Need help picking out a new HOTAS

[Fork_Q2]

Been doing an little research on upgrading from my Thrustmaster HOTAS X. Great little entry device, but I feel I've outgrown it.

Excluding the Saitek devices, heard terrible things about their quality control, my serious alternatives amount to:

CH stick and throttle
Thurstmaster Warthog HOTAS
T.16000M FCS

Heard great things about CH sticks, but put off by lack of Z rotation and (so I've read) awful software. The throttle's mini joystick looks really fragile as well (based off looking at images alone). Might go for Fighter or Combat stick variant.

The Warthog HOTAS is apprently an incredibly immersive and nice feeling stick, and the most accurate. But an awful choice for this game (again, apprently). Stiff, really only designed for modern fighter games like DCS. Also the most expensive option, and plastic internals make it a poor choice at the offered price.

T.16000M FCS I know little about, the majority of the stick buttons are placed uselessly on the base, but it is twistable. No idea of the QC, looks like an easy upgrade from HOTAS X. Good things about the software I hear. Also the HOTAS combo is cheaper than the CH stick alone.

Anyone could confirm if the brief descriptions sounds correct to you, or have any experince with the sticks above? It's probably going to be a toss-up between a CH or the T.16000M. Most likely going to only play a few games other than ED. Not interested in dual stick combos or buying pedals.

Thanks in advance!

[Turd Ferguson]

I just picked up an X56 on Amazon because they were available through Prime. I know the quality can be iffy but I intend to return it as many times as necessary to get a good one. Without Prime I wouldn't have considered it.

I also found a controller reset procedure that fixes the calibration problems people are complaining about.

I currently have an X52 pro but after a year I just ran i to some design/playsyle problems with it. I have almost 2000 hours on my x52 with no problems.

[UptightCargo]

I have a Saitek X52 Pro I bought about 18 months ago. I use it at least an hour a day and it still works like it did when it came out of the box. It is easily the nicest stick I've ever owned. A nice feature it has is that if you want to use a stick other than the X52, you can. The stick plugs into the throttle, but you can use the throttle independently. Having 2 hats on the stick and one on the throttle allows for targeting, power management, and strafing thrusters simultaneously.

I can't speak to CH's products, having never owned any since the Flightstick back in the 90s. All I can tell you is I've heard the horror stories of Saitek's products, but for me personally, I've had no issues whatsoever and ask myself why I didn't pull the proverbial trigger sooner than I did.

If you decide to go with an X52, make sure it's an X52 Pro, not just an X52.

Fly safe, Commander!

[['w']]

Thurstmaster Warthog HOTAS, enough buttons for nearly everything, only downside you can't twist the joystick, but you can place yaw on the left thumpstick of the right hand

and this device feels heavy, still plastic in it, all over it, but well, not that bad

[Turd Ferguson]

Originally posted by IwilbI:

Thurstmaster Warthog HOTAS, enough buttons for nearly everything, only downside you can't twist the joystick, but you can place yaw on the left thumpstick of the right hand

if only it had twist rudder!

[TROiDEN]

I can recommend Gladiator Mk2 (non pro, since pro has no twist) for right hand, if you manage to get it somehow: 

http://vkbcontrollers.com/?product=vkb-sim-gladiator

It doesn't have many buttons on the stick, but for its price it has very smooth control.

Have no idea about throttle though, since I use dual joys.

[Fork_Q2]

Originally posted by IwilbI:

Thurstmaster Warthog HOTAS, enough buttons for nearly everything, only downside you can't twist the joystick, but you can place yaw on the left thumpstick of the right hand

and this device feels heavy, still plastic in it, all over it, but well, not that bad

I guess my question with the thumbstick, is if it is digital or analogue? Guessing it might be the former, which could be a problem.

I saw one review on YouTube saying the cool looking switches on the base don't play well with ED?

[Fork_Q2]

Originally posted by DeMENTED:

I can recommend Gladiator Mk2 (non pro, since pro has no twist) for right hand, if you manage to get it somehow: 

http://vkbcontrollers.com/?product=vkb-sim-gladiator

It doesn't have many buttons on the stick, but for its price it has very smooth control.

Have no idea about throttle though, since I use dual joys.

That does look very impressive! Might be a bit of a pain ordering to the UK though.

[['w']]

Originally posted by Fork_Q2:

Originally posted by IwilbI:

Thurstmaster Warthog HOTAS, enough buttons for nearly everything, only downside you can't twist the joystick, but you can place yaw on the left thumpstick of the right hand

and this device feels heavy, still plastic in it, all over it, but well, not that bad

I guess my question with the thumbstick, is if it is digital or analogue? Guessing it might be the former, which could be a problem.

I saw one review on YouTube saying the cool looking switches on the base don't play well with ED?

how so? which switches? everything so far works really nice for me. can you mark them on a picture and I can test it out. and I really don't know if it really makes such a difference if you've an on/off switch as analog or digital, in the end things are digital because you can't depict nature too accurate, and here it's just 0-1, so no big deal

btw, the little nip on the thruster is nice for 3rd person view.

[TROiDEN]

Originally posted by Fork_Q2:

Originally posted by DeMENTED:

I can recommend Gladiator Mk2 (non pro, since pro has no twist) for right hand, if you manage to get it somehow: 

http://vkbcontrollers.com/?product=vkb-sim-gladiator

It doesn't have many buttons on the stick, but for its price it has very smooth control.

Have no idea about throttle though, since I use dual joys.

That does look very impressive! Might be a bit of a pain ordering to the UK though.

They have european store as well, not sure if there's any stock, also they have Gladiator Plus under dev, it's actual HOTAS:

http://vkb-sim.pro/project/gladiator-plus/

---
They also plan a full spacesim set (dual joy and pedals probably)

[One Eye Jack]

I can only speak for the t.16000 HOTAS but I am very happy with mine. It is not too expensive and has enough buttons that I don't need to use the keyboard at all.

[Fork_Q2]

Originally posted by IwilbI:

Originally posted by Fork_Q2:

I guess my question with the thumbstick, is if it is digital or analogue? Guessing it might be the former, which could be a problem.

I saw one review on YouTube saying the cool looking switches on the base don't play well with ED?

how so? which switches? everything so far works really nice for me. can you mark them on a picture and I can test it out. and I really don't know if it really makes such a difference if you've an on/off switch as analog or digital, in the end things are digital because you can't depicete nature too acurate, and here it's just 0-1, so no big deal

btw, the little nip on the thruster is nice for 3rd person view.

In this video review (which really puts me off the Warthog HOTAS) @ 9:45 to 10:30 mark, the reviewer mentions that toggles don't work well with ED.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ5lLhp7XPQ

[Greg]

Originally posted by Turd Ferguson:

I just picked up an X56 on Amazon because they were available through Prime. I know the quality can be iffy but I intend to return it as many times as necessary to get a good one. Without Prime I wouldn't have considered it.

I also found a controller reset procedure that fixes the calibration problems people are complaining about.

I currently have an X52 pro but after a year I just ran i to some design/playsyle problems with it. I have almost 2000 hours on my x52 with no problems.

Have an x56 for a month now with no problems but I am curious to see the reset procedure you are taliking about.

[Turd Ferguson]

Originally posted by Greg:

Originally posted by Turd Ferguson:

I just picked up an X56 on Amazon because they were available through Prime. I know the quality can be iffy but I intend to return it as many times as necessary to get a good one. Without Prime I wouldn't have considered it.

I also found a controller reset procedure that fixes the calibration problems people are complaining about.

I currently have an X52 pro but after a year I just ran i to some design/playsyle problems with it. I have almost 2000 hours on my x52 with no problems.

Have an x56 for a month now with no problems but I am curious to see the reset procedure you are taliking about.

https://testsquadron.com/threads/saitek-x55-x56-forced-calibration.7946/

the English is a little rough but still understandable.

[Dread Lord]

take the new one that was designed for Elite with the help of frontier!

[Fork_Q2]

Originally posted by Dread Lord:

take the new one that was designed for Elite with the help of frontier!

That's the T.16000M FCS, right? Do you own this one?