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<p>Saitek has been making gaming peripherals for quite some time
now
and has gained a lot of popularity with its Cyborg range of joysticks.
However, for anyone serious about flight simulators, the Saitek X45 is
one of the most affordable setups on the market and has been for a very
long time – so long in fact that it has now been superseded
by the X52,
which is the most feature rich joystick I have ever tested.<br>
</p>
<p>
The X52 isn’t the most advanced flight control system around,
although
considering that it costs well under £100, it offers a great
combination of features and value.<br>
</p>
<p>
The box that the X52 comes in wasn’t quite as large as I
expected it to
be, but this is mainly due to clever packaging. Once opened
you’re
greeted by an instruction booklet, a driver CD, a bag with rubber
suction cups, a small cable and the joystick and throttle control. The
suction cups can be attached at the bottom of the joystick and throttle
for extra grip, but both controllers have rubber feet that stick quite
well to most surfaces.<br>
</p>
<p>
The Joystick looks similar to that of the X45, but gone is the blue
base and orange lights and the new aluminium and black base looks a lot
more stylish and follows with the current trend, all the lights are now
blue. There’s a multitude of buttons and the main trigger
button now
has a two stage operation, which means that you can arm your missiles
by pressing in inwards slightly and then fire them by pressing it all
the way in. There’s also what’s known as a pinkie
switch, and both of
these triggers are made of aluminium.<br>
</p>
<p>
The remaining buttons on the shaft of the joystick are controlled by
your thumb - there are three buttons labelled a, b and c which are all
within easy reach. There is one final button here, but it’s
hidden
behind a safety flap – the flap needs to be flicked upwards
to reveal
the button and this can be used for dropping your payload at the
bombing target for example.<br>
</p>
<p>
There are also two eight-way hat switches and a mode switch –
I’ll
explain more about this later. At the base of the joystick are three
two-way switches that are user programmable.<br>
</p>
<p>
The joystick is spring loaded and moves smoothly in the X and Y axis
and it can also be twisted, which is mainly used as rudder control in
flight games, but you can also use this for tasks like twisting the
torso of your robot in Mechwarrior type games. If you don’t
like this
feature, you can disable it.<br>
</p>
<p>
Talking of adjustments, the hand rest can be adjusted upwards and
downwards depending on the size of your hand and it can even be tilted
at a slight angle to make it as comfortable as possible to hold. This
is done by loosening a thumb screw at the front of the joystick,
adjusting the hand rest to a comfortable position and retightening the
screw.<br>
</p>
<p>
The joystick is attached to the throttle controller by what looks like
a PS2 extension cable – the cable is about a metre long. The
throttle
controller then connects to your PC via <span class="glossary"
onclick="showGlossary('USB')">USB</span>. This is
where the X52 differs from the X45, as it has a built in <span
class="glossary" onclick="showGlossary('LCD')">LCD</span>
display with blue <span class="glossary"
onclick="showGlossary('backlight')">backlight</span>.<br>
</p>
<p>
The throttle controller has been given a major overhaul in terms of
looks and features compared to the X45. Although there are only really
three buttons on the throttle, it has a lot more features than
you’d
think. There is an eight-way hat switch here as well as two rotary
controllers, a scroll wheel, a slide switch, but most impressively it
has a built-in mouse.<br>
</p>
OK, so it’s not a real mouse, but it is a small joystick that
allows
you to control the mouse pointer and it has a button next to it that
works just like the left button on a mouse. The previously mentioned
scroll wheel can be pressed inwards to act as the right mouse button.
This way you don’t need to find your mouse in order to make
changes to
your game settings, or even just to get a new game started. It takes a
little while to get used to, but overall it’s a very cool
feature that
I've not seen on any other joysticks.<br>
<br>
<img alt="" src="http://www.fspilotshop.com/images/x52.jpg">
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Write a guide Details Saitek X52by: guamwarehouse ( 133 ) 4 out of 7 people found this guide helpful. Guide created: 01/02/08 (updated 09/21/09) Ready to share your knowledge with others? Write a guide Related categories: | Member InformationItems from eBay sellers     |
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