Warthog HOTAS $350 at Frys

[JohnMason643]

I picked up the TM Warthog yesterday at Frys. At $350 I could not pass this by. The build quality and feel of both the throttle and joystick are superb.

 

There are no doubts this is the best HOTAS I've ever owned. I've been a Saitek user over the years including getting the X65F a few months ago. I don't want to disparage the X65F because I really like it but there is no comparison to the TM. I've been having centering problems with the X65F and it's made flying the 'Hog very difficult.

 

I flew a number of flights last night and they were much more smoother and easier than I've flown before. The buttons on both the throttle and joystick seem much harder to press than I care for. The slew stick on the throttle is also touchy. Otherwise everything feels fine.

 

Installation of drivers and TARGET went without a hitch. Updated firmware on both throttle and joystick with no problems. DCS A-10 picked up the HOTAS with no problem and populated all of the buttons in the right spot. The only issue was the trim button was set to POV so I had to change that to trim functions. Also the pinkie button (#3) was set to change the stick to trim... I changed that to nosewheel steering.

 

I got member/serial #00016! How'd that happen?

 

Throttle: 00016, tag barcode = 501T108A000016

Joystick: 02790, tag barcode = 500T108A002790

 

John A. Mason

US Navy Submariner, (Retired)

Strategic Weapons System Navigation Electronics Technician

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Gigabyte GA-MA790FXT-UDP5 Mobo

AMD Phenom II X4 955BE @3.2ghz

Noctua NH-U9B CPU heat sink fan

Patriot Memory PGS34G1600ELK 4 x 2gb (8gb)

Diamond Multimedia ATI HD4890 x2/Crossfire

Antec 1200 Case

Antec Signature SG-850 power supply

Seagate 1TB 7200.12 x4 hard drives

Viewsonic VX2433 24" (1920 x 1080)

Viewsonic VX2431 24" (1920 x 1080)

APC Backup-UPS BX1500G

LG GH-22 DVD/CD RW optical drive

Microsoft Sidewinder X6 Keyboard

Logitech G9 Mouse

Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS #00016

Saitek X-65F Proflight Combat Control System

Saitek Pro Flight Rudder Pedals

Logitech ClearChat USB Headset

TrackIR v5

Windows 7 Home Premium x64

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[Sickdog]

I did the same thing at Fry's Saturday, and finally picked up pedals too. I have the same good things to say about this HOTAS, I think it makes it an entirely different sim now! For $350, how could anyone resist??

[Lost in clouds]

LOL it seems like everyone bought on Sat. I bought mine on sat too, but I returned it and the saitek combat pedals sunday after realizing I am way out of my depths with the SIM. I bought the game thinking it would be great fun like the old Falcon 4.0, but it is way more invloved then I thought. I am not ready for it nor am I able to justify the expense of the controls at this time. I will pick it up again down the road once I am in the right frmae of mind. I have too much going on with my new career path. Too much to learn with that right now.

 

I agree 100% though that the TM HOTAS is fantastic. The quality is no comp to the Saitek line. My friend came over sat night and he saw the controls and felt them and was having a hard time thinking this was built for a game.lol He was in the military and spent a lot of time around Warthogs on bases overseas in forward deployment in IRAQ as a SEAL,and said he got to sit in A-10's often and said it looks and feels almost the same to him. They loved the HOG's because they struck so much fear into the minds of the enemy. When the HOGs came on scene they often ran away.lol

Edited September 12, 2011 by Lost in clouds