Cyborg F.L.Y 5

A curate's egg of a product, good in parts.

The Good

It looks great and has loads of adjustments to suit pretty much any hand or style of play. The buttons (bar one) fall easily to hand and work very well. The twist action (yes it does have one) is probably the best I've come across. The split throttle feels great and can be converted into a single throttle with the press of a button (something that works surprisingly well). Physically it centres extremely well.

The Bad

It's not the most comfortable stick I've used, and that one button mentioned above can be a serious pain if you have to use it often. It takes a fair amount of force to move the stick away from centre, which makes subtle adjustments nigh on impossible. Lack of support at the front means diving too enthusiastically could well mean the stick toppling over.

The Ugly

The supplied adjustment device broke within minutes (an allen key with a plastic handle - a recipe for disaster). The manuals were weak and uninformative. No Mac software (though plug it in and "It just works" as usual). My particular example turned out to be rather lopsided. When I checked it if full left gave -100, full right only gave +85*, which meant I ended up returning it. Also the signal was a little noisy on some of the axes.

In conclusion, if you're looking for a reasonably priced joystick for gaming purposes, this seems a pretty good bet. If you're into more 'serious' simulation (X-Plane, FSX) then look elsewhere. I did and ended up with a Saitek Pro Flight Yoke System (PC) and Saitek Pro Gamer Rudder Pedals (PC), both of which I'm very pleased with (so far).

* I found a similar 'lopsidedness' with the yoke originally but found a cure (eventually) which might apply to this joystick as well. Disconnect from the usb port, reconnect and work the device through its limits four times (right, left, up down etc.). This seems to reset something internally and may solve the problem if it happens to you.

I have had the top of the range Joystick for some time - the Saitek X52-Pro, Althouh it was a very fine piece of engineering it was ultimately the size that forced me to get rid of it. I Opted for the Saitek Cyborg X Joystick, which although does not have all the funtionality of the former, but is equaly matched in quality.
As with all the Cyborg range it is fully adjustable in both Physical Size and programability. Coupled together with the ability to just fold it up and put it away - Its a WIN WIN joystick for me. with its Dual throttle control (an option not available on the top of the range) it makes some games even better. I have been an avid flight simmer for many years and had many different joysticks - this has to be, in my oppinion, the best out there for the price!

This product is absolutly brilliant. Every part of it is ajustable which makes it one of the most comfortable joysticks i have ever used. The Button programming software is easy to use and quick. Flight sim x has never been played like this!!!!!