I've had the stick since December last year, my previous stick was a X45.
What is your opinion of this stick?
I have read some other threads and the main cons of the stick seemed to be:
1 very weak spring
2 hard to reach buttons
3 something about accuracy in the centered position.
[/B]Those are the main problems for me as well, except that I don't think the buttons are hard to reach. The centering problem is (at least on my stick) the very large dead zone in the middle of the stick movement area. Also, the sloppy spring is horrible in the beginning, but I got used to it and now it doesn't feel so bad anymore.
1 What is the most useful feature/programability to you on the stick/throttle?
[/B]I liked the fact that I could use my old X45 profile file, I only had to re-map the functions to the correct buttons on this stick.
2. What does that "slider" control on the throttle do? What do you use it for? Trim? flaps? zoom?
[/B]I have mapped it to RPM for conserving fuel.
3. What is that wheel thing on the front of the throttle handle and what do you use it for?
[/B]It's like a mouse wheel, it has a push button and it can be rotated up and down. However, on my throttle the wheel is really intermittent and loses a lot of scrolling events so it cannot be used for anything critical. I use it for map zooming.
4. How easy to use is that mode selection knob on the top of the stick? Is it easy to "use"
[/B]I use only one mode so I really have no experience. It is quite easily reached and turns pretty well so I would guess it should be easy enough.
Overall, I was quite disappointed with the stick when I got it, but I didn't give up and at the moment I'm pretty happy with it. I'd recommend you try out the stick somewhere before buying since the sloppy spring and especially the centering issue are the worst things about the stick. If you can get along with those it's not so bad.
