decent flight stick to replace X55

bigmike20vt · 27 Nov 2015 at 11:45

hi

I have had an X55 for 17 months and the throttle has developed a fault.

I am currently arguing SOG act and fit for purpose etc but I am not confident. (it is not from overclockers)

if i get no joy, i need to decide if it is worth calling their bluff and trying to force the issue or if i just get a new stick.

I love my X55, but i am loath to support a company that makes such shoddy hardware.

There is obviously the king of them all, the Thrustmaster Hog, but this is a bit rich for my blood, and on top of that, I really want twist yaw.

is there anything on the market with the design quality, and feature list of the saitek/madcatz gear, but with better build quality?

failing that does anyone know if the design has perhaps been improved internally on the X55 since launch?

thanks.

ttaskmaster · 27 Nov 2015 at 13:48

bigmike20vt said:
if i get no joy, i need to decide if it is worth calling their bluff and trying to force the issue or if i just get a new stick.

Saitek/MadCatz are quite good at sorting replacement parts... especially for this one.

bigmike20vt said:
There is obviously the king of them all, the Thrustmaster Hog, but this is a bit rich for my blood, and on top of that, I really want twist yaw.

It's not that King... It's a good stick, but I found the throttle very much not to my liking. It's great if you play DCS A-10 Warthog Flight Sim or similar, but it didn't feel very 'spacey' for things like Elite and Star Cit... and was kinda naff for the helicopter sims.

Twist yaw is also not all it's cracked up to be.
I thought I couldn't do without it, but after a very short while on a 2-axis stick I absolutely hate twist.
It's also a common weak point on sticks anyway.

bigmike20vt said:
is there anything on the market with the design quality, and feature list of the saitek/madcatz gear, but with better build quality?

Minus the twist and pritty pritty lights, the best I've found is the CH Products range. Everything is sold separately, but you can get a Fighterstick and Pro-Throttle combo for £200... and these things LAST!

If you're set on something like the X55, I'd suggest an X52 Pro that was made by Saitek before MadCatz took over.

lurkio · 27 Nov 2015 at 14:20

I have owned

X52
X52 Pro
X55

Best of that bunch, the X52 Pro, (programming software was great, it can do things even the new X55 cannot)

I have owned CH pedals for about 8 years and they are still going strong

Timber · 27 Nov 2015 at 19:28

ttaskmaster said:
Minus the twist and pritty pritty lights, the best I've found is the CH Products range. Everything is sold separately, but you can get a Fighterstick and Pro-Throttle combo for £200... and these things LAST!

If you're set on something like the X55, I'd suggest an X52 Pro that was made by Saitek before MadCatz took over.

Just to echo, the CH Pro gear is awesome and feels like a great fit for Elite Dangerous. I posted pictures of it in the ED thread a few months ago. I've owned a few sticks (range of prices) and HOTAS setups but not the Warthog, so I'm not as informed as taskmaster. Also I've not used outside of ED.

bigmike20vt · 27 Nov 2015 at 21:13

Thanks e eryone. If saitek or original retailer do not come through I will look at that gear then.

ED has cost me some serious cash

kration · 29 Nov 2015 at 10:25

bigmike20vt said:
Thanks e eryone. If saitek or original retailer do not come through I will look at that gear then.

ED has cost me some serious cash

It's probably way below the level you would consider, but have you loked at the Thrustmaster Hotas X and combine it with Voice Attack? It's a great cheap stick with twist and I find it perfect for ED...

UKMach · 29 Nov 2015 at 15:11

Not to highjack your thread bigmike, but I couldnt see the point of starting one straight after you for a subject that was very in keeping. Im looking at buying a X55, particularly that it is £120 on OC at the moment. Ive read a lot tho that the quality of control for these products is not to be desired but most posts around the web ive read are about 1 year old. Do these control issues still exist with current produced models? Or is it worth looking at a X52 pro like lurkio has mentioned? Interestingly the X52 pro is currently £30 more on OC

Surfer · 29 Nov 2015 at 15:19

UKMach said:
Not to highjack your thread bigmike, but I couldnt see the point of starting one straight after you for a subject that was very in keeping. Im looking at buying a X55, particularly that it is £120 on OC at the moment. Ive read a lot tho that the quality of control for these products is not to be desired but most posts around the web ive read are about 1 year old. Do these control issues still exist with current produced models? Or is it worth looking at a X52 pro like lurkio has mentioned? Interestingly the X52 pro is currently £30 more on OC

Unfortunately the x55 is out of stock atm. I would be surprised if they get it back in stock and it stays at that very low price. Unfortunately a lot of competitors beat OCUK for price on the x52 pro (not on the x52) so i had to get it elsewhere. I did think about the x55 but it seems a tad bigger (ie to reach all the switches easily).

UKMach · 29 Nov 2015 at 15:50

Surfer said:
Unfortunately the x55 is out of stock atm. I would be surprised if they get it back in stock and it stays at that very low price. Unfortunately a lot of competitors beat OCUK for price on the x52 pro (not on the x52) so i had to get it elsewhere. I did think about the x55 but it seems a tad bigger (ie to reach all the switches easily).

Can you not purchase it at this price point and wait for it to be in stock? I havnt paid for it yet as im still researching it but I get as far as selecting delivery

ttaskmaster · 30 Nov 2015 at 11:21

UKMach said:
Or is it worth looking at a X52 pro like lurkio has mentioned? Interestingly the X52 pro is currently £30 more on OC

So the newer, fancy one that began at near-£200 when it came out, is now cheaper than the older one?
Says it all, I think...

Surfer said:
I did think about the x55 but it seems a tad bigger (ie to reach all the switches easily).

The X55, Warthog, CH sticks and just about all the ones based on an F16 column do seem a touch large, especially if you're using them on a desktop.
The F16 one is designed to be held from down by the side of the pilot's right knee, so these sticks suffer from that.

However, the X55 is still by far the largest of them and even my massive hands don't cope so well.

Surfer · 30 Nov 2015 at 17:48

UKMach said:
Can you not purchase it at this price point and wait for it to be in stock? I havnt paid for it yet as im still researching it but I get as far as selecting delivery

Yeah you should be able to do that go for it!

UKMach · 30 Nov 2015 at 20:04

Surfer said:
Yeah you should be able to do that go for it!

DONE! Now its just a waiting game. I wonder how many people have missed out on cheaper prices thinking that you had to wait for items to be back in stock.

ttaskmaster said:
The F16 one is designed to be held from down by the side of the pilot's right knee, so these sticks suffer from that.

I was thinking about this and best position for them. One of the games I plan to use them with is ED and HTC Vive, so I want to keep them roughly where they are represented in the cockpit in game. I was thinking about maybe just putting together some small tables to go each side of my chair.

I think VR is going to cost me a small fortune as you need the gaming peripherals to match what the brain thinks the hands are doing to gain that really immersed feeling.

Jamdude · 30 Nov 2015 at 21:43

Wow £120 for the X55?! I might join you with that purchase, my Extreme 3D Pro is somewhat lacking.

Surfer · 30 Nov 2015 at 21:43

well im gonna have to send my x52 pro back as it totally ****** my pc. When i install the *latest* saitek software my pc freeze and is unable to startup again ....lol so had to do system restore wtf..

rtho782 · 1 Dec 2015 at 09:07

I kept looking at an x55 but then I got bored of ED having reached elite trade rank.

Mind you this was just after release, perhaps there is more content now.

UKMach · 1 Dec 2015 at 10:09

rtho782 said:
I kept looking at an x55 but then I got bored of ED having reached elite trade rank.

Mind you this was just after release, perhaps there is more content now.

I havnt played ED yet, just bought it in Steam sale for £10. Im holding off until HTC vive comes out as I want a good initial VR experience with it. From what I know is that they plan on bringing out expansions with the first being planetary landings:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4sAe16UTDg

ttaskmaster · 1 Dec 2015 at 11:05

UKMach said:
Im holding off until HTC vive comes out as I want a good initial VR experience with it.

I would suggest giving it a go as is - It helps you get used to the game and the HOTAS so you won't need to look down for the buttons all the time and you can focus on the VR glory!

UKMach said:
One of the games I plan to use them with is ED and HTC Vive, so I want to keep them roughly where they are represented in the cockpit in game. I was thinking about maybe just putting together some small tables to go each side of my chair.

Yup, several folk have done this.
I'd suggest finding a way to immobilise the chair, if it's a swivel, else you may inadvertently twist and knock the tables over... not what you want when you have a Rift also sat on your face and cables running everywhere!!

I'm working on something attached directly to my chair, with another mount between the knees for games that use a centre column.
Having the stick on the desk can be awkward, but there are usually workarounds for this too. I merely used a bit of Sugru to build the grip up and alter the angle of my hand. My top-right hat is barely usable, but everything else is just fantastic!

UKMach said:
I think VR is going to cost me a small fortune as you need the gaming peripherals to match what the brain thinks the hands are doing to gain that really immersed feeling.

Worth noting that, aside from the direct axis inputs, all the button-pushing that the in-game hands do are pretty laggy. Even if you get an X52 and assign all your commands to the same buttons used in-game, there's no way the in-game hands can press them at the same time you do, so it may break the immersion a bit if you watch them too closely... sorry!!

UKMach · 2 Dec 2015 at 00:27

Yeah thats a good point, might want to get use to it first but I still want to come into the world of ED in just VR. Might play some wartunder with it.

My chair is just a normal kitchen chair so no swivel problems there, might just make some small tables or 'hack' some ikea furniture. What ever is cheapest.

D.Roberts · 2 Dec 2015 at 11:52

I to have just put in an order for the X55 at the great price of £120

As said waiting for them to come back in stock now

MGP · 2 Dec 2015 at 12:05

The X55 is a great bit of kit for Elite Dangerous, and no doubt other of these modern space sims that are out and about. It is superior to the X52 as the X55 is more modern and thus it seems more compatible with USB3.0 systems where a number of people have reported issues.

Downside of the X55 is the joystick handrest is fixed position and for smaller hands may not be that comfortable. On my X55 the throttle seems very stiff, despite adjustment.