| (1) |
The Quality of this product is Very High. All switches and buttons seem to be of
high quality manufacture. Most buttons have the feel of being 'microswitches',
which are industrial quality devices. The gripping surface of these controllers
are covered with rubber, so they don't feel like cold plastic of most joysticks.
The look and design of these controllers is exceptional. Do these controllers look
like they will break down with above average use, NO.
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| (2) |
The X36F Joystick controller has somewhat heavier center return springs that the
average joystick. This is to my likings. On another computer of mine, I have a
Thrustmaster FCS-PRO joystick, which has VERY heavy springs on it. This FCS-PRO
joystick enables me to 'precisely' control any flying game with ease. In my opinion,
the heavier the springs, the better you can fly. This X36F joystick rates 2nd only to
my FCS-PRO with repects to spring rates, but, this X36F has more programmable buttons
and hats, and thus beats the FCS-PRO in that respect. The overall winner, the
Thrustmaster FCS-PRO, since it allow me to win more. The number of buttons does not
allow you to fly better, but it does allow you to have more gizmo's at the press of
a button! I have a lot short term memory, and many games, so having tons of buttons
combinations to remember is not good for me.
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| (1) |
My biggest complaint with this system is that when running games in DOS, you need
to load the DOS 'EMM386.EXE' program. I'm not 100% sure why this is so, but if you
do not load 'EMM386.EXE', the X36 Controllers can NOT be 'loaded'
with your desired key mappings. This drawback affects me, since Jane's ATF game
sometimes crashes with 'EMM386.EXE' loaded.
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| (2) |
This is a minor point, but when you power down the computer, the 'X36 Controllers'
loose all of their programming. Therefore, it is ALWAYS necessary to
run the DOS keyboard mapping program called 'X36.EXE', which does the actual
keystroke 'downloading' of information into the joystick/throttle controllers. Most
users will create a unique batch file to start up each DOS game, and therefore, that
batch file would execute the 'X36.EXE' program. Of course, the 'X36' command will be
followed by a parameter that specifies the appropriate key mapping file, so that this
batch file would be a 'no user intervention' procedure.
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| (3) |
On the X35T Throttle, there are not enough push buttons to use. I own a Thrustmaster
Mark 2 Weapons Control System controller, another throttle type controller, and it has 6
programmable buttons, along with a 3 position 'mode' switch, which enables 6x3=18 user
defineable buttons. The X35T has 2 push buttons, along with a 3 position 'mode' switch,
giving you 6 programmable push commands. The X36 does have (2) 4-way hat switch, and
a pair of rotary dial knobs, but these control types hard to 'precisely operate' when
in the middle heated dogfight, or when you have SAMS and AAA coming up from all directions.
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| (4) |
On the X35T Throttle, one of the 4-way Hat switches, and a 'tiny' push button next to it,
are not well located. They are situated below your left hand thumb knuckle joint, and very
hard to operate from that location.
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| (5) |
On the X35T Throttle, there are 2 'rotary dial' knobs that can be programmed. Each knob
can be programmed with up to 10 zones as it turns. Each zone can issue a user defined
keystroke command. The problem with this setup is that the knobs are don't seem to have
equal length zones. You might rotate the knob just a little, and 3 zones might zip past.
I have tried to use these commands to select radar ranges using Jane's ATF, but this
non-linearity doesn't allow me to precisely select radar range. One moment I will be at
5 mile range, I then move the knob slightly, then all of a sudden the range goes from 5
to 10 to 25 to 50, all at once. Suffice it to say, these knobs do not seem to be too useful
for precise selection of commands.
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| (6) |
On the X36T Joystick, I have only one slight complaint. Located at the very top of the
joystick, there is a 'launch' push button switch. It is a perfect button to program to
actually fire the selected missile in a jet fighter type game. The (slight) problem is
that it is located really high up on the joystick, and in the heat of battle, is time
consuming to reach with your thumb. You have to streach your thumb to give it a good
firm press. I say firm, since my joystick 'launch' button will not work with a light
press, it must be firm.
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