After nearly 18 months of perfect service my X55 Rhino has suddenly developed problems with the E button and H4 8-way stick on the throttle - both dead. I contacted Madcatz technical and am very happy to report they have offered me the new X56 when it is released as a replacement as the X55 is no longer in production - so kudos to Madcatz for keeping at least this customer very happy. [up]
Hardware & Technical Excellent service from Madcatz tech support
- Thread starter Rardain
- Start date
I like it, wonder what the cost will be and when they will be shipping...
Shipping mid-June - no cost as the X55 is still in warranty [yesnod]
Apart from livery It looks exactly the same as the X55 to me. how exactly does the X56 differ from the X55?
Really? That's pretty good. My X52-Pro is similarly knacked (E-button and throttle hat, lighting on throttle dims) after less than 18 months, been very disappointed with the build quality of it.
* new paint job
* two small analog sticks (one on the stick and the other on the right throttle)
- they've replaced the buttons that were in the same location on the X-55, this change, however, gives you "six degrees of freedom" (pitch, roll, yaw, forwards, backwards, up, down, left, right)
* RGB backlighting (X-55 only had green)
Otherwise nothing else changed.
* two small analog sticks (one on the stick and the other on the right throttle)
- they've replaced the buttons that were in the same location on the X-55, this change, however, gives you "six degrees of freedom" (pitch, roll, yaw, forwards, backwards, up, down, left, right)
* RGB backlighting (X-55 only had green)
Otherwise nothing else changed.
An excellent affair
Having looked into the issue it would appear that the problem with the buttons dying is due to the wiring that runs from each throttle into the mainboard. The wires are not loomed and are free to just rub against each other and the housing and run through a very small hole. Constant movement back and forth of the throttles causes the wires to stress and eventually fail - at least according to the guy that produced the X56 review video's below. I was slightly disturbed by the fact he has a 9mm pistol sat under his monitor!
His final recommendation is not to buy the X56 as they haven't resolved the issues that were seen in the X55. Personally, despite all the horror stories seen online, I have had absolutely no problems with my X55 or indeed my X52 Pro (which is just sat in storage as a backup if required). Both HOTAS sets have been great and my X55 continues to work overall despite the dead buttons.
So long as Madcatz continue to be on the ball and honour their warranty commitments I will continue to buy their products, however, for anyone looking at the X56 as a new purchase, I would give some serious thought to the Thrustmaster Warthog because the price difference between the two is now down to £40 although you will need to buy pedals unless you assign yaw to buttons or hats on the throttle or stick.
X56 - £219.99
Warthog £259.99
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3UbFAoYsII
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkliSUIqgAY
His final recommendation is not to buy the X56 as they haven't resolved the issues that were seen in the X55. Personally, despite all the horror stories seen online, I have had absolutely no problems with my X55 or indeed my X52 Pro (which is just sat in storage as a backup if required). Both HOTAS sets have been great and my X55 continues to work overall despite the dead buttons.
So long as Madcatz continue to be on the ball and honour their warranty commitments I will continue to buy their products, however, for anyone looking at the X56 as a new purchase, I would give some serious thought to the Thrustmaster Warthog because the price difference between the two is now down to £40 although you will need to buy pedals unless you assign yaw to buttons or hats on the throttle or stick.
X56 - £219.99
Warthog £259.99
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3UbFAoYsII
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkliSUIqgAY
Guess I ain't gonna get one!
Just got an email back from them today with my RMA number so gonna pack up the 55 tonight. I still have my old X52 Pro tucked away...its a good few years old but perfectly serviceable.
And this my friend was the lifetime achievement of Saitek - X52. No better HOTAS they produced after imho...Just got an email back from them today with my RMA number so gonna pack up the 55 tonight. I still have my old X52 Pro tucked away...its a good few years old but perfectly serviceable.
There are bits to commend the X52 and the X55. Personally I would have liked to see them hybridise the two...the metal triggers and adjustability of the X52 married with the hall sensors and throttle of the X55
That is what I have been looking at getting but I'm pretty set on having analog control for all 6DOF. In this case, lateral and vertical thrusters.
Every time I hover over the buy button, I look at the picture one more time and am disappointed by the throttle buttons. It looks like it is made for console, tbh.
However, whenever I look at the X55/56 I constantly see reports of poor build quality and fast wear. I can't justify spending 250+ dollars on something that can't last as long as similarly priced components within my PC.
Everything else I've seen is well north of 300 dollars, and I'm not going to spend that for a peripheral, unless I have some extra cash just burning a hole.
I've also thought of adding the CH Throttle to the stick I have now, but the linear axis and, again, lack of analog control for thrusters just turn me off at its price point.
What am I to do? All I want is a modest HOTAS w/ analog 6DOF...it doesn't need to have metal and chrome but should come with the expectation that it will last two years.
Not sure if this is hoax or genuine - dedicated HOTAS for Star Citizen.
http://techreport.com/news/29202/mad-catz-shows-off-its-dedicated-star-citizen-hotas-controller
http://techreport.com/news/29202/mad-catz-shows-off-its-dedicated-star-citizen-hotas-controller
Just to let you know my x55 also developed the same fault a couple of months ago, just with a few weeks left of the warranty period. I was overjoyed when saitek said they would send me an x56 as a replacement, so I packaged up the faulty unit and returned. On Monday this week another x55 turned up. I contacted customer services and they said that they had found a few old units in their warehouse and sent me one of those instead of the promised x56. They are refusing to stick to their original promise even thoug I have it in writing (even the title of the RMA is "replacement faulty unit with x56"!) To make matters worse there is no new warranty on the replacement unit which means if it breaks after the next couple of weeks ( which it surely will with the inherent wiring fault) then I'm stuck with a faulty unit and no comeback. Can't say I've been at all impressed with saitek customer services. Hope things work out for you, but might be an idea to wait and see what you get before singing their praises...