Greetings, sorry if I'm not in the correct section (I'm new to this site).

 

A little background, around 7-8 years ago my father got into the FS game series. I remember him using a saitek ST290 PRO before he quit playing due to work. I found his FSX disks in the closet the other day and decided to try it out on my laptop. Everything is great except the joystick which I believe is malfunctioning from being stored for a couple of years without any axis movement. 

 

I'm really a newbie and I'm by no means anything close to a pilot but I would like to learn how to master some aircraft models of the game. My question is, what is the best joystick/yoke for beginners? My budget is under $100 if possible but I guess I could save some more money if needed. Also I've never used pedals and thats something I might consider purchasing later on. Thanks in advance for the help!

 

If it helps my PC is an asus with a dual core i5 @2.6ghz,6gb ram and intel HD graphics.

Your best bet is to Google search for a flightsim joystick and see what's out there.  There should be plenty to choose from in your price range.  I paid under $20 about 3 years ago including shipping.

 

Use "FSX joystick and Yokes" as your search parameter.

I've seen this one on sale a few times .. not a bad stick for less cash

 

http://www.amazon.com/Thrustmaster-T-Flight-Hotas-Flight-Playstation-3/dp/B001CXYMFS/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1398447409&sr=1-1&keywords=thrustmaster

Thanks for the answers guys, I just threw the old saitek ST290 in the trash, made two test flights on the 737 from TJBQ-TJSJ and both times the throttle got stuck preventing the reverse thrust. But I'm getting the hang of it and it feels great :lol: Too bad I can't stop the plane when landing!

 

The thrustmaster looks promising with loads of possitive reviews, another joystick is the logitech extreme 3d pro, bestbuy has it for $25 and it has good reviews. After I get out of work I'll keep researching further

When in doubt, hit F1 so engines will go to idle.  It never hurts!  Don't forget auto-spoilers.

(and when at idle, use F2 to pull back into reverse...)

If it helps my PC is an asus with a dual core i5 @2.6ghz,6gb ram and intel HD graphics.

That could be an issue for FSX. Your PC is better suited for FS9.

Wow, thanks for the tips guys!, well I stopped at BestBuy after work and picked up a logitech 3d pro for $25. I'm installing it now and will report back with the results.  Ryan I don't have FS9, I'll look into it.

 

If it helps my PC is an asus with a dual core i5 @2.6ghz,6gb ram and intel HD graphics.

 

Although you can run FSX on a dual core CPU, 2.6 GHz is pretty slow.  FSX runs best on quad core CPU's and the closer to 4 GHz, the better.

 

Intel HD graphics is fine for watching videos and playing some games, but for Flight Sim, I think it is very weak.

On the road I run FSX on a 2.3 dual core I3 laptop with Intel HD graphics (8Gb ram). Limit the addons, and with care 20 to 30 fps is pretty do-able. Don't expect to adjust the sliders within FSX to get much above low to mid-range. Get into the Intel graphics control panel, an though the adjustments are limited they have a big performance effect. Some CFG tweaks also help with fluidity, and stutters when panning and shifting views. My Logitech extreme 3d pro joystick has been very dependable. Track IR has also been a nice addition with the limited size screen. 

On the road I run FSX on a 2.3 dual core I3 laptop with Intel HD graphics (8Gb ram). Limit the addons, and with care 20 to 30 fps is pretty do-able. Don't expect to adjust the sliders within FSX to get much above low to mid-range. Get into the Intel graphics control panel, an though the adjustments are limited they have a big performance effect. Some CFG tweaks also help with fluidity, and stutters when panning and shifting views. My Logitech extreme 3d pro joystick has been very dependable. Track IR has also been a nice addition with the limited size screen. 

Thanks for the tip!, I've been running FSX fine with medium settings but I'm having a problem. When ever I watch an instant replay after landing I get "FSX has stopped working" and it closes down. The game appears to be getting 30FPS since the graphics and movements looks smooth to me. Any tips? My laptop is running windows 8.

 

Is there any guide to graphics adjustments for the intel HD4000 graphics for FSX? 

 

As far as the logtech 3d pro, its great! I was able to successfully land the 747-400 at TJSJ. I still need to work on adjusting my final approaches and taxiing but I'm getting there. Its a steal for $25, I'm very happy with the results.

 

 

 

Thanks to everyone for the input!

If you'd like to check your frame rates, press Shift z twice, but you should be fine as long as you don't max out the sliders.