Cougar HOTAS

[GtoRA2]

Who all pre ordered theirs?

I did and if the GF finds out what it really cost I am soo dead!!

[Creamo]

Shipping date has been delayed again.

[LoneStarBuckeye]

Just wait until GF --> W

[Karnak]

I did.

Shipping dates are only delayed if you don't live in the US or Canada.

The US distributors complained because so many US residents canceled their orders to order from Europe.  Thus the release was pushed back to be simultaneos with the release in North America.

[WarChild]

How muh is this running and where are u pre ordering at? I live in US.

Thanx in advance

[Karnak]

$270 through chips & bits.

$280 through flight sim central.

It is absolutely worth that price.

[AKDejaVu]

The US distributors complained because so many US residents canceled their orders to order from Europe. Thus the release was pushed back to be simultaneos with the release in North America.

LOL! That sounds a bit contrived to me.

AKDejaVu

[Booky]

Ordered mine from chips and bits when they were listed as $249. I sure hope I still get that price

[MOTJD]

I have the thrustmaster afterburner HOTAS.

$55.00 No delay got it the same day that i went and looked at it. I cant see paying 270. thats utterly rediculous. I think you can buy a CH throttle and stick for less than that.

[NHFoxtro]

Let me ask a dumb question. What could a stick costing $270 do for your game that a stick costing $60 cant? Don't say extra buttons. I'm not being sarcastic, I really want to know.

[Samm]

Well I hope for the guys that bought it that it is nothing like other TM sticks . I'll keep my $30, 4 year old digital/optical that still works like new . I must say though I've had my TM pedals for 3 years and they've never failed . I used TM sticks in the past that totally sucked, not as bad as saitek, but still .

[Widewing]

Originally posted by MOTJD
I have the thrustmaster afterburner HOTAS.

$55.00 No delay got it the same day that i went and looked at it. I cant see paying 270. thats utterly rediculous. I think you can buy a CH throttle and stick for less than that.

I use the same system and it works great. Like you, I don't see the justification for the extra $220.

My regards,

Widewing

[Revvin]

Let me ask a dumb question. What could a stick costing $270 do for your game that a stick costing $60 cant? Don't say extra buttons. I'm not being sarcastic, I really want to know

Many of the rotaries and hats can be used as an axis meaning you could use them for things like rudders etc, the microstick wil lbe useful for sims like IL-2 and AH that allows mouse panning, its got many more buttons over the likes of the cheaper TM sticks infact more than most sticks and the programmability waaaaaay surpasses anything on the market today. As well as catering for new players with point and click programming its flexibility allows very advanced ways to create any possible combination of commands. On top of this its made completely of metal which makes it more expensive but a hell of a lot more rugged. The base, the stick the buttons and hat switches are all metal. My previous TM sticks lasted me around 5 or more years each so combined with the quality electronics this metal stick you can expect to have this stick on your desk for years. It's all USB and allows gameport rudders to be plugged into the front and programemd through the stick and the firmware on the stick is flash upgradeable. The pots used in the stick have greater resolution than most sticks today if not all and combined with the stiff return springs this makes for precise movement.

Well I could go on but now you probably think I'm a TM rep I'm just a happy TM customer from years back and glad to see a new high end TM stick after not being completely happy with half a dozen other sticks from CH, MS and Saitek.

[milnko]

Originally posted by NHFoxtro
Let me ask a dumb question. What could a stick costing $270 do for your game that a stick costing $60 cant? Don't say extra buttons. I'm not being sarcastic, I really want to know.

I've purchased over the last 2 years a MS FF for $149, and two Saiteks $99 and $40 respectfully.

I guess one could equate the price of a Cougar to a current GF4 vs. a GF2 video card, both will "do the job" but the GF4 does it better.

Here's a list of functions for the Cougar:
Adjustable resistance for throttle, adjustable afterburner and idle detent
           
Full speed USB delivers responses 8x faster than classical USB plugs

Flash upgradeable hardware
           
High definition digital axes. The Digital Axes eliminated the dead spots that could appear over time with analog axes
 
Compatible with standard analog rudder
           
Removable handle to tune the set with the simulated aircraft

Stick handle will be changeable to provide more options for the user

28 buttons and multiple hat switches which are all programmable, providing thousands of functions

Offers 5 to 10 axes

18 pound springs for solid resistance

Provides 16k of internal memory for the programming files

Creates 3 real hardware peripheral IDs for maximum compatibility

Warranted for 2 years against manufacturing defects

Practically all metal construction - (there's a small component on the throttle that's plastic but not that you'd notice). Even the hats and buttons are metal! Being metal, the joystick and throttle are heavy - weighing in at 18 pounds together!!  

Strong springs provide excellent resistance similar to the older TM F-22 PRO for accurate flying. It will be possible as well to replace these springs with those of different tension

The joystick handle is replaceable and just unscrews from the base. ThrustMaster are planning on producing other joystick handles, like that of the F-18/F-15.
 
Compared to the older TM F-22 PRO, the hats have longer shafts and stand away from the body of the handle more, thus offering a longer throw and greater control. Much easier getting those corner positions first time now.
     
The information from all of its axes and buttons and feeds that data from the joystick into your computer through a single USB connector. Note that everything - the throttle (and gameport rudders if you have them) plug into the joystick. The advantage of that is that the Cougar is seen as a single device by Windows with lots of axes and buttons.
 
24MHz internal processor (the F-22 PRO used a 4MHz processor)

64KB of external memory for storing flash files, calibration data and downloaded joystick files. Everything is stored on the joystick - this is essentially a driverless system running entirely in hardware.

Flash upgradeable firmware, for any new features and even more programmability.

3000 distinct values on the main joystick axes for much finer control in flying, with the potential to increase this through firmware. Note that all other controllers and previous TM controllers distinguish only 256 distinct values from the joystick X and Y axes.

256 distinct values on the remaining axes (Throttle, Range and Antenna knobs, etc.)

Approx. 30ms frame times

High precision sealed potentiometers for spike free accurate flying

Autocalibrating or manual calibration modes

Joystick: 2 axes, 4 - 4 way hats programmable in 9 positions, (Up, Down, Left, Right, 4 corners and centre position), a dual stage trigger and 4 other buttons.
     
Throttle: 5 axes, 4 way Radio switch, 3 way dogfight switch, 2 way airbrakes switch with momentary and locking positions, Range and Antenna rotaries with centre detents on each and incorporating another switch on the depressible Range knob, and a 2 axis microstick itself incorporating another switch. Connects to the joystick through a 1.8m cable.

Real-time and multi-layer adjusting of axis data (curve, trim, reverse, etc.) - Now you can for example damp down the response from your
joystick for landing and increase it for dog fighting, all in flight

Capable of including different calibration profiles per joystick file

Capable of outputting 16 characters per frame

Capable of processing statements with delays up to 23 hours!

Capable of releasing active macros in hardware after a state change to prevent sticky keys

Capable of handling macros of several Kb in length

[NHFoxtro]

We'll my question was definatly answered, Thank you, but I will stick with my primitive precision pro and still blow you guys out of the sky while your getting use to all your new features and gadgets hehehehe