have in DCS.  Let's just say that it was rather time consuming...
  • Two of the 4 way switches (the TMS and DMS hats in an A10) register a press to the central button on releasing any of the axis buttons.  As the Moza software doesn't allow remapping or changes to logic, my only solution was to not map those two central press buttons.  So overall, I've lost a single button.  Not a big deal, but it's there

Is the Prime better than the Alpha?  Yes, it is (IMO), I love the feel of it, it's very tactile.

Is it worth the money for the upgrade?  Probably not.  The improvement is distinctly marginal as I already really liked the Alpha. 

Do I feel short changed?  No.  I prefer the Prime and even though the enhancements are pretty marginal, they're there, and frankly, I've had so much use and enjoyment from using the Virpil gear that I've been through, that I definitely don't begrudge the cost.

 

 

Edited Tuesday at 09:08 PM by Mr_sukebe

[Aapje]

4 hours ago, Mr_sukebe said:

• The flip up trigger guard now registers up and folded as separate button presses, which is a good thing

On Reddit, people say that you can configure this through the software for the regular Alpha, so this is not actually a feature of the Prime:

 

https://old.reddit.com/r/hotas/comments/wykgz4/virpil_constellation_alpha_vs_alpha_prime_quick/ilxfvk2/

[Shortcut]

I upgraded from my TM Warthog grip to the Alpha Prime, In my opinion there is no comparison the Alpha Prime feels much better and no more rattles also has a lot more switches. I will always take metal over plastic so its worth the price to me.

Edited Thursday at 02:29 PM by Shortcut