OK, you've hit my pet peeve topic.
Been playing AH 26 months. In that time I've bought 8 X52's and my newest stick, the X52 Pro, arrived just this last weekend.
First X52 lasted about 10-11 months and was a dream untill hat died and axis started spiking real bad. In the following months I bought an used 4 sticks that lasted from barely 2 to 4 months before they were unplayable. The other three I purchased were bought and returned immediately to the store for a replacement as they were defective out of the box.
Obviously, I like the design and feel of the X52 and am way too adicted to AH that can't be without a stick, but the manufacturing quality and reliability seems to be missing in the old X52 in general, though some get long use out of their's. Since I bought all but one of these from Fry's Electronics, and they have always been suspect for some of their merchandise, I'm wondering if they are selling factory seconds at my store.
Anyway, the good news is, I've started sending the old X52's back to Saitek and with their 2 year warranty, I can get them repaired or replaced. This means I may have my own little sale on a couple of sticks if anyone is interested. Cheap! LOL
The new X52 Pro is supposed to have different type of contacts and supposedly is way more reliable. It certainly has some improvements in design and feels even better than the old sticks. We'll just have to see if it holds up better.