Home >> Computer Add-Ons >> Game Hardware
Home >> Computer Add-Ons
Home >> Software >> PC Games
Saitek JI3G Cyborg 3D Gold USB JoyStick | List Price: $39.99
Discount Price: $180.00
|
Platform: Windows
Brand: Saitek
Binding: Electronics
Warranty: 1 year warranty
Features: - 8 fully programmable buttons
- Trigger, 3 fire buttons, 8-way hat switch, and smooth lever throttle
- 3-D twist handle for precise rudder control
- 2 base-mounted, command-doubling shift buttons
- Fully customizable, ambidextrous design
Great Joystick! The Low Price is Just a Bonus! [Posted on 2003-07-18]
Overall, the Saitek Cyborg 3D Gold is an amazing joystick! It's the joystick's precise, easy axis motion that I enjoy most. The Cyborg 3D is better than most joysticks that cost far more than it, so it is definitely one of the best deals you'll find. I'll break it into pros and cons as most people have: Pros:
1) Perfect feel to the joystick! Incredibly smooth and precise motion, twist, and throttle axes give much better control than most other joysticks.
2) Very customizable physically! You can adjust several different aspects of the joystick to best fit your hand and how you play.
3) Very customizable by software! Saitek includes excellent software to program the joystick, even for games that do not normally use a joystick for input (emulating mouse, keyboard, etc).
4) Lots of buttons! This decreases or removes the need for keyboard use in many games, so you can keep your offhand on the throttle or base buttons as necessary. Cons:
1) There is a slight spring dead zone to the motion and twist axes that prevents the joystick from having a single resting place. Sometimes you can be stuck with a slight bit of input even when you're not touching the joystick, and have to tap it into its calibrated default position. However, this is mostly Microsoft's fault for not including dead zone in its Windows XP joystick calibration, and I suspect many joysticks suffer from this. Fortunately, many joystick-controlled games allow you to calibrate the dead zone.
2) Base buttons should be closer to throttle. Though this would remove the joystick's equal ease of use for right- and left-handed people, it would make the base buttons much more useful for games requiring constant manipulation of the throttle.
good joystick, horrid software [Posted on 2003-09-01]
the joysticks overall sesign was good, good response, and i really liked the throttle and button placement. The reason im giving this 2 stars because of the horrible software. I run Xp,and once you get it running its fine. The problem starts when you shut your computer off. once you turn your computer back on and if you try to use the joystick, it won't register, and you need to uninstall and reinstall the joystick software all over! This happens every time you shut down your computer, and it gets very annoying.
Needs a bit more meat to it. [Posted on 2004-02-23]
I like it very much but I would like to see a bit more weight in the base. The feel is super. It plays 1942 very nice but I still have not gotten use to it for all of the game. I only use it for flying. I like having it being USB as it makes it very easy to setup as my system is very busy.
If you get this one, take time playing around with it before you put it on live. Have fun and good luck, [AFS] SP6_Adamson
Chicago Bear lover [Posted on 2007-08-11]
This joystick has performed fantastic! Halo is my primary game. I've read the rest of the reveiws, so I'm not going to duplicate what's already been added.
The only drawback that I had with this product: If you game as hard as I do, be careful because the plastic in the trigger and the hand rest is a little less than sturdy. But then again, I have worn mine out!
It's OK, but not as good as it looks. [Posted on 2008-10-03]
Out of the box all seems well, but after a month or two some issues start to become more and more glaring. First, if this stick is digital, why does it need to be calibrated? Well, obviously, it's not digital; it uses potentiometers just like all the old sticks, but also includes its own analog to digital encoder in the base. This means that like all the old sticks, the pots will eventually get old and will need to be cleaned more and more frequently to keep it calibrate-able. More expensive sticks use optical encoders that don't need cleaning (at least not as often) and don't need to be calibrated. Second, what's up with the button placement on the base? Why aren't they all on the sides where they belong? Third, since this is clearly a potentiometer stick, shouldn't the max range of motion be a square instead of a circle? Why yes, it should: a circular stop means that with the stick pushed to the extreme 45 degree position is neither fully up/down, nor fully sideways. Windows game control calibration software then compensates by mapping those circular locations to a square pattern (just look at the calibration window and at the stick movement; doesn't it seem logical that they should be the same?). The consequence may be small but it's there-- less resolution at the angles then the perpedicular axis. This becomes very apparent when playing a racing game (like GRID). Since you cracked apart the control to take a look at it's innards, you might also notice that the pots are 10k where most quality analog sticks, like CH flightsticks, are 100k, which gives greater sensitivity; also notable is the metal weights in the bottom. The stick feels heavy because it has ballast not because of its construction.
*Pros: For the cost it's a decent stick for arcade play. Ajustable ergonomics.
*Cons: It's not built as heavy as one might think. It's not sensitive enough for hardcore simulation. The USB belies its analog underpinnings. Button location. Mushy axis extremes.
*Bottomline: Compared to a CH it sucks, but that's hardly surprising. If you use a stick alot or are serious about your sims: spend more money.
Click here for more details and discount information...
|
){kind=link}