Kinda expected as much considering the quality of the X55 I have (issues since day 1) and the quality of the support they offer (weeks for responses, refusing to be helpful). I do not see Saitek changing even with their new CEO etc. Same mistakes and not learning from them. I wrote the company off myself a long time ago, and thankfully helped 2 friends avoid buying one last year. Hopefully this thread does the same for others so they can buy something decent with their money.
Hardware & Technical Avoid the X-56 like the plague.
- Thread starter Warmaster Will
- Start date
I was a few seconds from using the Silicon grease on my Warthog too (typically requires a re-grease) before a quick google revealed some very bad reviews. Switched to Lewmar gear grease (marine winch product) and it worked perfectly. And no, I don't have gears, a winch, or a boat either. Go figure...
I think this is a personal preference, mine's got what I would consider just the right amount of deadzone, any less and I'd have to add it in or it'd be too "twitchy" for me.
Again, personal preference. I've seen people cut a disk out of the lid part of one of those old cannisters of blank cd's for this too. There's also a guy on ebay who sells stiffer springs (retasked from some other purpose) that fit into the X-52.
Yeah I did this too. If I was flying a jet and I wanted idle and afterburner detents that'd be great but for ED a smooth range is better. Even better would be an option of a central detent instead so you could have a forward/reverse throttle... reverse button works just fine though. I've got the detent and springs sitting in a plastic bag to protect them from dust in case I ever want to put it back.
See my post above - I tried silicon grease but the results were really short lived and I got a much better result from trombone slide cream. Any music shop, or get it on ebay for a few bucks.
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Yeah I don't think the silicon grease will do it any major harm - unlike vaseline etc it's not a petroleum product so it won't eat the plastics, but it's also not the right product for the purpose. It's more of a protective grease than a lubricant.
This.
This is what happened to me and I also fixed mine via a "decent" Powered USB hub...I have not seen one single issue since (6 months).
Clicker
The issue is more their approach to customer support than simply getting a lemon. And considering that most of us purchase these type of peripherals online, it makes it very difficult to simply "take it back".
When I purchased my X52 pro, it had one minor issue out of the box which I was willing to overlook. Over a period of about 3 months, I started to experience other issues. I worked closely with their tech support and went as far as a clean install on another PC to test the issue. They agreed to replace the controller, but I had to pay return shipping. Fair enough. Got the new controller, which suffered from the same minor issue as the first out of the box. Within 2 weeks other issues surfaced, most IDENTICAL to those experienced with the first. TO THEIR CREDIT, they offered to replace it and this time covered the shipping costs. However, when I received the replacement, it too had many of the same problems out of the box. Once again, working with their tech support, they agreed to replace it once again. When I asked them to cover the shipping (shipping costs from my location was roughly 1/3 the purchase price of the controller), they told me it was not their policy, they would replace the controller, but not cover the cost of shipping despite acknowledging that I received 3 consecutive devices with blatant mechanical failures. This was despite the fact that their tech support manager admitted he personally tested the last device I sent back and found it to be faulty.
I never returned the last one and opted to void my warranty, open it up, and repair it myself. Fortunately I was successful in that endeavor. To me, it just wasn't worth shipping costs totaling 2/3 the original purchase price to roll the dice on another replacement. I would rather put the money towards a new Thrustmaster, and eventually I did replace the X-52 with one. But I will NEVER give Saitek/MadCatz another dime of my money. To experience one failure is understandable. Two identical failures within a month might be bad luck. But three identical mechanical failures in a 7 week time frame is MALPRACTICE. The very least they can do for any customer who experiences such issues is cover the cost of shipping beyond the first replacement. Otherwise there is no point to having a warranty.
USB 3.0 is rated to deliver a maximum of 900ma, while USB 2.0 only has 500ma max. If the stick is near to the maximum current rating for USB 2.0 and your computer's USB controller or power supply is slightly suboptimal this is exactly what you'd expect, which would explain intermittant problems (as the computer drew more or less power, or capabilities changed as temperature varied), as well as why running it from a powered HUB (especially a 3.0 one with it's higher power rating) would resolve it. Did you try running it directly from a USB port rather than a hub? If so, was it 2.0 or 3.0?
Hi
Well must say I got the X-56 a week after release as I had broken my X-55 two months earlier and I have had no problems as yet with it I know it's early days as it's only been out 6 weeks but I do play mine hard so can only say yours was is a bad run...
So, let me paraphrase, see if I understand.
- You got three bad ones in a row (yes, not acceptable but also not the normal experience).
- By your own admission, their tech supported worked closely with you over quite a period of time to resolve the issues, to the point that their manager personally tested one of them, but you're dissatisfied with their support service?
- You elected to buy online for your convenience, but then was upset about having to pay for return postage despite you knowing you would have to in the event of a warranty before you bought it, and despite them paying postage on one of the two occasions you actually returned it, even though it was against their own policy?
Just out of curiosity, what WAS the problem you eventually fixed yourself?
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I do have to say that after having read this thread I wouldn't buy one of these expensive sticks online. I buy a lot of stuff online, but rarely do I buy really expensive stuff online unless it's from a reputable dealer in my own country. I did buy a $900 camera lens online once, but it was from a shop an hour's drive from me, just in case. I'd also be very hesitant to buy one unless the dealer was willing to let me try it out first, either on my own laptop or their computer. That doesn't just go for saitek stuff though, but anything that costs so much that I don't want to get messed around. The whole "returning under warranty to some guy overseas" is just too dodgy to risk on major items in my opinion, and this is going to become more and more of a problem as online shopping and globalisation become more widespread.
Interestingly, in the Philippines every time you buy ANYTHING in a reputable shop they unpack it and show it to you working in the shop before you pay for it to avoid this exact problem. I've personally seen them do that with major appliances like air conditioners and refrigerators, and even small items like fans and kettles, flashlights and even light globes (hardware stores have wired up test racks with every sort of socket powered up so they can test any globe for you! Huge workplace health & safety issue, but great customer service). I used to be annoyed about it coz I wanted to be the one to "un-box it" but I've since come to appreciate it - it's saved lots of problems in a country where a warranty often only lasts hours or days. Now I just get annoyed at the slow internet... and the traffic... and the dodgy food... and the scammers. The beer's good though.
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1) Buying online was my only option. There is no store in my area which sells these. Definitely would be more convenient if I could walk into a store and buy it.
2) I paid the postage for the first return. They paid the postage for the second. They refused to pay for the third and claimed they never paid for the second stating that it is not their policy. I countered that statement by providing a photocopy of the return postage label they provided me for the second to no avail.
3) All the sticks I received had trigger button 1 stuck on out of the box. One of the hat switches on the stick failed in 3 months on the first stick, 2 weeks same hat on the second, and virtually out of the box on the third. I confirmed that it was not driver issues by installing the driver software to a clean install of windows on another machine on all 3 occasions. After dismantling the stick I was able to correct what appeared to be assembly issues and used the stick for about 6 months without further issues before I replaced it.
And yes I am dissatisfied with their service. My paying the first return shipping was reasonable. Them covering the second, in my opinion, is expected. Saitek's REFUSAL to cover shipping on the third, despite their acknowledgements of the quality issues, is unacceptable.
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Yes Saitek isn't good but it is not as if there are a lot of choices out there.
Thrustmaster is not making HOTAS out of their most balanced joystick T16000M, or sell a cheaper standalone combat throttle to match it. HOTAS X is okay but it is mechanical and nowhere near as accurate as T16000M. Warthog has no twist for yaw, which is annoying considering it's cost.
CH joystick and throttle are solid but lack features and not cheap for what it is. If you are going to get CH throttle and Thrustmaster T16000M as a setup then you might as well by x55/x56, since it cost you pretty much the same anyways, for less features.
Lack of choice is the problem here.
Thrustmaster should've made a HOTAS out of T16000M. They would've cornered the market has they done that.
Thrustmaster is not making HOTAS out of their most balanced joystick T16000M, or sell a cheaper standalone combat throttle to match it. HOTAS X is okay but it is mechanical and nowhere near as accurate as T16000M. Warthog has no twist for yaw, which is annoying considering it's cost.
CH joystick and throttle are solid but lack features and not cheap for what it is. If you are going to get CH throttle and Thrustmaster T16000M as a setup then you might as well by x55/x56, since it cost you pretty much the same anyways, for less features.
Lack of choice is the problem here.
Thrustmaster should've made a HOTAS out of T16000M. They would've cornered the market has they done that.
Haven't had any problems with my X-56 so far, for what it's worth. Hopefully that will remain true
If that's your only option then you have no choice, just gotta suck it up I guess. Not good, but better than no option.
I agree that it was reasonable for you to cover the first and them to cover the subsequent as long as you can show it was their error, not yours (which is exactly what you did by the sounds), and them refusing to cover the third was just a cheap-ass move on their part. Other than that though it sounds like they offered pretty good service from your description.
Dude, are you joking around? That is exactly what Thrustmaster are doing:
http://www.thrustmaster.com/en_US/П...w-gameplay-experiences-announced-new-t16000m-
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Ah, I have been ninja'd!
I never had an issue with their support personnel. My beef is with the way their front office handled the issue. As I recall, the support manager I spoke to was quite sympathetic, going as far as to lobby the front office on my behalf. Needless to say he was unsuccessful. I can't blame him for that, but they have lost a customer nevertheless.
Nah I haven't actually. Good deal. I'll be getting that.
Been asking about this for a few years now so definitely good development.
Edit: I like the price. Cheap too compare to x55.
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14th of June mate. It is a recent development.
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I had the flickering/ghosting issue with my X-55 throttle but like others here, I plugged it into a powered USB hub and that solves the problem. My main complaint is that I have a clicking noise/feeling when twisting the joystick for yaw. I've tried all sorts of lube but no luck.
Otherwise I'm very happy with my X-55.
Otherwise I'm very happy with my X-55.
And this is also probably why I haven't had problems with my X-56 - it's plugged into a powered USB 3.0 hub.
Exactly. Once games like NMS and SC are mainstream, and even more so if there's a big plane title or two released and companies like M$ and Logitech wll start looking into Hotas's which means everyone else has to pull up their game to stay relevant, but till then thrustmaster, CH, and Saitek have the very small market sewn up and can do what they like. I see that Saitek are designing a new, modular HOTAS for SC, hopefully will be equally usable with ED as another option, and then there's this Thrustmaster T. 1600M FCS that's supposed to be specially for ED, but I can't find it anywhere actually available.
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Yeah that's fair enough, I'd be majorly aggravated with that attitude too. As I said it's a cheap-ass tactic, any company that stands behind their product should be willing to look after customers.
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I have used the X52 and X52 Pro. Both "work", but require tweaks to make the basic design usable.
X52 has a really flimsy stick which requires a tensioner. X52 Pro has a huge deadzone which requires the addition of magnets.
Best joystick I ever had was Microsoft's Sidewinder 2... still miss it till this day
X52 has a really flimsy stick which requires a tensioner. X52 Pro has a huge deadzone which requires the addition of magnets.
Best joystick I ever had was Microsoft's Sidewinder 2... still miss it till this day