CH Pro stuff = great.
1. Fighterstick moving on the desk - well all it needs is for you to keep the four rubber / synthetic pads clear of dust and it stays rock-solid. No need to go hammering six-inch nails through it to keep it in place. The same is true of the Throttle - actually more so since you are pushing it back and forward - honestly I have no issues at all as long as I wipe-off dust from the rubber pads every so often. It is actually quite surprising how well these work so I am amazed at people feeling the need to modify. (N.B. These are small circular pads / feet - no suckers on this stuff - really adhere well to smooth surfaces.)
2. Reliability - I have used CH stuff for many years - I have a yoke and pedals that are still going strong in flight sims. Although made from synthetic materials, the Throttle and Fighterstick feel very comfortable and not "plasticy" like TM 16000M does - it feels like glass-fibre composite (their industrial products certainly are "glass-filled nylon"). The internal "gubbins" is for sure old-tech now but is of really good quality (CH make industrial controls and these designs incorporate that quality). I have had one occurrence of a supplied stick being defective in that the springs in the stick gimbal were noisy, it still worked OK but I had the stick replaced free anyway.
3. Sensors and 8-bit"ness" - although not using hall-effect, the pots in the CH stuff are really good so you get perfectly acceptable outputs. Let's face it we are talking about providing HID-compliant range data not CNC milling-machine controls. However, CH do make industrial joysticks using hall-effect sensors, it would be good if they updated the consumer product range.
4. Throttle mini-stick - yes this can be an annoyance, I have to give a null-zone as it doesn't centre as precisely as I would like but I have no issues with the range available, after all the calibration software in windeys gives me full-scale deflection for whatever a controller's full-scale actually is (i.e.game controller software process scales the actual output to requisite numbers). Drilling out the housing aperture to give a bigger actual "throw" is not necessary in my view. (I use it for thruster control and for turret movement - works a treat.) BTW - I do have a dead-zone set for the mini-stick but it is not large, it centres just fine - you don't have to "nudge" it to get the centre, it just needs a bit of "tolerance" by way of a dead-zone.
5. Software - I don't use any software, CH control manager is not necessary and people have reported compatibility issues between it and programs for ever. Windo$e calibration is all that is needed to give effective control in E D. Any requirement for changing axes' response curves (slopes) could be made using other software - for example in Flight Simulators I use control-input plug-ins (FSUIPC etc) but don't see a need in E D but there are apps out there.
TL/DR - No downsides, CH Pro throttle will outlast you.
As some additional notes, from a CH Pro throttle user...
The 8 bit thing isn't too much of an issue as far as the throttle is concerned, you simply don't need that fine a control in ED. Sure, 10, 12 or 14 bit would be nice for a smoother feel, but really, not an issue.
The general throttle layout, for a single throttle, is excellent, and all buttons are easily accessed in flight, and are fairly well placed. Quality of the buttons is nice, and they feel good to press.
In terms of quality, the thing is well built, arguably better built than the Warthog throttle, however, some catches...
It's very light and plasticky, which means it can slide around if you get over enthusiastic. I have a chair set up with attachments I've put on the arms for my stick and throttle to res ton. For this particular set up (I have two), theWarthog Stick (with the metal base of my old Cobra M5, because the Warthog base plate was too big) is screwed into the right hand attachment.
The left hand attachment has the CH Pro throttle attached, and seeing as there is no way to properly secure it, it just sits there. Usually, it's OK, but when things get particularly exciting, I've had my throttle slip from it's position, causing a bit of a headache mid battle. It's simply too light, and lacks a proper way to mount.
The feel of the throttle motion itself is kinda toy-like. It's just plastic sliding on loose plastic with no real feel for anything. Sure, it works, but it does feel "cheap". Compared to the Warthog, which has adjustable friction for the throttle motion, it really does feel like junk.
Now, having said that, the CH Pro is still (currently) my top pick for ED. The thumbstick is well located (and mine centres well, fortunately), and, as mentioned above, the button layout is well placed and the buttons themselves are nice. I'm awaiting the Virpil throttle with analog stick, which will hopefully unify my Warthog and CH Pro throttles so I not longer need to swap between DCS and ED, but until then...
Z...
