Gentlemen (and Glas), I humbly request your assistance. I currently own a Saitek Cyborg 3D USB joystick, which has done me much good over the last two years. But alas, it's hat-button is rapidly deteriorating (6, 7.5 and 9 'o clocks barely work, 3 'o clock does nothing anymore), two other buttons are completely dead and it has developed a dead-zone of 0.4 cm's. When I calibrate it, it either moves up or down in neutral... Seriously fucked up! It gives me a good excuse when I get killed ("Sebbo, you bastard! You were supposed to kill that ack!" - "Yeah, I know, mate... But my joystick is fucked up!") but I think my squaddies will get pretty damn pissed when I keep missing the targets assigned to me for the next few months. Long story made short: my joystick is about to kick the proverbial bucket and I would like to get me a new one. I've done some research and found the Saitek X45. Of course I could also go ahead and buy the famuos Thrustmaster HOTAS, but then I'd have to rob a bank or sell my SR's organs.... Not a good idea (kidneys aren't worth that much anymore, anyway). Does anyone here have any experience with this X45 (or other sticks)? Is it any good? Do you have any other options? Oh, my setup is an AMD 2100+XP with USB 1.1 mobo, 512 mb RAM, currently running Windows 2000 (but I might change to XP or Server 2003 someday soon). I prefer USB-sticks over GamePort, but if anyone has a good reason to switch to GP, please tell me why!
im usнng x45 - most prob for me was the handling of rudder - but i like the many many buttons on this stick more here http://forum.wbfree.net/forums/showthread.php?t=14859 bb red
only handling - before i used a stick, this have the rudderaxis in the stick right hand - x45 i have to use left hand (iiiiiiiiiiiii my bad hand )
I bought myself X45 as a christmas gift. It's still a bit "under practice", but it seems to work excellently. After i finally understood how to get rid of WB's own profile in joystick configuration page, i finally made my own, working profile. And WOW. It's so damn SIMPLE to do one. Now, i have everything from engine start to bombay doors in my hands, including Roger Wilco's transmit button in my pinky. Trims and mapbuttons including zoom in/out are under thumb. If there is something bad to say about the stick, it's rudder. The guys who planned it have mixed up words anatomical and anal. But. I'm currently making adapter in between of throttle unit and stick to allow using of self-made rudder pedals with single pot. If you need other info, just ask.
Grrr I just posted a big reply to your questions and then IE went belly-up Basically, I havent used the X45, only the Cyborg (on my second one now) and when this one goes I will replace it with another Cyborg Lesio and Promet had a conversation about the X45 in AH the other day, the upshot of it being that the X45 wasnt considered a great stick. Others will beg to differ of course. Try contacting Mal about cleaning the stick. He uses the Cyborg too and told me he regularly opens it up and cleans the points, etc which seem to work well. I tried it with my last Cyborg and ended up with about 10 spare parts when I put it back together. Needless to say, it never worked again Also, when I formatted recently I had major problems, much like the ones you are experiencing now. I thought my HAT switch had died and even contacted Saitek about a replacement. I tried reinstalling the drivers again and, lo and behold, it worked. Saitek joysticks are a bit crazy under Windows because the drivers arent digitally signed although AFAIK that was mostly only a problem with Win XP. What driver version are you using now? I'll check what ones I have when I get home to see if they would work for yours. Also, try out the Saitek website mate. They have a large database of drivers and also a great support section with a forum and stuff. Seriously, I was sure my stick was knackered last time it went wonky, when it turned out that nothing at all was wrong with it. Hope this helps mate. -glas-
No, my joy is (was) broken (hardware). So, I bought an X45 today!!!! It'll take a load of getting used to, as it's rudder is built into the throttle... So I won't be online much the next weeks. I'll stick to offline and practice. First impression: GREAT stick!!!!!
hi mate ! i donґt know if it may help you but i post my experiences with my different joysticks. first i had the saitek cyborg 3d usb gold - everything ok with that stick but bought me a "thrustmaster top gun fox 2 pro shock" due to the force-feed back feature - the throttlecontroll just failed - i opened it to repair it and saw every connection was fixed by hot melt glue not soldered or welded in any way. ok - it could fix it but i was furious to spend so much money for such a bad quality. unfortunately i gave away my fully working cyborg 3d to a squad mate. so i use my thrustmaster - not bad that stick but notice the quality greets air
well, Thrustmaster went down when they started to make such a low-end products like Fox series...normal TM starts from Cougar and all the previous HOTAS more or less products (TopGun FCS, F16 FLCS etc. - those sticks were great and very durable,those today can't even compare, except for CH) pity that the only "normal" stick they made for USB (beside Cougar) was TopGun, which had no throttle or rudder control (although stick is simply great, very much like CH)...
Actually, I've got a TM TopGun Afterburner, and it's got a seperate throttle and I can choose which kind of rudders to use, on stick or on throttle (I prefer throttle)... <Z>
Well, I got my X45 now and programmed it yesterday. I allready went flying as well, but it's a huge switch from my Saitek Cyborg 3D..... First of all, the Cyborg was a standard, twisting stick, with a throttle and some 7 buttons. The X45 has no twist in the stick, you press a button on the throttle to use rudder. That is a MAJOR difference, I constantly try to tear the stick from it's base when I (want to) use rudder Other difference: the "mode"-switch. I programmed three modes now: 1 fighter-mode, 1 bomber-mode and 1 take-off/landing mode. All buttons mean something else when a different mode is selected, f.i. Button 3 means "Fire Secondary" in mode 1, but "zoom bombsight" in mode 2 and "lower flaps" in mode 3. Button 6 means "WEP" in mode 1, "toggle engine" in mode 2 and "open bomb-bay" in mode 3. A GREAT system... So I won't be online much as I try to get the hang of this stick for the next two weeks. I think this is going to be REALLY cool!
Sounds much too complicated for me mate The Cyborg just feels 'right' for me. The only thing that annoys me is that I cant switch my OS to WinXP, cos I know the problems it will cause. -glas-
@ Dick: If you manage to build those rudders, would you PRETTY PLEASE WITH SUGAR ON TOP send me the plans/details? That would be REALLY FUCKING cool!!!!!! @ Glas: Those buttons too complicated for ya? Doesn't surprise me at all, since you get confused when you try to open a bag of peanuts wiithout written instructions on how to do that..... But seriously: it's rather easy. But you're right, the Cyborg IS a great stick. I just want MORE!
Okay: The X45 is two sticks in one package. The setup is like this: Code: COMPUTER (through USB) <----------- STICK (some weird connector) <-------THROTTLE The rudder is on the throttle. It is a two-way switch which automatically jumps back to neutral when you release it. It's like an old-fashioned light-switch! So you put your left hand on the throttle and use rudder with your index- and middle-finger... Here's a quick and dirty MS-Paint drawing of the system. Hope you understand it!
joysticks... hi glas, i have the 2nd cyborg 3d usb woff (withoutforcefeedback ) i like the size (although i know, that size doesn't matter...), you can put it to by changing the screwy sizechanger. it's exact and good to handle - at the beginning, but after some time the parts all get, well.. loose in a way! same problem as sebbo: i have only half of the views in different order available. so i use rhe force of my thumb when trying to find some contact-zone. ok, meanwhile the throttle and the trigger are broken, but i still play till the figers are bleeding! but, i think, i go off-topic... what i wanted to say is, don't fear any bubblegum-crisis with windowsxp. saitek is yet still releasing one 'better' version after the other of their driver-software, which i haven't found one working right with the cyborg. except the pretty first release of 'sd1.7', which is also the smallest (only drivers) be sure that you haven't tried out other versions before (or use 'nukeusb' to get rid of them) and the cyclops will work for you (as it does for me with my 4th winxp-installation). at least with 'need for speed - porsche', 'il2', 'il2-fb' and 'wb2.77'
Size.... Now THERE's an important-yet-often-overlooked factor. My hands are REALLY small. I had my Cyborg 3D setup as small as possible! And there's the only drawback I found with the X45 so far: its size isn't adjustable.... But I'll manage
@Zemb - i was reffering to older TopGun joy (http://www.joy-stick.net/reviews/joysticks/topgun.htm - like that, but USB) @Sebbo - how would u describe spring tension of that stick? it has only one gimbal, am i right? is it "light"? what force is required to move it? can u compare it in this matter to other joys on the market (MS, Logitech etc.)? strange, that it doesnt have a twist handle...i've read somewhere, that u can choose between buttons on throttle and twist... thx
1) Spring tension of X-45 is "hard", which means way harder than CH (the lightest) and MS (low-medium tension), harder than Logitech (medium tension), but softer than Cougar (never used it, but i know ppl using both estimating Cougar way harder than X45). I came from a MS precision "woff" and I needed some time to get used to the harder spring, especially for close dogfighting. As for accuracy, X45 is better than MS and Logitech, but way behind the CH. Price/quality ratio is good, quality itself not the top. 2) Unfortunately X45 owns one rudder control only on the throttle, and it sucks. As for me I bought a MS Precision Wheel for 40 ? and use its pedals for rudder: not as good as a CH pedals set, but works fine and price is 1/4. Moreover you get a good wheel, which is fine if you play driving sims too, as I do. 3)The real problem of the X-45 is the spring mechanics, which uses a plastic ring frictioning on the base, producing unaccuracy. I also have to say that after some time the 2 frictioning parts adjust each other, therefore the situation now is much better than when i bought it (6 months ago). A possible solution for this problem is also using some teflon-based lubrifier between the two parts, as I've been doing for some time. 4) If your hands are too small for X-45, never buy a CH: it's much bigger and taller, even if I have to admit that its quality (axis, buttons and hats accuracy) is far better than the X-45 (costing MUCH more, of course). Best regards Promet
@ ledada: Thanks for the info about the drivers mate I think it was SD1.7 drivers I was using under XP, which I got from Malino. They were still causing a freaky problem that somehow I dont get under 98SE. If I took off and set trim angle to climb (like on a buff for instance), then walk away to make a coffee or something, I would get a static shock from the stick when I touched it again, it would dissapear frrom XP and my plane would go in to a weird spiral dive which I had no way of stopping. I would then have to reboot to get the stick showing in my taskbar again. Since using it in Win98, ive had no problems with it. Also, this old hunk of junk PC somehow seems alot stabler these days, which was one of the great things I liked about XP (in 9 months of having it, I didnt have a single crash). If they bring out a new set of drivers for XP, I might be tempted to do a reinstall of my OS -glas-
