C H Products USB Combat Stick 200 568 PC

C H Products USB Combat Stick 200 568 PC
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I did a lot of research and testing before deciding on the CH Combat Stick, and after using it for some time now I'm still confident I made the right decision. The only other contenders in the same league are the other 2 CH options (the Flight Stick Pro and the Fighter Stick), Saitek's X52 (or X52 Pro) HOTAS setup, and the Thrustmaster Cougar HOTAS. Looking at the last two first, both the Cougar and the X52 have their good and bad points, but in the end they both fall down on build quality, quality control and reliability. The Cougar is an amazing stick (though not for those without arms like Popeye) but has a very poor reputation and frankly seems to contain some fairly shoddy components. Those who love taking their sticks apart and doing home rebuilds should have no problem with them - everybody else beware. The X52 is an interesting bit of kit if you can get one that works - it took me three goes to get one that worked straight out of the box - and looks and feels a bit 'gimmicky', which brings me to the CH sticks. The Flight Stick Pro, Combat Stick and Fighter Stick share many properties (particularly the latter two which at first glance look identical), and in the end the most significant difference is the number of buttons. The Flight stick doesn't have many, the Fighter Stick has way too many for my liking (though for armchair jet pilots who want to programme every possible keystroke onto their stick they might prove useful), which leaves the Combat stick sitting nicely in the middle. It's comfortable to use, works right out of the box with no setting up (but it does have software if you want to get more involved with setting profiles etc.) and is amazingly responsive and accurate. Add to that CH's unparalleled reputation for reliability and you have a stick that will work perfectly for a longtime. It has trim wheels for the X and Y axes (a serious ommission on many sticks these days) and also a throttle wheel on the base. True, it's not a HOTAS, but if you add the CH Pro Throttle you have the best HOTAS around (and adding the throttle increases the number of available button modes on the Combat Stick via the throttle's mode switch), and if you go the whole way and add the CH Pedals you have a solid, reliable flight-sim setup that would take seem beating (though for the three items together you'd not get much change from £350). On the downside, the Combat Stick doesn't look as impressive as either the Cougar or the X52 and its plastic look and feel initially make you wonder why it's as expensive as it is. Until you use it. Compared to many sticks it is quite light to move and has a lot of travel to reach maximum position on each axis, but I prefer 'light and long' movements anyway. Nor does it have a 'twist rudder', but I'm not a fan of those as they can cause quite a lot of extra wrist strain and for realism pedals are a much better idea. If you want solid metal and F-16 looks and aren't bothered about realiability, then go for a Cougar. If you want 'I'm in the alien mothership from Close Encounters' and aren't bothered by a stick that is never quite sure where the middle of its axes are, then go for the X52. If you want a no-nonense joystick that works every time and adds to the gaming experience rather than overshadowing it, then go for a CH. Which CH only depends on how many buttons you need - I use my Combat Stick for FS9, Combat Flight Sim 2, IL2 (all of them), Wings Over Europe and Battle Of Britain and so far haven't needed any extra buttons or had any sort of stick problem. In comparison, the Thrustmaster stopped registering on the X-axis, the first Saitek had a non-functioning hat switch and the second developed serious creep on the Y-axis. They may look better on the outside than the Combat Stick, but with CH you're paying for what's on the inside - you're buying reliability and consistency, and in my book that's the most important consideration when looking for a good flight-sim stick.