Help in choosing a new joystick

[fleabus2]

Hi:

I’ve begun ordering the new parts for my system (see below) and would like to replace my ol’ Thrustmaster FCS Mark 1 joystick with something newer/better. I haven’t done a lot of gaming in the past but will likely try more of it now. First Person Shooters, Racing and Flight Sims are probably at the top of my list.
Force Feed-back in some form would be nice. I’ve been using Logitech mice and keyboards and like their features/support. How do their joysticks rate with the competition?
I’d like a stick that doesn’t come with an initially steep learning curve. One that you plug in, configure for all of the basic/usual parameters and fine-tune/tweak later as required/desired. Microsoft joysticks would be OK but I’ve heard of problems with WinXP. Seitek I know nothing about.
This system will be complex enough as it is. I won’t be enabling any serial, parallel nor any game ports. USB is what I prefer. The only other USB 1.x device I’ll have is a printer which wouldn’t be active at the same time so compatibility/conflicts shouldn’t be a problem. Both main CRTs have powered USB hubs and there will be one open USB port open on the rear I/O as well as the ones on the front of the case that are connected to the mainboard’s extra USB header. Any of these ports preferable for the joystick?
Price is not nearly as important as reliability, quality and timely non-buggy driver support.

WinXP HE clean
P4 2.8GHz retail
1GB (4x256MB) Kingston PC1066 RIMM
Asus P4T533-C i850e/s478 (on board LAN to DSL)
Promise Ultra133 PCI controller card:
-IDE0: Maxtor 80GB 740X ATA-133 7200RPM FDB (boot)
-IDE1: “ “ “ “
Mainboard controller:
-Primary: Plextor W4012 CD-R/RW
-Secondary: Toshiba M1612 DVD-ROM
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz PCI sound card
-Analog & S/PDIF to Denon 3802 7x110W based HT
Matrox Parhelia-512 Retail
-VGA1: ViewSonic P225 21” shadow mask CRT
-VGA2: ViewSonic P817 21” shadow mask CRT
-VGA3: ViewSonic 17-PS-2 17” shadow mask CRT
-TV: S-video via Denon to 36” Sony Wega XBR NTSC
Canon S750 BJ printer (USB1.1)
Canon D1250U2F CanoScan scanner (USB 2.0)
Logitech Cordless USB & PS/2 keyboard (as PS/2)
Logitech Mouseman USB & PS/2 Dual Optical mouse (as PS/2)
Lian-Li PC-68 case
Enermax EG651P-VE FMA 550W PSU

What stick(s) would you recommend for this system and the types of gaming I’ll be doing?

Thanks in advance,

[az]

You'll want a steering wheel for racing, and absolutely and definately a mouse and keyboard for shooters. For flight sims/space combat sims, a joystick would be the weapon of choice.

I've heard good things about the Saitek Cyborg sticks - they're quite customizable hardware-wise - you can use them for either the right or the left hand, and they are adjustable for different hand sizes and finger lengths (good for people with small hands - but as you owned a Thrustmaster, I presume you've got rather big ones). Their X45 flight stick & throttle look very thrustmaster-like to me.

If I were you, I'd go to a local shop and take the Joysticks they have there in my hand, and choose the one that is the most comfortable.

Microsoft sticks are quite good, hardware-wise, and I believe their new models don't have problems under XP, though I don't know this for sure.

AZ

[Wombat]

I have a Sidewinder 2. Nice joystick, to start out with, but it definitely wears out quickly. The Saitek is nice, but depends largely on personal preference: people seem to love it or hate it. Next for me is a Logitech Wingman.

[az]

I had a wingman extreme. Really liked its feel - it was just perfect for me.

Unfortunately it developed calibration problems quite quickly (about a year or so after I bought it), and I used it mostly to play Privateer 2 - a game that has calibration problems as well

Newer Logitechs of course use entirely different tech (and unfortunately different stick design), so that's just a little anecdote

AZ

[GT98]

Originally posted by Wombat
I have a Sidewinder 2. Nice joystick, to start out with, but it definitely wears out quickly. The Saitek is nice, but depends largely on personal preference: people seem to love it or hate it. Next for me is a Logitech Wingman.

I have a sidewinder 2 myself and been pretty happy. I used Thrustmaster products back in the DOS days when Sims used to rule the land..now they are dead for the most part

[Umfriend]

My Logitech Wingman Digital Extreme broke after 4 months. While playing, it felt as if the stick could move just that bit extra far and moved more easily. The game however didn't react at all to any of those movements anymore.

The bought a MS SW PPro (version 1). A very nice and good stick with quite a few controls (rudder by twisting and throttle on a dial, 8 buttons). This stick gave me a lot of satisfaction and I think this is a different class from the wingman above. Still, after about three years of non-intensive use, I have problems with the rudder part of it. There is no resistance anymore in the first part of rudder turning, so I may have my rudder moved somewhat without noticing it (which is a pain in flight....) I guess the wearing out statement may be valid.

I'll track this thread, because I am also looking for a new device. At the moment, I'm saving up for a MS SW Ppro FFB. Don't the Saiteks have only 4 buttons?

Umf

[trousers]

I was introduced to the delights of stompy-robot action with MechWarrior 4 and a MS SideWinder 2 FFB stick. Can whole-heartedly recommend this stick for use with flight sims as well.

Good solid build, adjustable feedback, lots of buttons, Z-axis twist, throttle, etc. Something to consider - it requires mains power as well. Whatever your opinion of MS bloatware, they know how to make (license) peripherals.

One more thing. I am left-handed, and the grip was not.

A few hours later, with dremel, filler putty, bastard rasp, reversing of motor drive and sensor polarity, rotate grip shaft 180d, add racquet grip tape et voila! No more fumbling at buttons/throttle with crossed wrists. The Saitek sticks are adjustable to either hand, but I liked the SideWinder, and I am an engineer. If it ain't broke... fix it!

[Ribbit]

You mentioned racing sims, so if you want a wheel, here's the one I take some time to drool over every week:

http://www.act-labs.com/race_combo3.htm

Supposedly a very high quality piece of kit.

FF wheels in general are good for arcade and rally driving sims, but if you're more into F1 or GPL-type stuff, you want a very smooth, non-FF wheel - don't know what I'd recommend for that.