Which joystick should I buy?

[ScottishMartialArts]

TrackIR is the most popular example of head tracking hardware. The TrackIR hardware is a little black box that sits on top of your monitor and projects an infrared beam. You then wear a reflector that's attached to your headset or a hat or something, which reflects the infrared beam back to the projector. The projector is therefore able to track your head movements, and those head movements are translated into moving your POV in supported games. It works in all 6 degrees of motion, so in addition to just looking around in the cockpit, for example, you can shift your view side to side or up and down to get a better view of things outside the cockpit. Once you get used to using TrackIR, it provides very natural, precise, easy, and hands off POV control. In flight simulators it's essential for two reasons: it lessens your workload to control the aircraft -- particularly important in A-10 -- and it lets you easily track bandits in a dogfight.

Here's a demo video:

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

Cool stuff.

 

[Raghar]

So I got a saitek cyborg fly 5 or whatever the fuck and it's a really janky piece of shit. Unstable, creaky plastic with a too hard spring that makes small adjustments impossible. I have to hold it down hard with the other hand so it doesn't tip over when pitching ugh.

I am disappointed. I guess I should've gone for the x52 or something.

That was retarded. I looked around and found Saitek aviator XBOX360 is leap and bounds better. Also 52 is only 3x more expensive and looks it would be decent.

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

Generally, lower shelf joysticks should be avoided.

And I had Cyborg 3D and X8-38 from Saitek. They were both pretty shitty. I'm very satisfied with X52, though.

 

[potatojohn]

Great. My joystick rudder axis died. It's permanently set to maximum right and calibration does nothing.

 

[titus]

Stop buying shit. Get a Fighterstick from CH Products.

 

[potatojohn]

Where can I buy that in the potato union? It's $90 on amazon.com but 130gbp on amazon.co.uk.

 

[titus]

There you go: http://www.chproducts.com/13-28540-Poland.php
I got mine from UK(http://www.firstclass-simulations.biz/), but the transport cost to Romania is steep.

The only disadvantage is that you only have one axis to it(the other two are trims for the x/y axes). I usually use that for flaps control. If you want multiple axes, you may want to get an Yoke (if you like it, I don't), or do what I did and get the Throttle and Pedals as well. They cost some money(for my country's level, at least), but I can recommend those controls to anyone.

You can also take a look at Thrustmaster Hotas Warthog. I don't own one though.

 

[Morkar Left]

What do you guys do with your joysticks? Playing Summer Games with it?

 

[titus]

IL-2 ftw!

EDIT:
More info, reviews, etc here: http://www.simhq.com/_technology2/technology_094a.html

 

[ScottishMartialArts]

I told you, dude, Saitek AV8R for a low end stick -- everything else at that price range is shit quality.

 

[J_C]

What do you guys do with your joysticks? Playing Summer Games with it?

A) jerking off
B) playing flight sims

 

[Morkar Left]

What do you guys do with your joysticks? Playing Summer Games with it?

A) jerking off
B) playing flight sims

Cyborg Evo FF works very reliable for spacesims, robust and exact. I own it for years and use Force Feedback whenever I can.

 

[J_C]

What do you guys do with your joysticks? Playing Summer Games with it?

A) jerking off
B) playing flight sims

Cyborg Evo FF works very reliable for spacesims, robust and exact. I own it for years and use Force Feedback whenever I can.

I own the version without the FF, Cyborg Evo. As you said, very reliable, robust, exact. Works without a flaw for almost a decade.

 

[Quilty]

A decent offer over on GetGames. Choose two games for $25: http://getloadedgo.com A great way to pick up both Black Shark and A-10C, two brilliant simulations. Cliffs of Dover is a broken toy, but fairly enjoyable in MP, since there are one or two servers that are usually half-full.

 

[trym88]

Works perfectly with all DCS games.

 

[Dexter]

Anyone got updated recommendations for this?

I think I'd prefer buying a HOTAS setup in preparation for the upcoming Oculus Rift DK2 and Space Sims like Elite: Dangerous, No Man's Land, EVE Valkyrie, Darkfield, Strike Suit Zero etc.
Might also use it for actual Flight Sims that get Rift support, so far a few of the announced ones were Il-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad, DCS World/Flaming Cliffs 3, War Thunder.

From what I've got so far, the most popular options seem to be:

Thrustmaster T.Flight Hotas X - seems to be on the cheap side and looks too much like a plastic toy ~40€
Saitek X52 Flight Control System - looks interesting and somewhere right in the middle at somewhat over ~100€
Saitek X52 Pro Flight Control System - very similar to the X52 in build, but seems to have better components, like a lot more metal and better buttons on the Joystick side ~140-180€
Saitek X55 Rhino Hotas - seems to be the one replacing the X52/Pro this year, but aside from the Throttle the general build of the stick seems to be a downgrade from the previous version ~190€
CH Products FighterStick USB + CH Products Pro Throttle - seems to be the "enthusiast choice", but looks very plain and "old-school" e.g. didn't change much the past 15 years and is somewhat on the expensive side with ~230€
Thrustmaster Hotas Warthog - looks rather professional and great but a bit out of the price range of what I'd pay for something like that at ~300€+

So far I'm very inclined towards the X52 Pro, but it seems to unavailable in most shops since it is slowly being replaced with the X55 Rhino since earlier this year.

Videos I consulted so far:

Spoiler

Also looking to get a new Wheel and Pedals set for games like Euro Truck Simulator 2, Assetto Corsa, Project C.A.R.S., Victory: The Age of Racing etc.

I'm suspecting most Sim type games will likely have Rift support moving forward and I'm hoping to get somewhat more into them with the right equipment. I still got an old Thrustmaster Ferrari GT Experience Racing Wheel 3-in-1 I got at some point for cheap that doesn't exactly do the job. The most popular and most often used option out there at the moment seems to be Logitech G27 Racing Wheel refresh.

 

[OndrejSc]

This is a sweet setup:

 

[Jack Of Owls]

Always wondered what the new-Creature From the Black Lagoon's piercer looked like in The Shape of Water (2017). Actually, I didn't always wonder but now I know at least.

 

[Declinator]

Also looking to get a new Wheel and Pedals set for games like Euro Truck Simulator 2, Assetto Corsa, Project C.A.R.S., Victory: The Age of Racing etc.

I'm suspecting most Sim type games will likely have Rift support moving forward and I'm hoping to get somewhat more into them with the right equipment. I still got an old Thrustmaster Ferrari GT Experience Racing Wheel 3-in-1 I got at some point for cheap that doesn't exactly do the job. The most popular and most often used option out there at the moment seems to be Logitech G27 Racing Wheel refresh.

Belt-driven wheels like Thrustmaster T500 RS or some of the wheels Fanatec offers (or used to offer) deliver a smoother feel than G27. Fanatec's Clubsport pedal set is also greatly superior in all aspects to that of Logitech's though it seems like the cheapest bundle that Fanatec currently offers costs roughly twice as much as G27. Fanatec's wheels are also a lot heavier so depending on where you're going the clamp the wheel you might have problems. The gear shifter that comes with G27 is low quality and should not be a major factor in your decision making.

Might want to look at getting the Fanatec Clubsport pedal set used (all metal, built like a rock) and then buy a new wheel separately as they are far less durable or at least used to be.