Joystick reccomendations

[Benmilam]

I am an old Rise of Flight player but haven't played in a long time.  Decided to pick up IL2BOS since it was on sale.  I have a Logitech Wingman 3 which by reading forums, may be inadequate for this game.  I'm not a die hard flight simulator person, so not sure I want to invest a lot in a expensive joystick at this time.  At the same time, don't want to get wrong impression of the game because I have a cheap joystick.  Does anyone have any recommendations for a joystick less than $100? 

[dburne]

Thrustmaster T16000m would probably come close to what  you are looking for, might can find it on sale for around that price range.

[Benmilam]

What about the Gladiator MK. II?  It is $84?

 

[CanadaOne]

If you want a cheap but good HOTAS, if you get a new flightstick, use your present stick as the throttle. Center rest is 50% power, back is 0% and forward in 100%. And the buttons for flaps and gear and stuff like that.

 

I used my Saitek Evo like that for a long time and it's a lot of fun, really precise control too.

[cardboard_killer]

2 hours ago, Benmilam said:

Does anyone have any recommendations for a joystick less than $100? 

 

Depending on where you are, you might find a used joystick or yoke cheap. Yokes seem to be more prevelant than good joysticks around my area, but I've seen higher end sticks sometimes, too, for sale.

 

1 hour ago, Benmilam said:

What about the Gladiator MK. II?  It is $84?

 

It gets good reviews for price and features balance, but they seem to charge an arm and a leg for shipping.

[jackstalke]

Second the Gladiator, but yes, the shipping will run you about $40.

[Gomoto]

dependends on your location, i paid about 5 bucks for shipping

[SCG_ErwinP]

On 1/5/2020 at 12:14 PM, dburne said:

Thrustmaster T16000m would probably come close to what  you are looking for, might can find it on sale for around that price range.

VKB Gladiator MK. II is better option!

We have discussed it times before.

[Redwo1f]

Honestly, decide what you actually want and need and set a budget (it appears you have), and stick to it. Just like computer components, it is easy to nickle and dime yourself up and up (the - oh if I just spend $30 more I get...but just $30 on top of that gets...etc, etc.) However, there isn't a huge number of choices in the lower and lower-mid bracket. As you have probably seen, there are some incredibly expensive sticks - and if a person has the dough and that makes them happy, then go for it (and all that is going to depend up personal preferences, priorities, finances, etc.). You can pretty much find positives and negatives with them all (be it price, quality/longevity, button placement and numbers, software, accuracy, shipping/availability, etc.).

 

I recently bought a Thrustmaster T16000m with the Thrustmaster TWCS throttle just after Christmas. I bought the HOTA's pack with the throttle because the apparent knock on the T16000m stick is potential longevity issues with the twist rudder axis --- and the TWCS throttle includes a flipper axis that can be used for rudder instead of needing to rely upon the joystick twist (I don't use rudder pedals) - and this is my first experience with an actual throttle - always previously relied upon stick (the throttle is pretty decent btw and I am enjoying it and still learning it's use).

 

As to the stick - it is very accurate and smooth. It has a good range of motion. The tension is perfect (at least for me, imho) - it is not a loose stick, but nor is it  overly tight - it is the right balance for me. It does have 16 buttons (including trigger) and a hat as well as a built in throttle slider at the rear of the stick. It would be better if perhaps there was another button or two at the top of the stick (it has 3 + trigger & hat) - but it is adequate.  6 of the total buttons are going to be delayed access as the stick spreads 6 on right side base, 6 on left side. Some of the buttons are a little on the losser side and plastic'y (but they are okay and acceptable given the stick price). Base is reasonably weighted and doesn't slide on my desktop (though still getting used to it there as I have always previously used my stick in my hands/lap (but now need my second hand for throttle)). A caveat if you have a smaller hand (as I do) -  the wrist rest feels low (indeed I boosted mine up by a cm or so using an extra left hand piece and black electrical tape, lol), and also the top access to buttons feels a tiny bit wider than I would prefer (I actually prefer the ergonomic feel on my hand of the actual stick and individual adjustment capabilities of my older back-up Saitek Cyborg Evo (wonderful stick in this respect)) - but the Thrustmaster isn't terrible and I am getting used to it. I am not a big fan of its throttle slider (which I don't use now away having the TWCS throttle) - I don't like the shape and resistance of it (preferring  greatly the handle like construction on the Saitek  Av8r-01 (the stick it is replacing) and even the built in throttle on the Cyborg Evo - but I don't know if you will be needing to use the stick throttle or not (?) - but it does function fine. Anyways, it is a decent stick and I am happy with it for it's price.

Edited January 10, 2020 by Redwo1f

[dburne]

2 hours ago, SCG_ErwinP said:

VKB Gladiator MK. II is better option!

We have discussed it times before.

 

That is very subjective no matter how many times we may have discussed before if we did.

I am a big fan of VKB and have two of their joysticks now and love them.

 

However he stated two things that swayed my recommendation, he is not a die hard sim fan and did not want to spend a lot of money.

Hence my recommendation for the TM setup. 

Ultimately it is up to him to evaluate and decide based on feedback he gets and his own looking into them.