A few years ago, a few months befor my FS passion fired up in 2002 or 2001, i purchased a MS Sidewinder from walmart. Played it with a game or 2, then returned it. When my FS passion came about, i purchased something called a Thrustmaster Top Gun Fox 2 Joystick from compusa. Now on my 2nd one, and the 2nd isnt even a year of age, i need a new one. These are good joysticks when new, but they seem to go down hill.. This went down pretty fast. I am now looking at new joysticks, and would like another sidewinder. Cant find them any where. Did MS stop production? What other joysticks are really good for fs?Thanks alot!

Donny AKA ShalomarFly 2 ROCKS!!!I really like the Logitech (Wingman) Extreme Digital 3d. It is a wired joystick and comes with USB and HID adapter. It has a twist rudder, well located throttle, 8 way hat switch, Trigger button I mapped to brakes, 2 buttons on base perfect for elevator trim and four other buttons near hat switch. The 8 way hat switch is especially useful in VC for MSFS or FLY 2 with its scrollable cockpit panels and ability to pan to throttle quadrant or overhead WITHOUT popup windows. (It costs about $30.00 direct from Logitech) The Wingman Force 3D is the exact same but with force feedback and after experience I recomend AGAINST that particular model. It manages to make even a Cessna seem squirrelly and its lack of a defined centerpoint- worse a WANDERING one makes IFR difficult. The Wingman Extreme digital 3D is solid as a rock when used with DirectX 9C. Since I upgraded to that helo flying is much easier than I remembered before. (I mostly fly fixed wings and the only thing I notice is the rudder gets harder to calibrate with age. I haven't replaced my joystick in over three years and when I changed to DirectX 9C rudder control improved a LOT but still isn't quite like when new.) I don't see my joystick in the stores anymore but you can get it from www.logitech.com . I don't know your budget but I am considering getting a CH products yoke, rudder pedals and throttle quadrant. I have heard GREAT things about it from users but can't speak from personal experience. That yoke comes with EIGHT WAY HAT SWITCH, throttle, RPM and mixture levers PLUS gear/flaps switches, elevator trim and four aditional programmable buttons. Having RPM and mixture mapped to single levers makes dealing with an engine out situation seemingly impossible, you might want to leave RPM on your keyboard if you fly piston twins. That's why I want the additional throttle quadrant. Amazon offers a combo of that yoke and pedals for about two hundred. The yoke itself hovers around $115.00 It is way past time 8 way hat switches start showing up on yokes.Good luck with your search :-wavewww.chproducts.comwww.logitech.com

I've never used anything except a MS joystick so I can't say much about the others. But, yes, MS no longer manufacturers them. If you want one, though, there are a lot of them listed on E-bay all the time, even some new ones. The Sidewinder Pro Plus or Precison Pro models are hard to beat.Doug

I still have my trusty sidewinder precision pro. It's not a high-end piece of equipment but works way better than any other joystick I have flown with.I just realised how important the joystick is as I have flown on the new computer of a friend with a different joystick (could have been a logitech) and had problems to land aircraft I would handle with ease on my configuration. Maybe it's just about getting used to it, but who knows...regards,Claudio

Well I have the Saitek Evo and think it's just a great stick. It is a pity that MS got out of the controller business as I had a PP2 which served me very well.

> I've never used anything except a MS joystick so I can't>say much about the others. But, yes, MS no longer>manufacturers them. If you want one, though, there are a lot>of them listed on E-bay all the time, even some new ones. The>Sidewinder Pro Plus or Precison Pro models are hard to beat.>>DougNow that i know that, my day isnt gonna be to good knowing what i had and cant get back again.

>Well I have the Saitek Evo and think it's just a great stick.>It is a pity that MS got out of the controller business as I>had a PP2 which served me very well.Ive looked at the Saitek. Never been on one. I felt the same way about mine then al this happend for the 2nd time. Think ill give logitech a shot since MS dropped the Joysticks ffrom their product line.:-wave

Donny AKA ShalomarFly 2 ROCKS!!!I have found Logitech to be a good brand except for my experience with the Force 3D. That might be partly because I was using it in a sim that didn't incorporate control pressures but still it was squirrelly. Highly recomend (Wingman)Extreme Digital (Pro). All features identical except no force feedback and it's rock solid with DirectX 9. I've gotten over three years out of my latest one and Logitech charges $29.95 plus shipping. Best Regards, Donny:-wave

Hi.MS no longer makes joysticks. During the years I probably owned most of the sticks that came on the market, until about a year ago, some I gave away and I still am in possession of about 60 of them, everything from Button type, FF, Yokes, Throttles, HOTAS etc, and I STIIL use as my primary stick a Sidewinder Precision Pro, of which I have 4 . These will probably last me for the rest of my life. As noted by others the Sidewinder Precision Pro and Plus are very good joysticks. One note of caution, the Plus series are Gameport ONLY sticks, unlike the Pros which can be used in both configurations. I would assume, I personally did not test this, that you could use it with the Gameport to USB adapter, from Rshack, with some limited functions. The USB configuration is more stable, less jitter / noise in my opinion. If you get one from Ebay make sure that you get the right one, if you want the USB make sure it has the Dongle / adapter cable, if not I can help you make your own, but it

>Hi.>MS no longer makes joysticks. During the years I probably>owned most of the sticks that came on the market, until about>a year ago, some I gave away and I still am in possession of>about 60 of them, everything from Button type, FF, Yokes,>Throttles, HOTAS etc, and I STIIL use as my primary stick a>Sidewinder Precision Pro, of which I have 4 . These will>probably last me for the rest of my life.> As noted by others the Sidewinder Precision Pro and Plus are>very good joysticks. One note of caution, the Plus series are>Gameport ONLY sticks, unlike the Pros which can be used in>both configurations. I would assume, I personally did not test>this, that you could use it with the Gameport to USB adapter,>from Rshack, with some limited functions. The USB>configuration is more stable, less jitter / noise in my>opinion. If you get one from Ebay make sure that you get the>right one, if you want the USB make sure it has the Dongle />adapter cable, if not I can help you make your own, but it

I have read some reviews on other Logitech joysticks that implied they didn't last very long and folks had problems with them. In general, bad reviews. How long have you had your stick and I assume you have no problems to report?