My Sidewinder FF 2 has received a bit of abused and the FF just broke. The stick itself still works but there's no more "spring" tension to it and even though it's the most precise stick in the world, I decided I had to buy a new stick.
So I went for the Saitek CyborgX as it was less than 40 euros. I expected it to be decent and went for it mainly for the dual throttles. However I had no idea I'd just bought the best laptop stick ever made.
- detachable stick
- folding base
- light as a feather
I don't know why they haven't advertised these features! And these are all on top of the 12 buttons, 2 throttles, trim wheel (actually 24 buttons,4 throttles and 2 trim wheels with the SHIFT button pressed). The shape of the stick can be customized very easily. The best feature is the adjustable length of the stick. This basically makes the spring feel lighter and it's superb for helo sims. It's way more precise than I expected from a spring stick with an almost zero deadzone and very good linearity.
The only downsides are:
- rudder is a bit too stiff, i had grown accustomed to the light rudder of the Sidewinder. You actually feel that you're controlling another axis and it takes a few hours to combine movements. But after 10 years using the old one, a few hours is actually ok
- the base is so small that it tilts forward when you push the stick beyond it's front limit. But this depends on the stick's initial tilt (customizable) and it's far less annoying than it sounds. You can still reach the full travel without problems.
After a week of playing multiple sims, I've come to
love this one. It's best used for commercial plane sims like FS or space sims. It does a better job on helos than my old one. In fighter sims it's a bit more stiff than I'd like it to be. So you could surely do better with other more expensive sticks, but if you have a laptop and want a good full size joystick that can easily be carried, this is by far the best thing on the market.