The X52 is a great HOTAS for ED, but it has some problems as it's not 100% compatible. The main problem is the throttle buttons not assignable. They come and go randomly and different people have different experiences, solutions or work-arounds. Third party tools that translate the buttons into keystrokes would solve this. The next problem is that the throttle detent will break very soon. It's best to remove it, so that your throttle doesn't suddenly jam when you need it most. The detent is good for setting zero and 75% throttle, so would be missed at first, but you soon get used to it. Finally, the spring in the yaw (Z-axis) will break after 1000 hrs or so. You can't buy a rplacement, but it's pretty easy to adapt one from standard springs that you can buy on Ebay as long as you're used to doing that sort of thing. The standard spring is 15mm dia, 1.2mm wire, two turns and the ends leave at rightangles in the same place, so you can get a 3 turn spring and unwind a bit and bend the ends into the right shape with pliers. I've repaired both X52 and X52 pro like that. The original X52 spring lasted about 50% longer than the X52 Pro.
There isn't really anything else in that price range. If you're serious about flight sims, it's worth getting decent sticks, like Virpil.
