Updated: Improving x55; Any touchscreen photos available?

Tech Support
1

So the X55 has been good with a lot of buttons & sturdy build, but it felt off until I raised it 7 inches.
(Thanks Jay.)

Beyond that - I’d like a throttle with:

  • X65’s style button options -or better- if available anywhere (see photo).
  • especially with buttons in front of the throttle so I don’t have to release it (touchscreen was advised).
  • especially with excellent strafing left thumb buttons… tiny, oddly placed ones can be disastrous.
  • I like x55’s switches everywhere else but the previous 2 points are critical IMHO.

And a stick that’s:

I’m willing to splurge a bit for the right setup.
Considering the use it will get, it’s well worth it for me.

Thanks in advance for any input.

UPDATE:
Again, 50% of this was largely amended after I raised both peripherals by 6-8 inches.
But still aiming for better button setups - possibly via touchscreen.
Photo examples of your touchscreens would rock. Thanks guys!

2

Ok so I am not going to recommend a stick, cause I am not entirely sure what you are wanting. My suggestion is look around, and maybe see if you can find a store that you can try them out at for a sense of feel.

I would not advise trying to mix and match a stick and throttle, unless you want to have all sorts of problems both with hardware (such as many of the hotas from saitek use a pass through setup where the stick plugs into the throttle, and they may not be interchangeable between saitek models), and software (eg using 2 or more software apps to run the setup, which may cause conflicts and issues, not to mention the major headache of trying to program the stick).

Also i am not sure if you are currently using pedals or not, as the higher end sticks often expect you to have pedals and do not offer any kind of substitute control.

I will say I like the look of the virpil hotas, but they are also a new company and i don’t know how good their profiler software is. Thrustmaster has kind of been the higher end standard for a long period of time in the combat flight sim community with the warthog, and cougar before it, and their target profiling software is hard to beat. Both of which are based off of real world aircraft controls (f-16 for the cougar, A-10 for the warthog), and generally have good ergonomics (Virpil seems to base theirs off the modern Russian fighter controls).