Wich joystick to buy?

[Armatian]

I need help to select a good joystick, a couple of facts:
-I need the best posible stick for the money, don't mind buttons, looks, i want reliable pots
-Can't buy hi-end, i'm from south america so prices are 4x
-My utterly first priority is smooth, precise x,y axis, a throttle would be nice, but i can manage to mod cheap joysticks to do that job. I've already had made pedals.
-Twist rudder not desired.
-If i could buy core logics and pots, happily would make my own, but i don't know how, that's even more difficult here.
-I almost buy saitek aviator, logitech pro, even cyborg, but reviews made me reconsider.

Is there any choices?, or i would need to save for years to buy hi end, like i did to finally buy my logitech g25?

[nearmiss]

What are you expecting to pay... say in dollars?

This will focus better answers for you

[Armatian]

I can stretch from 75 to upward 100 if it's worth it, but 200 is definitely too much.
But as i said, if to get rid of unprecision, twitchy response, and weared pots after a couple of weeks, i need to do extra effort, but it take me a lot of time.

[swiss]

You do need: hotas

you don't really need: FF

(Well both would rock, but that would be the logi 940)

Top of my mind:

- X52 (don't go pro, it's the same stick)[there's a poti mod for the x52 which eliminates the dead zone]
- Cougar (used)

[Bearcat]

I'd recommend either an X-52 Pro or a CH setup.. Both are good... the X-52 is good in itself.. but the Pro is beefier, at least thats my understanding.. but either is good.. CH makes great stuff as well.. Many think it is far superior to the Saitek stuff.. I personally think you get more bang for the buck with Saitek.. Shop around though.. dont get either at the manufacturer's site.. You can find both cheaper elsewhere but you can get the specs on them on their sites.. The Saitek uses Hall Effect sensors as opposed to potentiometers.. I wouldn't bother with a Cougar... Great sticks if you have money to burn.. but...

[WTE_Galway]

Actually I would choose a good FFB stick over a Hotas as FFB really helps you on the edge of stall but that's just a personal preference.

Unfortunately their are no really good FFB sticks around anymore. The FFB stick to beat all FFB sticks was the MSFFB2 but they are hard to come by new and also I have heard they are hard to setup with win7 especially 64 bit.

[nearmiss]

The MSFT Sidewinder Forcefeedback 2 is an excellent stick.
It has a twist handle for rudder as well.
You can probably find a good used one pretty reasonable.
MSFT no longer produces it, but it is still a top choice, even used.

The CH Products are excellent, but the hotas package is expensive
Pedals $100 or more, Flighterstick $150 or more, Throttle $100 or more.
You have to have pedals with Fighterstick, because there is not twist handle rudder.

The Saitek Aviator is a nice stick with twist handle that isn't too back, not sure who makes it.

[swiss]

Originally Posted by WTE_Galway

Unfortunately their are no really good FFB sticks around anymore. The FFB stick to beat all FFB sticks was the MSFFB2 but they are hard to come by new and also I have heard they are hard to setup with win7 especially 64 bit.

There are:

http://www.logitech.com/en-us/gaming...s/devices/5855

but the Pro is beefier, at least thats my understanding

The Pro uses the same hardware.
Differences are:

- 2nd spring
- some alloy trimm knobs instead of plastic
- different MFD(which nobody needs)

that's it.
Safe the money for pedals.

[Bloblast]

Originally Posted by WTE_Galway

Unfortunately their are no really good FFB sticks around anymore. The FFB stick to beat all FFB sticks was the MSFFB2 but they are hard to come by new and also I have heard they are hard to setup with win7 especially 64 bit.

Yep the MS FFB2 was big but good, but do not work with Windows Vista nor 7.

Currently I use Logitech Force 3d Pro which is good as well smaller and therefore user friendlier.

[Untamo]

Hi.

Do you have (some) spare time? If you do, make your own joystick!

My squadmate is currently working on his own stick.. I have made my own rudder pedals and thinking of making a stick too when the TM Cougar dies. Probably going to recycle lots of parts from it.

It really isn't that hard, especially with things like the Bodnar chip (courtesy of Leo Bodnar http://www.leobodnar.com/). There's lot's of info and projects about this stuff available with instructions to make your own.

And the main seller is the price. You can make a really good system with less than 50 euros. Assuming you have the tools .. For example the parts for my rudder pedals totaled under 20 euros.


-Untamo