Hardware & Technical Finally had enough of Saitek's poor quality.

DanTheMan

DanTheMan
The second X55 Rhino has developed exactly the same faults (switch failures) as the first.
Obviously, it's the switches one uses the most on the Stick & the Throttle.

The failing switches have (both times) been the "down" microswitch on the castle hat and the "pinky" switch on the LH throttle lever.

For a product that cost my boys around £200 to buy me for my 60th birthday at the end of December last year this failure rate is totally unacceptable.
I have asked my boys to attempt to obtain a complete and total refund because I am fed up of going through this pathetic cycle of failure and expensive exchange with the retailer.
I don't think it is "fit for purpose, or of merchantable quality".

I will not buy another Saitek product for as long as I continue (please God) to live; and I would wish you all to be aware of my experiences.

Replacement CH products are now ordered as I understand their build quality to be of "Arcade Quality" using first-class components.

UPDATE:
=====

After an exchange of e-mails the Vendor of the X-55 has agreed to refund most of the original purchase price (£149 out of £189).
I think the offer of a visit to a small claims court where it would be demonstrable that the goods were not of merchantable quality did the trick.
So full marks to them for seeing sense and meeting me part way. There are companies that behave a lot worse.

So a good week. Got my trading "Elite" AND a closure on this issue. Now I am after my Combat Elite.

Fly Safe CMDR's.
 
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Argus Leadhead

Argus Leadhead
That sucks to hear. Maybe you just got two lemons in a row? I've had my X-55 since Christmas and use it nearly every day for hours at a time and I've had no problems aside from ghost key presses at the beginning. Then I realized if I plug it in to USB 3.0 ports instead of 2.0 it went away.

Sorry to hear you haven't had a good experience with the x-55, but I'm loving mine.
 

Blairvoyach

Blairvoyach
I'm still using the Thrustmaster F22pro and TQS I bought getting on for twenty years ago. Use them almost daily for E: D, DCS, FSX etc.

Tope end Thrustmaster and CH Products can't be beat IMHO.

Good luck with your new HOTAS :)
 

avow555

avow555
My X52pro must be 8 years old and still working perfectly.

It's a shame so many people are having X55 issues as I had been considering getting one soon.
 

Schpam

S
Sadly,

I think the increasing complaints of build quality issues with Saitek are valid. I've routinely encountered issues that are related to quality control. You either get a good one and love your Saitek/Mad Catz controller, or you get a lemon.

The X55'd that I've dealt with usually have a sticky centering mechanism that either binds up the X/Y Axis or doesn't return the control stick to center properly. All of the ones I inspected had oval shafts/tensioners from imprecise injection molding.



Too bad really, because I like the designs they come up with and there are not too many options in that price range. They just cut too many corners on quality control.
 

Ving

V
Yup, it's a real shame about the X-55 quality. I had a failure with the throttle unit. :(

On the plus side, I think you will be very happy with the CH Products. I replaced my X-55 with the CH Pro Throttle and Fighterstick and I couldn't be happier...great build quality, excellent configuration software (Saitek's programming software is just garbage in comparison), easier mode set-up, and much better button placement IMO. Takes gaming to a new level!

Enjoy :)
 

Heavenly-Hammer

Heavenly-Hammer
No reason for anyone to feel sad in this thread. It should really be a celebration thread, as he's upgrading heavily by moving to a CH Products setup. I highly recommend that the rest of you Saitek owners do the same as soon as you can afford to.

OP (and anyone else owning or looking into CH setups), I can't recommend this map enough: https://github.com/domdavis/ch-products-elite-map/

https://github.com/domdavis/ch-products-elite-map/blob/master/layouts/full.pdf (full PDF)

I've been using it since March and it's so well laid out and complete that the only time I touch my keyboard is when I'm typing in coms. I use 90 of the roughly configured buttons every time I play.

Good luck and enjoy your upgrade, OP.
 

Dan Dare

Dan Dare
X52 pro is working well for me. Love the number of switches available, particularly like the flick up safety catch ;), not so keen on the very light joystick and the restricted range of the throttle compared to my T Flight, but on balance mine seems to be bearing up well after a few months of use. OP, are we related?
 

Zmaj od Bosne

Z
I bought an X-55 a few months back and returned it after a week. I hated the thing. The throttle would get stuck all the time and it was very difficult to move no matter how you set it.
 

domdavis

domdavis
Good choice with the CH gear. I've had mine for over a decade now. I recently needed to pop open the stick to clean some of the contacts (it was starting to drift quite badly), and I needed to do something similar with the throttle a couple of years ago. I suck at DIY, but both repairs were easily done, and they're both going strong. As each new HOTAS comes out I consider upgrading my ageing kit, but to date nothing has convinced me to switch :)

Shout if you need help with them.
 

Aleksej

Aleksej
Only the second? I am waiting for another replacement of the replacement of the replacement of the replacement of the replacement. I think I got it right. And this is not taking into account the first one that Amazon could not replace as they were out of stock and I had to request money back.
 
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Windscreen Smudge

W
DanTheMan said:
Replacement CH products are now ordered as I understand their build quality to be of "Arcade Quality" using first-class components.
Click to expand...

Arcade quality? Nahhh.....
|
Commercial and industrial quality. CH products are used by big corp in heavy construction equipment, top notch simulation boxes, etc... There are people that've been using their sticks for 20 years. Enjoy.
 

SlickReed

SlickReed
I still have bad input lag with my X55 also ghosting with the trigger. My problems seem to be fully with the stick assy, the throttle assy works fine since I've owned it.
 

Heavenly-Hammer

Heavenly-Hammer
Aleksej said:
Only the second? I am waiting for another replacement of the replacement of the replacement of the replacement of the replacement. I think I got it right. And this is not taking into account the first one that Amazon could not replace as they were out of stock and I had to request money back.
Click to expand...
Get a CH setup like a civilized gentlemen.
 

Titler

Titler
DanTheMan said:
The second X55 Rhino has developed exactly the same faults (switch failures) as the first.
Obviously, it's the switches one uses the most on the Stick & the Throttle.

The failing switches have (both times) been the "down" microswitch on the castle hat and the "pinky" switch on the LH throttle lever.

For a product that cost my boys around £200 to buy me for my 60th birthday at the end of December last year this failure rate is totally unacceptable.
I have asked my boys to attempt to obtain a complete and total refund because I am fed up of going through this pathetic cycle of failure and expensive exchange with the retailer.
I don't think it is "fit for purpose, or of merchantable quality".

I will not buy another Saitek product for as long as I continue (please God) to live; and I would wish you all to be aware of my experiences.

Replacement CH products are now ordered as I understand their build quality to be of "Arcade Quality" using first-class components.
Click to expand...


If you got the exact same faults a second time, it's possible they just resent you the same stick back to see if you were trying it on. Companies often do this, or re-wrap returns and pass them on to another customer to see if they'll just eat the loss without complaining; it's illegal to do, but proving it is quite hard. So I always subtly mark the returned product in a non-vital area (screws are a good one) to check it's actually a different unit they've sent.


However, I am using a cheaper ST290 that I got second hand from a charity store and it still works fine 2 years later, except I hate the layout of the fire buttons on the stick head and will replace it one day. However there's a problem with Elite Dangerous itself; if I alt tab out occasionally it thinks the centre point of the stick has moved, and you'll find your craft constantly tracks in one of the directions (vertical or roll) from then on. It's easy enough, but annoying to fix; alt tab again, go to Control Panel and re-calibrate the stick again. After which it tends to hold the central position for the rest of the play session. But it's only E : D that does this, I've never seen the issue in any other games.
 
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Executive

Executive
Saitek always was and always will be expensive plastic garbage.
I have a X-52 since 2010, it still works but it never really worked as I expected it to do for ~100€.
Had to open it up, fix the magnets to get rid of wobbly ghost-inputs, the rudder is inaccurate as hell and the overall feel is just meh.

Saitek?
Never again.
 

MacArthur

M
Have another 2c worth of "you did the right thing"

My X55, sticky centreing, wobbly hats and non functional twist rudder.

I have zero complaints about the CH stuff which replaced it, a pleasure to use.
 

Broon

Broon
Hell, I'm using a Saitek Cyborg 3D Gold USB circa 2000, yes turn of the century, joystick. I acquired it second hand and it still works great!

I guess they don't build them like they used to. :)
 
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