I sent my wife to town to purchase a Thrustmaster Top Gun stick. Unfortunately she went to Best Buy and the salesperson talked her into a Saitek X45 instead. I have basically given up on getting this stick to work with Warbirds. The game confuses the mode and auxiliary switches with hat positions. I can make it work by using forward view for these switch postions but then none of the POV hat positions work. Has anyone ever gotten the X45 to work right with Warbirds??? Which sticks in the 50 to 100 dollar range work properly with Warbirds??? I don't want to spend an entire afternoon being frustated again. Failing a fix for the Saitek from someone here, the X45 is going back, so I can wait 6 weeks to get my money back from BestBuy (paid by check) Opinions for sticks in the 50 to 100 buck range most welcome. Budice (still looking for a squad)
In that price range, I would buy the Microsoft Sidewinder Precision 2. Best bang for you buck in my opinion.... I owned 2 microsoft sticks before my current set up, and I was happy with both of them. Stay away from logitech. They tend to crap out with extended use...lots of deadband..etc. You've already had a great experience with Saitek.... One of the fellows in our squad has a Top Gun afterburner. He seems to like it. I can't make a comment on Thustmaster since I've never used one and know few people with them.
hi bud, i get my x45 in april. the main prob was the buggy driver. but the new satek software (it was released in may) works fine on my w2k installation. follow my config files - i changed some wb files too wb: win95.asc keymap.asc wstick.cfg saitek profile file: wb2_77.dat i think the x45 is a nice stick - my setup is prepared in mode 1 for fighter and in mode 2 for buff have fun + bb cu red
I got 2 joysticks on my pc, a wingman extreme 3d.. dont buy 1, its a peice of shit! and the second is a wingman interceptor, which is the joystick i use for wb! ive had it for 4 years, best damn joystick ive even owned, and with 3 hats, throttle and 9 buttons, u cant go wrong it should market for about $50 US
I have a Wingman Strike Force 3D (force feedback). It has not been a bad stick this last 18 months although it is almost shagged now. Deadband is still OK, but it has some serious wear in all the pivot points...plastic on plastic is not a good practice, even with grease. Only problem I had in WB is one of the hats is screwed up. About to upgrade....most likely to an Afterburner F.F. Anyone had any experience with that stick? Regards, Oz
This interceptor ive got, its lasted me 4 years, only problem ive had, is that the rubber on the first hat came off, so now its just a flat peice of plastic... my thumb still fits onto it nicely, so its all good... lol Only conclusion i can come to.... they dont make things like they used to!
Never had so much fun with joystick as with the X45 from Saitek! Got even extended rudder pedals working with it on Warbirds! A friend of mine has this setup also and is also playing warbirds with it. X45 is not a bad buy at all, you must eighter doing something wrong or the joy is broken. BTW. you need the programming software to use/program all the buttons on it. I got old drivers and patch to let it work in warbirds with extended selfmade rudder pedals(under win98 though), so if you need it give a call. Ray
You can buy Micrtosoft Sidewinder Force Feedback 2 for 50$ (in Russia ?maybe in other countries too?). His normal price was around 100-120 bucks not long earlier. Considering fact that this is a really great stick, this is a 100% best choice. btw: budice X45 can work with WB. you just need alternate drivers. (afaik)
The X45 is going back to the store. Mine has about 50 counts of "jitter" in the X axis, just sitting still on my desk. My cheap $15 stick has no jitter. I carefully took the X45 apart (easy to get apart at least) and cleaned the pots, but still the jitter. Way too much for an $80 stick. Budice
I took my wingman apart and still it doesnt work properly. The rudderfunction doesnt allow me to turn left for some strange reason
I got a Saitek Cyborg II 3D and I must say it's a great stick. Never had any problems on XP, 2k or 98.
8 years with the Micrtosoft Sidewinder Force Feedback I, it never oxidized, never had to update drivers or to take a part it. I'm used to clean it with vapour and alcohol and it looks like new.
OK. The Saitek X-45 went back to the store. Not a bad joystick, lots of buttons and goodies and easy to disassemble, but my particular one had more center jitter than I thought an $80 stick should have. The fact that the included drivers lacked functionality with Windows XP also pissed me off some. I now have the Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback 2 and $10 in my pocket. I have to admit, I was one who always thought force feedback was nothing more than a gimmick to seperate us from our money. One night with this stick convinced me otherwise. The friggin stick is just plain cool. Not to mention precise. Like flying with a laser instead of a soup spoon. I guess I'll have to start blaming my poor scores on pilot error from here on out. Budice
Stick to Force Feedback 2. It have a great bonus over precision 2 (added to FF) - much better mechanics. And its price not much more then P2 today.
