Dec 19th 2001, 17:19 GMT

Disaster!

I *just* dropped my Sidewinder and snapped the control shaft on it. I now have a joystick with working buttons, but no way to steer. That’ll teach me to try and carry everything up stairs at once instead of making 2 trips.

Bleh, no Jumpgate for me today – unless my friend upstairs isn’t using his JS.

Okay, so now that I’m in the market for a new joystick, what do you recommend? I’m looking for something preferably USB – any suggestions?

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Robert

Robert Belknap has been writing online sporadically since 2001. See the colophon for more details.

9 thoughts on “Dec 19th 2001, 17:19 GMT”

  1. Gravis Eliminator Precision Pro (USB), 8 buttons, hat, throttle, roll axis. Works great with JG, but does require you to download the new drivers (the “plug into USB and go” works, too, but not as well as the original drivers and JS calibration panel that comes with those).

    Ooooh, and it has this little “precision” button that drops JS sensitivity for when you need to aim… Great option, IMHO.

    It is reasonably prices as well–I am very glad I got it.

  2. I recently bought a Saitek Cyborg 3D usb.

    Very nice stick to use, the action of the trigger just makes you want to use it again and again and…. 😀

    Downsides; well, it doesn’t feel as if it has time on it’s side, parts seem a little flimsy. Also the hat’s a little hard to reach unless you are particularly long of thumb.

    Still, for £35 you can’t really complain…recomended.

  3. Hmm

    I think I can get my hands on an Eliminator to evaluate. I like the idea of a precision button. How well does it work in conjunction with the camrea ModX?

    I’ve heard good things about the Saitek from several different sources too.

    At least I have a starting point now. Thanks for the feedback.

    Edited on Dec 19th 2001, 22:01 by Hooloovoo

  4. Forget the joysticks; buy a Saitek P750 gamepad for that yummy console goodness! The stick is a bit small, but it has a throttle wheel, d-pad, and 11 fully programmable buttons. You can even set the buttons to execute a series of commands. (Fire Gun, Toggle Gun, Fire Gun, Toggle Gun… Gatling Barraks!)

    The only downside is that you have to be completely insane to actually use this thing if you can get something better 🙂

  5. I had a gravis eliminator, It might be worth using if you have win98, and can use some joystick util to tweak the sense/deadzones(And set JG’s to 100%, 0% respectivly).
    It’s a good idea with a lot of buttons. My big beef with it is, the sticks range of motion is circular, so all the way up and to the right only gets you about halfway up, and halfway right. Plus the spring on the stick is mushy at best.

    If you have win98(And cant afford a saitek x45…), I’d reccomend the Saitek Cyborg, nice stick, slightly odd feel at first, but you get used to it., good for righties or lefties, a nice spring, good precision, etc.

    If you use windows 2000, Id definitly reccomend the thrustmaster afterburner. It’s a hotas stick, looks like a cheap toy, is relativly inexpensive, but mine has been holding together even better than my saitek. The cover on the missile button is nice, it has a nice adjustable spring, and win2k compatibly programming software.

    The most important thing i’d reccomend is make sure the stick has ITS OWN deadzone and sensativity adjustments. Jumpgates SUCK to say the least, and if you can set them up on your stick, then set Jumpgates deadzone to 0, and sensativity to 100, you’ll notice you have a LOT more precision to work with. (The precision button on the eliminator is fairly useless for this reason)

    The lack of microsoft sticks here is because of my rabid hatred of microsoft=)

  6. I use my nice pretty mouse [no scroll wheel, i right-click for radar :)]

    I do have a MS Sidewinder stick, but for some reason it does not calibrate correctly, its all shaky/offcentered/throttle stays at 50% when in lowest position. any fixes?

  7. I have to give the nod to Saitek Cyborg 3D USB too.. I changed from a Sidewinder Precision Pro to it and it made a big difference. I found the Saitek to be much more precise. The only drawback is the driver doesnt work so well under Windows XP. I have to reset my settings and button mappings every time I start JG.

  8. Thanks again for the advice everyone.

    I went out and picked up a Saitek Cyborg 3D Gold usb. I’m still getting used to the button placement, and it’s currently a bit on the sensitive side. I just need to go in a play with the calibration and deadzone settings a bit.

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