Yep, my X55 barely lasted 6 months before switches started feeling like crap and some stopped working. Replaced with a Warthog HOTUS. Took me a few days to configure a set up that gets around lack of twist yaw (and at first I wasn't sure if I would be able to adapt) but now I'm finding aim more precise, and the stick feels great in every way. I won't buy Saitek again either, but I'm betting this Warthog will last me to the grave.
Hardware & Technical Finally had enough of Saitek's poor quality.
- Thread starter DanTheMan
- Start date
CH stuff is solid.
I repaired my Saitek a couple times. Once was the rotational switch, a wire had broken and getting it apart and back together after a professional soldering job was like flying the Anaconda backward through the slot, FA off.
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They all break. Anything that has hardwired switches and rotates, twists and such will eventually have broken wires. Just learn to disassemble and repair.
Yeah, I've been running the CH gear since the first lot of MS Flight Sims.. It's absolutely top end stuff. For Elite, unless I'm flying the space cow the old yoke and rudder aren't exactly cutting it so I opted for the Thrustmaster T.Flight which was absolutely flawless "yet" was lured to the darkside by all those pretty lights, switches and knobs that never worked. I gave the X-55 a good run through, picked her up on Sat and by Mon was back at the store.. apart from being large and cumbersome, there was ghosting issues and the quality was less than average. Even compared to the Thrustmaster, it just felt cheap. Saying that however, the local store only had another X-52 in stock and I took that home. Apart from its incredibly light touch, I have to admit.. I'm enjoying it. Very early days, had it maybe two weeks.. but so far, it's been great.
When this one dies I will be getting a CH setup and pull the dusty old rudder setup out of the cupboard... I give it maybe 12hrs after the warranty expires
When this one dies I will be getting a CH setup and pull the dusty old rudder setup out of the cupboard... I give it maybe 12hrs after the warranty expires
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I had done so, twice. In the end I just told myself life is too short to be playing with rubbish. It serves more purpose in landfill. Warthog is infinitely superior.
My first X-52 Pro died after about four months (LEDs on the Throttle out, the mini mouse-stick generated ghost input that could not be compensated by maximizing the dead-zone in the driver, finally the throttle itself began to stick and at some point could no longer be returned to zero). Exchange through Saitek took more than a month. Being in Canada, I could not just return it for a refund, like in the EU. I am now on the second set and I am not placing any bets on how long it will last.
The way I see it, I bought a two year rental from Saitek (length of the warranty here). Once the warranty expires I hopefully get a little more use out of it before set number x finally dies. At that point, my next purchase will not be a Saitek HOTAS.
On top of that, Saitek has USB driver problems. On some X99 boards (new socket 2011v3 "enthusiast" boards), the Saitek drivers will not install or crash your PC whenever you connect the stick to a motherboard USB port and USB 3.0 is enabled, even if you connect to a USB 2 port. The only options in that situation are either to disable USB 3 in BIOS or add an additional USB card to the system and connect to that. It was a challenge, to put it mildly, to find a pure USB 2.0 card with PCIe connector. Saitek support was totally useless with the issue and basically ignored me. (Solution was found through Google...)
So overall, my only advice can be to stay far, far away from today's Saitek/ MadCatz products.
The way I see it, I bought a two year rental from Saitek (length of the warranty here). Once the warranty expires I hopefully get a little more use out of it before set number x finally dies. At that point, my next purchase will not be a Saitek HOTAS.
On top of that, Saitek has USB driver problems. On some X99 boards (new socket 2011v3 "enthusiast" boards), the Saitek drivers will not install or crash your PC whenever you connect the stick to a motherboard USB port and USB 3.0 is enabled, even if you connect to a USB 2 port. The only options in that situation are either to disable USB 3 in BIOS or add an additional USB card to the system and connect to that. It was a challenge, to put it mildly, to find a pure USB 2.0 card with PCIe connector. Saitek support was totally useless with the issue and basically ignored me. (Solution was found through Google...)
So overall, my only advice can be to stay far, far away from today's Saitek/ MadCatz products.
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Well, then I seem to be mostly lucky.
I have the X52 Pro, and I am really happy with it.
The throttle had an issue with the detent stop on the very top, where I couldn't push over it anymore, but then I simply opened it, removed the detent stop piece (like described here: http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=67680) and it feels a lot better since I did that.
Besides that, I totally love how many buttons the combination of stick and throttle has, and how customizable this is.
I have the X52 Pro, and I am really happy with it.
The throttle had an issue with the detent stop on the very top, where I couldn't push over it anymore, but then I simply opened it, removed the detent stop piece (like described here: http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=67680) and it feels a lot better since I did that.
Besides that, I totally love how many buttons the combination of stick and throttle has, and how customizable this is.
I got a couple of hours in a full military helicopter simulator.
Full cockpit, head mounted displays, hall sized projection.
In the outer room on the mission control desk were two $50 Logitech 3D Pro joysticks for controlling the wingman helis.
And I felt vindicated:
For me there is NOTHING between an entry level logitech and the Warthog HOTAS.
I wouldn't spend the money on anything in between.
Mind you I have a throttle quad and pedals and a homemade button box and a sim pit and big screen so maybe I'm in a minority anyways.
Full cockpit, head mounted displays, hall sized projection.
In the outer room on the mission control desk were two $50 Logitech 3D Pro joysticks for controlling the wingman helis.
And I felt vindicated:
For me there is NOTHING between an entry level logitech and the Warthog HOTAS.
I wouldn't spend the money on anything in between.
Mind you I have a throttle quad and pedals and a homemade button box and a sim pit and big screen so maybe I'm in a minority anyways.
![[VR] Mad Mike](https://forums-cdn.zaonce.net/data/avatars/m/27/27910.jpg?1553527108){kind=avatar}
To be fair it seems hit and miss. As I said (touches wood) my rhino is still fine with maybe 500 hrs use so far. It is not only them either. My fanatec gt2 racing wheel packed up. Lots of issues with them as well and I got through three sets of their standard pedals before biting the bullet and getting their bulletproof clubsports
How can a company get away with this type of quality control issue? I've been interested in either the x52 Pro or x55 (they are the same price on Amazon right now) for a long time, but everywhere from Amazon to Newegg to any other online shop, I see more customer reviews vilifying Saitek for this than I do positive reviews. I'm primarily interested in these HOTAS controllers for the 'twist rudder' function because I'm used to it now with my Logitech joystick, but jeez I could wait and save up a bit longer for a Warthog setup and be good for decades apparently.
I used Saitek way back in the day 8+ years ago and just picked up a Rhino. So, far I appear to have been lucky but the quality is not the same as years ago. I ordered direct vs many that have ordered off New Egg, Amazon, etc., where it seems truly hit-and-miss as to problems with the units. Then again, I also don't use my stick and thruster as a combination nutcracker and dodgeball, or try to save people hanging off the side of buildings or cliffs with alligators at the bottom, or as rope bridges...
You guys that've been using x52's for 7+ years bought your sticks just before or during Saitek getting purchased by Mad Katz. That purchase is what caused the quality to go downhill. You'll notice that you rarely ever see anyone claiming to have had their stick for 4 or 5 years.
Whilst this is generally regarded to be true it is worth noting that people are more likely to post complaint than praise. If these forums prove anything it is that. I am not downplaying their issues at all but with their 2 year warranty if you can get an x55 for 120 quid (the cheapest I have seen em) that is a lot of stick for the cash imo.... Warts and all.
Buy a Thrustmaster Hotas Warthog and be done with it. It's not cheap, but it will last even with heavy use.
Yeah, I've been running the CH gear since the first lot of MS Flight Sims.. It's absolutely top end stuff. For Elite, unless I'm flying the space cow the old yoke and rudder aren't exactly cutting it so I opted for the Thrustmaster T.Flight which was absolutely flawless "yet" was lured to the darkside by all those pretty lights, switches and knobs that never worked. I gave the X-55 a good run through, picked her up on Sat and by Mon was back at the store.. apart from being large and cumbersome, there was ghosting issues and the quality was less than average. Even compared to the Thrustmaster, it just felt cheap. Saying that however, the local store only had another X-52 in stock and I took that home. Apart from its incredibly light touch, I have to admit.. I'm enjoying it. Very early days, had it maybe two weeks.. but so far, it's been great.
When this one dies I will be getting a CH setup and pull the dusty old rudder setup out of the cupboard... I give it maybe 12hrs after the warranty expires
I'm with you. I have been very lucky thus far with my Saitek X55. When it goes I will try to repair on my own but I will head back to CH Products. I so regret selling those years ago. Saitek used to be very high quality back in the day--I see the difference in quality out of the box.
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OK, I'm done with Saitek as well
The detent of the throttle broke (throttle still working but doing a weird noise and blocking half way!), wobbling stick due to HUGE and asymetrical deadzone, and now, I cannot get the profile editor to work (used to work half of the time sionce beginning, requiring reboot of the machine).
I've just returned it (thank you Amazon support!) and ordered a Warthog...
The detent of the throttle broke (throttle still working but doing a weird noise and blocking half way!), wobbling stick due to HUGE and asymetrical deadzone, and now, I cannot get the profile editor to work (used to work half of the time sionce beginning, requiring reboot of the machine).
I've just returned it (thank you Amazon support!) and ordered a Warthog...
I have never used Saitek before and was going to buy one but the quality seems to be quite sad. I guess I will stick with my trusty Logitech extreme 3d pro
That is what I'm using ATM and am very happy with it...I've heard good things about the Thrustmaster T-Flight HOTAS @45 USD...though, I don't really have anymore room on my desk w/o having to put my KB in an awkward position.
Hi HH, I have tried to implement the CH setup using Dom Davis's stuff as you suggested, but for me it just does not seem to work at all and I am getting really unpredictable results in the mapping.
It's probably me, but it is currently driving me bonkers.
Luckily, I remembered to test it all on a scratch Sidey and not one of my real ships.
Just a quick update....
Love the sticks but it is hard to "unlearn" 8 months (2 sets of SAITEK quality fails) on the X-55.
Slowly coming to grips with the new layouts and the lack of "twist" on the joystick, but the sheer quality of the underlying kit is shining through already.
Precise, firm, well-made. I like this a lot.
Love the sticks but it is hard to "unlearn" 8 months (2 sets of SAITEK quality fails) on the X-55.
Slowly coming to grips with the new layouts and the lack of "twist" on the joystick, but the sheer quality of the underlying kit is shining through already.
Precise, firm, well-made. I like this a lot.