Saitek X52 Pro Flight System Controller

Product Details

Saitek X52 Pro Flight System Controller From Saitek List Price: $169.95 Price: $138.95 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Ships from and sold by HPP Enterprises 29 new or used available from $104.99 Average customer review:

Product Description

All the features of the X52 combined with premium engineering and advanced Multi-Function Display (MFD) for real flying interaction. 2 dedicated MFD buttons and 2 rotary dials with in-built buttons to control additional game functionality; MFD displays data directly from games, including Radio Stack info from Microsoft Flight Simulator 9 and 10; Software Development Kit included for creating game-specific programs to interact with the MFD; Choice of red, amber or green button illumination; Illuminated buttons and MFD - ideal for low light environments; Throttle unit illumination varies depending on throttle position; Enhanced MFD backlighting; Improved cable management system. Joystick: Precision centering mechanism, non-contact technology on X and Y axes and constant spring force reduce free play, improve control and increase durability; 2-stage metal trigger; 2 primary buttons in 1 convenient position; 4 fire buttons including missile launcher with spring-loaded safety cover for instant access; Conveniently positioned metal pinkie switch provides shift functionality to double up on programmable commands; 2 X 8-way Hat Switches; 3D rudder twist; 3-position rotary mode selector switch with LED indicators; 3 spring-loaded, base-mounted toggle switches for up to 6 programmable flight commands; 5-position handle adjustment system to suit all hand sizes. Throttle: Progressive throttle with tension adjustment, detents for afterburner and idle; 2 fire buttons; Scroll wheel with built-in button; Mouse controller / hat switch with left mouse button; 8-way hat switch; 2 x rotary controls; Smooth-action slider control; Clutch button initiates ‘safe mode’ to allow on-the-fly profile selection, or to display button functionality without activating. Compatibility: Windows 7, XP/XP64, and Vista

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Product Details

• Color: Black
• Brand: Saitek
• Model: PS34
• Released on: 2007-01-31
• Platform: Windows
• Format: CD
• Number of items: 1

Features

• Advanced Multi-Function Display (MFD) for real flying interaction
• 2 dedicated MFD buttons and 2 rotary dials with in-built buttons to control additional game functionality
• Joystick with precision centering mechanism, non-contact technology on X and Y axes and constant spring force
• Progressive throttle with tension adjustment, detents for afterburner and idle; 2 fire buttons
• Works with: Windows XP, XP64 and Vista (all versions) and Windows 7

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Editorial Reviews

From the manufacturer All the features of the X52 combined with premium engineering and advanced Multi-Function Display (MFD) for real flying interaction.

• 2 dedicated MFD buttons and 2 rotary dials with in-built buttons to control additional game functionality
• MFD displays data directly from games, including Radio Stack info from Microsoft Flight Simulator 9 and 10
• Software Development Kit included for creating game-specific programs to interact with the MFD
• Choice of red, amber or green button illumination
• Illuminated buttons and MFD - ideal for low light environments
• Throttle unit illumination varies depending on throttle position
• Enhanced MFD backlighting
• Improved cable management system

Joystick

• Precision centering mechanism, non-contact technology on X and Y axes and constant spring force reduce free play, improve control and increase durability
• 2-stage metal trigger; 2 primary buttons in 1 convenient position
• 4 fire buttons including missile launcher with spring-loaded safety cover for instant access
• Conveniently positioned metal pinkie switch provides shift functionality to double up on programmable commands
• 2 X 8-way Hat Switches
• 3D rudder twist
• 3-position rotary mode selector switch with LED indicators
• 3 spring-loaded, base-mounted toggle switches for up to 6 programmable flight commands
• 5-position handle adjustment system to suit all hand sizes

Throttle

• Progressive throttle with tension adjustment, detents for afterburner and idle
• 2 fire buttons
• Scroll wheel with built-in button
• Mouse controller / hat switch with left mouse button
• 8-way hat switch
• 2 x rotary controls
• Smooth-action slider control
• Clutch button initiates ‘safe mode’ to allow on-the-fly profile selection, or to display button functionality without activating

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Customer Reviews

Great Stick, Not Yet Vista Ordering: 5 of 5 Direct from Amazon, arrived 2 business days after placing the order. The retail box is OK, with just egg shell cardboard for internal support, the oversized shipping box with airpacks was probably necessary. The Pro comes with one DVD (.html manual, drivers and Flight Simulator X demo) and a single page, multi-lanquage instruction sheet. Printed instructions stop at plug in and load the DVD to install the drivers. Appearance: 5 of 5 Aesthetically superior to the X52 IMHO. And many other brands as well, this is a serious piece of peripheral, it just plain looks like it means business, unlike most of the splashy silver competitors. Function: 4 of 5 Its a great stick, spring tension is consistant throughout the full motion range, although force is somewhat light. Not for lefties. Mode change knob might be easier for one-handing if it were on the left instead of the right side of the column, I find myself letting go of the joy handle to twist for a mode change. Toggle buttons at the base of the stick aren't the ancient mechanical potentiometer trimmers- up on the left toggle changes the viewpoint in the FSX demo, out of the box. Throttle MFD display is angled, easier to see than the X52. MFD has a clock, push the wheel and it turns into a stopwatch timer. Switching force for the wheel button is light, quite easy to button when one only wants to wheel. Throttle handle has a button style mouse, works as well as the mouse button on some laptop keyboards. At about 80% throttle the force to pass the military/afterburner detent is severe, dialing down the adjustment helps some. If you are into rudder control, the handle twists for Z rotation, or pull out the small tab at the base of the handle for twist lockdown and/or usage with separate rudder pedals. However, with a strong twist there is still about a 20% Z rotation even with the lockout set. Bump up the deadzone or ensure ZRot is disabled if not in use, perhaps a sensor lockout instead would work better here. Software: 1 of 5 This is where we fall short, especially if your new PC came with Vista. The programming SW is on the supplied DVD, but go straight to the Saitek web site and grab the latest drivers and profile editor if/when available. Dialups beware, driver + editor downloads are up to 20+Mb depending on the OS. Latest Vista drivers recognize the device and installed, but the the lack of programming SW and profiles for Vista is a bust. The latest driver adds on/off/color control for each individual LED, very nice, but the control panel settings stay with the PC, not a game profile, best as I can determine. There is also an SDK for programming the MFD, requires MS Visual Studio CC++. The FSX demo has a few small maps and five aircraft, including the twitchy helicopter- not the Bell. Only single engine choice is an ultralight but 65m/110k per hour airborn still beats a drive any day ;) and after about fifteen minutes or so the screen will blank and the demo exits. A big caveat with the lack of profile editing software, files created for the X52 aren't compatible with the Pro. Nor will the Vista drivers recognize a Pro file created on XP. Until Vista-capable editor is released and/or Saitek posts more Pro-version profiles, the inability to customize is severe. The iMFD plugin for FSX seems to have either the same X52 vs. X52Pro issue or maybe an OS .exe glitch. In XP SP2, a double click only results in an error dialog box. The demo output program in the SDK loads and runs, and has LED controls similar to the Vista control panel LED tab, except the button labels in the dialog box never change with the state. But keep an eye on the support web site, this would item would be a 5 when the software is online, check the file dates from Saitek (DDMMYY). Software versions tested: XPHome 32bit driver 5.2.0.22 filedate 171006, editor 4.3.4.17, filedate 191206. Vista 32bit driver 6.0.2.123 filedate 300107, editor NA. Quite an improvement over the standard X52, but some things still not up to the level of the X45 Please note, I'm writing this from the perspective of someone who used the Saitek X45 for 4 years, so most notes are comparing it, the X52 Pro, and the X52 standard. I get rather nitpicky about individual features, so for those interested in the bottom line, you can skip most of this, and just read the last paragraph. :) Compared with the standard X52, the X52 Pro is indeed a significant improvement. All extra functionality of the multi-function display aside, the quality is simply higher. However, I'm still very surprised that so many steps back were taken from the old X45. Compared with the original X52, the spring tension in the stick of the X52 Pro is a great improvement. I remember being very disappointed in the X52 when I picked up a display model, and the weak spring allowed the stick to fall over under it's own weight. The X52 Pro added a second centering spring to help, and it is much better, but still rather weak compared with the X45, which had a massive spring. Also, as with the standard X52, the X45's rudder rocker switch is gone, replaced by the twisty stick. Now, I do understand this, since it is a common practice in joystick design now.. however, I have never seen an aircraft with this feature, and if realism is the goal, you'll need rudder pedals. The rocker always has felt more intuitive to me. I think my largest disappointment in this stick, and the standard X52, is the new style for the dials on the throttle. In order to install the buttons in the centers of the dials, they had to sacrifice the quality of the dials themselves. The X45 had wonderful dials, with a smooth rotation range of about 300 degrees around the circle, and a great feel. The new style on the X52s is terrible by comparison. The new dials are difficult to rotate due to their design (instead of actual knobs, they are now flattened cone shapes with very little grip of any kind), they are cut down to a range of motion of less than 180 degrees, and feel as if the mechanism is made entirely of plastic (which it actually appears to be, since the dials fall off easily, revealing a plastic construction). A far cry from the well-oiled feel of the X45's dials. While I do appreciate the extra buttons, they could have been placed elsewhere to save the quality of the dials. Ok, that's enough ranting now. I tend to be very picky, and these are things that stuck in my mind. However, there are also several new features which I do appreciate greatly. First, the extra buttons. All told, there are at least 9 more buttons on this stick than the X45, including the toggle switches (which I very much appreciate- no more clogging the hat switches with flaps, landing gear, speedbrakes, etc.). The new style hat and castle switches are a welcome change of design, as is the spring loaded "fire" button cover. The new slider axis is very useful (although the feel of it leads me to believe it may become sloppy in the future), as is the mouse scroll wheel, and included button. Changing the mouse controller to a full two axis mini-stick is a mixed bag... it gives much more range of control of the mouse, but it also complicates things if you like to use it as a regular hat switch (just a matter of reprogramming). Also, this mini-stick can get stuck, forcing your mouse cursor to keep moving after you let go. This is particularly annoying since it can keep your screensaver from starting. Also note that the mouse cursor is ALWAYS on, even with no profile applied. With the default settings, you can simply use it as a two button mouse full time. A setting to disable this, and turn it into a four or eight button hat would be nice. The multi-function display (MFD) is a nice feature, but I have yet to really use it to any extent. The radio stack capability in Flight Simulator X is nice. It also has the ability to interact with Windows Media Player, displaying the current music track, and using the right wheel to control volume (note, it's backwards, and badly scaled- scroll up for volume down, and expect to scroll a long time before you notice a change). Don't expect any more than that though, the other buttons don't do anything useful (like change tracks, pause, etc). It may be possible to program these functions yourself, but using a multimedia keyboard is musch easier. Overall, I'm not entirely happy that my X45 quit working finally, but I'm plenty happy with the X52 Pro. It does everything I need it to do, and has been very accurate so far. While there are a few things that could still use work in my opinion, they don't stop me from enjoying it. I've used it in multiple games, and it has performed well in each of them. At this point in time, the X52 series (I'd recommend the Pro version over the standard one, but the standard version is quite a bit cheaper) is probably the best bargain on the market, since you can easily pay over $300 for the combination of a stick and throttle. Poor Quality I recently purchased the X52 Pro and I really liked the feel and looks of the product and when it worked it worked great , however after 3 days of light use the joystick button 1 and 6 stop responding along with the pov 1 and pov 2, it wouldn't pivot 360 degree's it would only pivot to 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock. Saitek support determined that the product was faulty and suggested that I return it for an exchange. I sent it back for replacement, well at least I got to use the replacement for 5 days and it stopped working also. I can't believe that this company is putting out such poor quality products. Go to the Saitek forum and do a search on X52 and you will find multiple issues with this product. I wish I had done that before I purchased mine. For the price they charge for this product you would think that it would be better quality. But then again, it's made in china. Make sure you do some research before you buy this product, it may save you some headache down the road. The only positive thing about the purchase is that Amazon was really great in exchanging the product and refunding my purchase.