Think twice about getting a Warthog HOTAS

JulesWash

J
mine was secondhand but not that old. About two weeks ago it stopped working. I tried all the online remedies but nothing worked. Thrustmaster take at lease 4 days to respond to any email finally after 2 weeks I know what happened. The first link is the broken wire. The second link is what it took ti find the wire, and then it continues on to show what steps will be taken to actually FIX the think. Its brutal, and I'll probably get grease over everything.

I'm going to get a CH products HOTAS.

This is just my experience. Lots of people have had great actions with the WH. So take this as just one opinion!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/nBSLQtcpg61qVsyQ2

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3I_Gw1IKNl5TUZJaGJhV2tScjg
 
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Marklar_

Marklar_
Interesting. My X52 pro just broke, I thought about getting a Warthog because I'm tired of flimsy Saitek, but I couldn't stomach the price. I bought another X52 because I just really love them when they work, but they just don't hold up and this is my third one. I wish I could go CH, but they just don't have enough hands-on buttons and controls.
 

Crank Larson

Crank Larson
Mine's a Rhino, and the quality on that isn't good either. I'm going to need to take it apart at some point to fix the hat buttons (one decides to double press regularly, and one of the thrust works when it feels like it...). I only use the thing for E: D, and it was expensive enough that I expected it to last. It's less than two years old.
 

Tarman

Tarman
Marklar4408 said:
Interesting. My X52 pro just broke, I thought about getting a Warthog because I'm tired of flimsy Saitek, but I couldn't stomach the price. I bought another X52 because I just really love them when they work, but they just don't hold up and this is my third one. I wish I could go CH, but they just don't have enough hands-on buttons and controls.
Click to expand...

What's the button count on an X-52?

I run a CH HOTAS with a Fighterstick and pedals. The Fighterstick has 3 4-ways, an 8-way hat and four single buttons, including the stick trigger and lower pinky-squeeze button. The CH Throttle also has 3 4-ways, an 8-way hat, and three single buttons, along with the analog thumbstick for lateral thrusters. My pedals do roll on the sliders and U/D thrusters on the toe brakes for full analog thruster control. The only things on the keyboard are stuff like Roadmap and Throw All Your Stuff Away buttons.

Also, it'll last long enough for my child to inherit it when I die. I'd say the biggest "fault" of CH is that they don't offer any twisters, which breaks deals for twist-style pilots.
 
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Stealthie

Stealthie
Sad thing is, you're almost always on a hiding to nothing with joysticks because (for the most part) they're made by toy companies who've decided the money is in repeat-business rather than supplying a quality product.

You look at the internal parts of some (most) joysticks and they're intricate, flimsy, plastic parts and it becomes apparent it could easily have been made in a more robust - if a little more expensive - way instead.
But they don't make 'em that way because 1) they want to make them as cheaply as possible and 2) they don't want them to be repairable when they DO break.

Thrustmaster is in a strange no-man's-land with their high-end products.
They are still cheaply made but they try to make them superficially "user serviceable" to give them a more high-end appeal.
 

Para Handy

Para Handy
CHProducts here too - had Warthog, too big, bulky and heavy for non sim-pit. Warthog is built like a brick jobbiehouse. CHProducts is built like a fibre-glass reinforced plastic everlasting multi-purpose guest-house with integral jacuzzi.
 

Tarman

Tarman
Stealthie said:
Sad thing is, you're almost always on a hiding to nothing with joysticks because (for the most part) they're made by toy companies who've decided the money is in repeat-business rather than supplying a quality product.

You look at the internal parts of some (most) joysticks and they're intricate, flimsy, plastic parts and it becomes apparent it could easily have been made in a more robust - if a little more expensive - way instead.
But they don't make 'em that way because 1) they want to make them as cheaply as possible and 2) they don't want them to be repairable when they DO break.

Thrustmaster is in a strange no-man's-land with their high-end products.
They are still cheaply made but they try to make them superficially "user serviceable" to give them a more high-end appeal.
Click to expand...

CH Products are made by a company whose primary revenue is from building industrial controllers for stuff like giant cranes.
 

Stealthie

Stealthie
Tarman said:
CH Products are made by a company whose primary revenue is from building industrial controllers for stuff like giant cranes.
Click to expand...

Uh-huh.

TBH, I'm not sure if you can thank CH's parent-company for their quality or simply the fact that they've realised there IS a niche-market for quality products.
Either way, they do seem to deliver.
 

Leo Sagan

Leo Sagan
Marklar4408 said:
Interesting. My X52 pro just broke, I thought about getting a Warthog because I'm tired of flimsy Saitek, but I couldn't stomach the price. I bought another X52 because I just really love them when they work, but they just don't hold up and this is my third one. I wish I could go CH, but they just don't have enough hands-on buttons and controls.
Click to expand...

I"d like to help, unfortunately it is too early for me to tell : I had bad experiences with Saïtek (like .... VERY bad) so I switched to the WARTHOG. It takes a bit of work to get used to it (and pedals TBH), but I think it is worth it * if *, after a year, it is still 100% brand new / efficient / working.

Problem : this is my first month :D

So yeah, so far, so good .... But only 'so far'.

Good luck with that ;)
 
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Para Handy

Para Handy
Marklar4408 said:
Interesting. My X52 pro just broke, I thought about getting a Warthog because I'm tired of flimsy Saitek, but I couldn't stomach the price. I bought another X52 because I just really love them when they work, but they just don't hold up and this is my third one. I wish I could go CH, but they just don't have enough hands-on buttons and controls.
Click to expand...

You know the CHproducts Fighterstick has the same buttons as the warthog (apart from one) - the throttle has loads of controls - I think you might need to recalibrate your opinion on this.
 

Tarman

Tarman
Stealthie said:
Uh-huh.

TBH, I'm not sure if you can thank CH's parent-company for their quality or simply the fact that they've realised there IS a niche-market for quality products.
Either way, they do seem to deliver.
Click to expand...

I just took a peek at their website to make sure my facts weren't coming out of my thruster vents. Their parent company is a larger entity that does human-machine interfacing on larger levels for the last 50 years; IDK how much history is between those two though. CH itself however has done controllers for industrial, flight and military applications for the last 30+ years, and just happens to make a range for home entertainment as well as all their non-game stuff. Game kit is just another line for them but delivered at the same level of quality as the rest of their products.

Mostly like to get the word out on this kit, because to look at them you'd think you weren't getting your money's worth. They are unpretty and look exactly the same as they did 20 years ago. The only lights are the "stoplights" that indicate when you've shifted a stick mode. Although, ones from 20 years ago usually still work if you can build an adapter arcane enough to go back that far with connector paradigms. :D
 

CMDR Ofan

CMDR Ofan
Stealthie said:
Uh-huh.

TBH, I'm not sure if you can thank CH's parent-company for their quality or simply the fact that they've realised there IS a niche-market for quality products.
Either way, they do seem to deliver.
Click to expand...

If CH released a newer design, nothing fancy just something with a couple of more buttons and weight (and software) I would immediately throw all the rest of my sticks out and buy it regardless of cost.
 

DNA-Decay

DNA-Decay
I sat on the fence for three years.
Look.
Watch price.
Look.
Get out the wallet. Put it away again.
Three years.
2582x1866.jpg

I bought the throttle as part of the package, but the old Saitek thing suits how I roll, so it's still in the box.
 

rrobes

R
I've had a Warthog for some time now and has gotten a lot of use, has been quite good, returned a CH model stick due to the clunky input.
 

Wldweasl

W
I went old school. Microsoft Force Feedback 2. The life span on these is measured in decades. They just don`t make em like they used to.
 
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