Avoid Saitek like the plague. Logitech or no, the saitek acquisitions will take time to rectify.
I am using the Thrustmaster FCS. Pretty good, the centering on my unit is a bit inconsistent, but that can be fixed simply by unplugging it and plugging it back in. Great stick and throttle, even better price. Probably the most agile stick on the market. Would pick it over a Warthog for the price and the features.
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Unfortunately this is very true. I got me a X-55 when i started out in this game. It was fairly accurate, minimal deadzone, reliable buttons, for a little over a year. Then suddenly two buttons on my throttle became unreliable, they only still worked when my throttle was moved forward. Whenever i reduced speed, they did not work any more. That's a typical picture of a broken cable, where the connection doesn't work any more when it's bent. Since two buttons (next to each other) failed, i guess the power cable to them broke.
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As the device was only 14 months or so old, i returned it and was told that it's not in production and not available any more. But i got offered to get a X-56 instead, which i took. Here the first one lasted for about six months, then the pinkie button on the joystick stopped working. So i contacted Amazon support one again and they told me to send it back, while they sent me a replacement. Luckily the replacement arrived before i managed to get to the post office and send the old device back. When testing the replacement (now already with the Logitech logo on it, not the old MadCatz label) i found that one of the two-way switches on the throttle permanently signaled to be pushed forward. It was funny to see in the configuration tool, when i moved the switch back. After all it then reported to be pushed forward and back at the same time, which made the display in the configuration tool go crazy. But since driving the configuration tool crazy was still not my main purpose of the device, i contacted Amazon support again. They allowed me to send back the old broken joystick and the new and broken out of the box throttle, while keeping the two functional pieces. So thanks to Amazon support (and in no way thanks to Saitek/MadCatz/Logitech) i currently again have a functional combination of joystick and throttle.
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As a sidenote, the new joystick, with Logitech logo on the label is less accurate than the old joystick, and the Y-axis (stick twist) is a bit off center. To fix this, i had to noticeably increase the deadzone in the game and adjust the bands for the Y-axis in the joysticks configuration tool to get full deflection in both directions. (Without the band adjustment, my ship could turn full speed to the right, but would only slowly turn to the left. )
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So according to my experience, the quality issues of the X-55 / X-56 are not rare cases. They are the rule, not the exception, and i expect this one to break again within some months. I just hope that Amazon support is helpful again, else it'll be soldering iron time. (Luckily when i studied computer science they still taught us how to solder... man, i feel old now. ) If i get a replacement, there's the faint hope that Logitech (who bought Saitek/MadCatz and produces the X-56 since a few months) decided to fix the issues and finally deliver quality, but my optimism is "limited".
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The sad thing is about it is that in terms of layout and design i consider the X-56 the best there is. A friend has the Warthog, and while it's also not bad, i find the Placement of buttons and Switches on the X-56 to be superior. (With the one exception of the hats on the joystick, where i'd wish they switch the flat upper hat with the more raised lower hat. Switching their position would make the upper one easier reachable, it's the very one control where i have to shift my hands position to reach it reliably. )
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So really, the design is awesome and wouldn't there be the quality issues, the X-56 would be second to none. But up to now there'd be no statement that Logitech would've done big reworks to fix the quality issues (or at least i wouldn't be aware of any), so i unfortunately can't recomment this HOTAS.
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