Saitek ST290 Programmable Joystick with Throttle
by Saitek
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List Price: Our Price: $24.99 You Save: $4.96 (17%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Saitek ST290 Programmable Joystick with Throttle
Customer Review: A joy to use
Summary: 5 Stars
I found the joystick/flightstick very easy to use, and did not notice much in the way of hand cramps as I have with other similar productsCustomer Review: ST290 Pro
Summary: 5 Stars
This flight stick is easy to use, friendly to the pocketbook, and is one of the best flight sticks I have ever seen.Customer Review: Good, Stable, Beginner's Joystick
Summary: 4 Stars
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.
Customer Review: Great stick but weak trigger construction
Summary: 4 Stars
I have owned four or five of these (Saitek ST290 Pro) over the past three years. I love the stick for its ease of use, no doubt about it. My only complaint about this stick is the way the trigger is attached to the stick. The trigger has plastic hooks that grab a rod, holding the trigger in place. However, these hooks are rather weak and thin, and after numerous trigger pulls they weaken and break, and the next thing you know... BAM, your trigger flies off. This has happened to every one of these that I have owned. Once I went to great lengths to repair the trigger, affixing it with a little loop of 12-gauge electrical wire (which worked for some time) but the trigger wobbled during that time and always felt a bit weird.
I am not a crazy trigger-puller or anything like that. I play normally, usually for a total of around 5 hours a week. The trigger is just poorly-engineered. Stronger plastic should have been used, and the trigger connection should be a complete loop around the rod (making it stronger) rather than just little hooks that grab the rod. If they would have used 1 or 2 more grams of plastic, this could have been achieved.
All in all, I love this stick, and for $20 a pop it hasn't been a bad investment. I would just appreciate a little more durability instead of having the trigger self-destruct at an inopportune time.
Customer Review: Scary Warning Label
Summary: 4 Stars
I really like this joystick. I bought it for use solely with FS 2004 on Win XP SP2. I installed the latest drivers from the Saitek website before I even tried using it. Fired up FS 2004 and joystick worked like a champ.
My one complaint is the scary warning label on the USB cord: "Warning! Handling the cord on this product will expose you to lead, a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer, and birth defects or other reproductive harm. Wash hands after handling." It seems this has to do with IBM's agreement between a large number of manufacturers and the state of California to meet the requirements of California's Proposition 65 law. Here is an article on the subject from Harvard's Environmental Health & Safety web site: http://www.uos.harvard.edu/ehs/pr/pr18052004.shtml
I am guessing that all USB sticks will have similar PVC wrapped cables whether they provide the warning or not...