Is the Saitek X52 Pro a good starter joystick?

[Snow]

Is the Saitek X52 Pro a good starter joystick?

[Tr1p]

yesv had it before very good for the a10c ;)

[Firaga]

The hardware is very good for its price. The build quality is decent and there are lots of buttons for any flight sim to be played. It also has a twist rudder in case you don't want to invest in rudder pedals yet. As a starter set, the X52 pro will do great for you.

The drivers, the software and saitek consumer support, however, are beyond horrible. Telling consumers that the problem lies within the os or standardized intel hardware is like complaining that the physics laws are not compatible with my freshly built hover bike.

Getting the thing to work in a modern computer will more than likely be a horrendous experience. My story with the stick consists of numerous unsuccessful driver installing attempts, crashing profiler software, excessive headache and depression, hours of wasted time and ultimately the whole windows falling in a flaming fireball. Google it and you see that the problems are not uncommon with the X52 pro. Unfortunately, the competing brands are somewhat lacking in this price range. If you happen to get it working, the thing will operate very well and if this is going to be your first hotas, you will be impressed. Just be prepared to get frustrated with the problems, as you won't avoid them with this product.

[Chameleon_Silk]

originally had BSOD on driver install, I then threw out the disc that was ancient and used the latest driver online and it worked fine.

the profiler could be more user friendly but DOES indeed allow you to program the stick in many ways, so while it may be horrendous to use at first it can be learned and utilized (but is optional)

the mouse emulation with mini stick and scroll wheel is great, I can look around without touching my mouse and perserving all other hats for other functions.

I'm using the non-pro and had it for about 2 years and it works well and do not regret my purchase at all.... after pretty much not taking good care of it for 2 years their is now dust in the twist sensor rendering the twist to flickery to be of use, however I have picked up rudder pedals and just disable the rudder axis on the stick in software.

so even with a twist rudder problem I would still recommend the stick as an entry point.

Firaga has some valid concerns pointed out + I've listed my problems with it but I still think its a great HOTAS for the price and would recommend it as a first stick.

[alexhosen]

I think is a great HOTAS for the price. I used mine for 3 years now and, despite the fact that there are a few better ones, I have no plans to replace it in the short term; and while i agree that the software is not friendly enought, i think is not enough to say its "horrible", just not friendly.

But, the most important thing, is that a HOTAS will change your experience with the sim, so go ahead and buy one if you can afford it.

[kain]

while i wish i had the HOTAS warthog.... ive got a x52 pro. their is nothing wrong with it.

it works great... the only thing is.... you have to map ALL your D-pads, and then use the pinky button to map more controls to the same buttons.

so, it can get confusing... do i need to press button 20, or pinky and button 20 kinda thing.

my complaints are that it doest quite center.... it is so close that you wont really notice... but you can wiggle it with little force in the direct center.... and with deadzones set to off, your plane will react to the wiggle.

i also dont like the de-tents on the throttle. i need to take it apart and file them off so the range from 0 to 100% is nice and smooth.

[Firaga]

You don't actually have to "file" anything off to disable the detents.I had to do it because the detents got offcentered and the throttle wouldn't stay at 100% anymore without constant pressure. The mod is very easy.

To remove the detents, just unscrew the bottom screws from the throttle and pick the small plastic detent piece off. No tools needed other than a screwdriver to open the throttle. Lots of tutorials online. I recommend doing this mod especially if you are flying helos and want the collective to be smooth. Opening the throttle removes the warranty, though.

About the drivers. In my opinion the driver is horrible if there is a considerable chance that it requires multiple reinstalls and causes severe system instability. Didn't work in a fresh windows install either without heavy tweaking. Bad luck and unfortunate consequences, but I'm paying for it to work so I expect some level of quality and reliability. I also don't like the customer service attitude that basically states "our product is perfect and the problems are induced by you and intel".

[[PT]SpetsnaZ]

Hello all. I'm newb on DCS and i bought X 52 (not the pro version) , i think it works nice. Altough is a bit hard to configure commands. Some one know where to find profiles to put in ? And how make them really work on DCS ? Because the problem i have it is that some controls on the throtle control dont work and i can't define them directly on the controls section in DCS game. Thak's for answers

[Chameleon_Silk]

disable clutch mode to use the i button on throttle.

the rest should all work without the profiler, some emulate mouse LMB, MMB and scroll, the rotaries are axis and can be configured directly in DCS.

use the profiler to supplement the DCS buttons, don't reinvent the wheel everyone who tries to use the profiler to map everything fails.

if you want to use the POV hat as something else on the stick just configure it to be button press and a 4 way hat in the profiler.

the profiler works great you just have to take the time to learn how to use it... which takes time since its not the best GUI ever designed... but it does work, I'm a big believer in "suck it up princess and learn it yourself"

[mbar]

I am very hesitant to purchase a Saitek X52 Pro because my computer (okay, laptop) uses USB 3.0 ports and I've read about problems with the Saitek drivers not being compatible.Some people are saying they had to uninstall their USB 3.0 drivers and downgrade to USB 2.0 just to get it to work. (no way I'm doing that) When it comes to flight sticks, it seems you either pay CH or Thrustmaster for stick, throttle and rudders or you roll the dice with Saitek and hope you're the lucky one that gets one that works.

[Bassemann87]

i can recommend the Thrustmaster T-Flight Hotas X. The quality is much better and have less problems than saitek´s joystick´s.

http://www.thrustmaster.com/en_UK/products/tflight-hotas-x