One of the Best for a Low Price | Saitek ST290 Programmable Joystick with Throttle

Good, Stable, Beginner's Joystick | Saitek ST290 Programmable Joystick with Throttle

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	• Saitek ST290 Programmable Joystick with Throttle Saitek Saitek average customer review:based on 18 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Joystick is a "Joy"

I have been very pleased with this product. I bought it to use with Microsoft "Flight Simulator X". I'm terrible at that sort of thing, but this joystick makes me look like a pro. I find it to be very user friendly. Everyone in my family(ages 5 yrs to 30 yrs) has used it successfully. Ease of installation was also a great feature.

One of the Best for a Low Price

In this joystick, you combine some of the top controls at a very affordible price. I use it for flight simulators like Fly II and MS Flight Simulator 2004, and driving games such as the Need for Speed line, and a number of other EA racing games. You can program every button and switch to your specific liking. The throttle is the ideal feature on this joystick for flight simulators, along with the yoke. I've been using it for quite a while, and I don't plan to give it up for any type of upgrade. Don't let the price fool you. It is a quality piece of gaming equipment.

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Good, Stable, Beginner's Joystick

There are few games I play that require a joystick. I love playing flight sims but am typically more attracted to other types of computer games that seldom require them, so when I hooked up with my old buddies on "Aces High 2" I needed a decent, working joystick to replace my old Gravis Blackhawk analog stick that stopped working on my PC years ago. I drove down to the local ubiquitous low-cost super store (you know it's name) and this was the *only* joystick that they had in stock. This made me a bit nervous as I like to browse through any potential gaming-related hardware I purchase for my computer, but the price was right (under $20) and my experience in the past with Saitek products hasn't been bad. Ultimately I'm pleased with the purchase and despite a few shortcomings this has been a reliable and sturdy joystick.

The joystick itself is, as pictured, largely comprised of hard black plastic mounted on a spring base. There are 6 programmable buttons, a POV hat switch, and an adjustable hand rest to give you a more comfortable grip. At the bottom is your throttle adjust, basically a large plastic flap, and the stick itself can be twisted left or right to act as one's rudder. There's also a clear, blue plastic piece on the top that lights up, but serves no other purpose but for looks. Neat-O.

I have two problems with the stick. The first revolves around the throttle control. This may be more due to the setup of my desk...I have no place to hold the joystick but on my lap and that presents a throttle problem of its own. Its positioning on the tail end of the stick makes it tricky for me to cut throttle in mid flight since leaning forward to hit buttons on the keyboard will usually push the thing back up. Bad idea when you're making a dive bombing run or an approach for landing. My second issue has to do with the style of the stick's rudder. Dogfights are fast paced and intense affairs and usually involve a lot of frenetic jinking and weaving, and lots of use of the rudder. The rudder turns well and responds fine but the problem is that when yawing left you're liable to accidentally push a button with the area of your palm nearest the thumb. Depending on what you've programmed into that area of the joystick this can have disasterous results in a pitched dogfight, and not something that reprogramming buttons is going to fix.

Still this joystick has been well worth the meager investment involved and has proven itself of great value to me. Definitely a must-buy for anyone looking for a good, solid starter joystick.

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great straitforeward stick with no driver requirements(it's plug and play)

The stick is good for space sims and casual aero sims not for AF nuts or Falcon 4.0. It requires no drivers despite what reveiers are saying it just plugs in and windows XP(SP2) detects the stick no prob! The twist roll feature is the best sytem for doing banks and is easier than using a stupid rudder pedal. the only "special equipent" you need is probably a separate throttle system(but a separate USB port means it does not work in Space games as they only allow one controller at a time) The unit is sturdy and feels realistic in your hand the throttle is also very heavy duty and steady in it's travel. The stick includes only six buttons total(that is including the trigger) but some of the fancy ones only have hat control for fighters and only two or three buttons and are not for space ships or similar games. I would recommned this even over the "EVO" models in that it's price is good and the rediculouls driver requirements of those devices makes more resourse for windows to give up. DONT USE SST IT SUX! my only gripe(still five stars) is the weird "Santa's beard" layout for the missile and secondary wheapons buttons that are too far out and can't be gripped well by an over-zealous player it gets in the way of the straffing buttons. Also the trigger is too far protruded and though doesn't seem breakable feels slightly wrong in some games. IT is stilll the best stick as far as simplicity and good solid control with lots of options to boot. Nice wrist shelf for those carpel tunnel nuts who play for 12 hours without going for a stroll.

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Solid Joystick, Great Price

I bought this joystick for use in Space Sim games I play and occasionally Mechwarrior 4, though my gamepad is probably better suited to that game now. This joystick may look cheaply made at first but I'd call it a minimalist design approach because it is in fact a very solid feeling joystick, I expect this to last longer than my old Interact Raider Pro Digital did. The joystick stays centered very well without the spring tension being too much, is self-calibrating, and moves through it's full range of motion easily. The joystick came with no drivers or software but I didn't need any on XP SP2 (I installed them anyway from the Saitek site). The joystick has all the controls you would expect 6 buttons including the trigger, a throttle (which operates very smoothly), and a rotating handle to control yaw. Some may find the button positioning odd, however, I did not. Maybe someone with smaller hands may have difficulty reaching the higher buttons. I bought this joystick for 19 dollars as a replacement for my Interact RaiderPro Digital that had the throttle broken by a friend (DOH!). This joystick fully outperforms that one and has the yaw rotation as an extra feature. For such a low price this joystick couldn't be beat. The joystick could use a longer cord due to the placement of my tower I have to use it left-handed but that is made easy due to the adjustable ambidextrous hand rest it's as simple as turning a screw reorienting the plate your palm rests on and then attaching it to the other side. It does lack the extra buttons on the base other joysticks may have but so far in X2 I haven't really needed even the 6 buttons. Buy this you won't be disappointed!

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reviews: 1, page 2, 3, 4

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