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Originally Posted by Silverleaf
Received my X52 today, have to say I thought the learning curve for buttons would be steep, but within 20 minutes I had everything set up and went through flight basics.
Review:
I really love the heavy "real" feeling of the stick, it's solidly constructed, has a wide base on both throttle and the stick and they stay put through some of my more difficult maneuvers. It comes with suction cups but I've not added them as of yet, which is a testament to their weight and metal composition. I wondered from seeing the spring at the base of the stick how well it would hold up, but seeing and feeling it in person, all my fears were alleviated. The combo feels real and is a solid design.
Performance:
In the past I always had a problem banking and holding the turn precisely. Granted when your in combat you rarely complete a full turn without other maneuvers thrown in, but I feel it's important to test out the subtle details as well as a full combat situation. Here the X52 shines brightly, allowing me to make small adjustments and maintain heading, angle and speed with nary a wiggle. Adjustable brightness control on the LED's and the MFD allow one to customize as needed. I dropped them down to a slight glow and found with just the monitor lit, they complimented my in-game experience and didn't blind me when I looked down.
I did some heavy split-S maneuvers, throwing the plane into spins/rolls/dives to really test the response and to see how stable the system was. In all cases the X52 stayed with me, never whining, never cracking, just performing as I hoped. What a feeling to finally have full control over the plane. I can tell you I feel more confident with this set-up and that my enemies better be ready for a fight. In a word, amazing.
Buttons:
I quickly forgot that I was in a chair in my home and found myself sitting in a P-38 taking her through paces. The amount of buttons allowed me to fly a complete mission without touching the keyboard, and that really helped with the immersive quality.
I found the placement of the controls to be a huge boon. Simply put the amount of customization allows you to set the X52 how you want it, and for me it is exactly what I always envisioned in joystick/throttle combos. They are responsive, have a touch that you remember - very important in combat situations - and yet there is a real world feeling of quality that shines through. I love the multiple trigger button. Slightly touch for guns, fully depress for cannons/guns. Hatch switches abound and while in flight it is such a rush to be banked in a turn, move the thumb to one of the hatch switches and look around the cockpit/out a window etc. A blast!
Final thought:
For 100 bucks this was a steal, and worth every penny. After 3 hours of flight, my hand wasn't sore or cramped - partly because your able to adjust the stick to your hand size - and this paid off in spades. The amount of customization through the buttons and various modes is a blessing.
I thought I might have some issues with setting up specific buttons for my own use, but the software that comes with the Saitek X52 makes that a breeze. Profiles are available for download from their site, and all you do is unzip it into the main Saitek directory, load it in the desktop profile manager and your good to go. I d/l the IL2 profile, and within 2 minutes was ready to fly.
If your looking for a top-notch flight stick you'd be hard pressed to find a better value.
Thanks for the recommendations and I'll see you in the skies.
Cheers,
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