X52 Pro Flight System Controller

I am a long time flight sim enthusiast. I used to be the type who would always look for a better joystick on the market; that is until one day I purchased myself an X52 joystick from Saitek.This joystick was excellent, and it lasted me several great years of flying and fighting in combat sims.Recently however, I started to want an upgrade because my old x52 was beginning to wear after 7 years of use. I finally bit the bullet and purchased the x52 pro.First impressions:My first impression out of the box was that the joystick was exactly the same as the X52... I thought this was strange. I then pulled all the packaging away and realized that this x52 pro was a whole new world compared to the regular x52.Further inspection:Upon further inspection of the joystick I found that the same features that made the x52 great were still there; You had the toggle switches on the joystick along with the famous pinkie button and the protected fire button up top. Along with that you also had the multiple POV hats on the joystick. I really enjoyed the new button texture of the toggle switches, it gave me a better ability to feel the switch as I was attempting to use it. The biggest improvement I noticed among everything else was the increased spring tension of the joystick. No longer would I have to worry about my joystick floating about when I wasn't touching it. The throttle still had its many great features including the thumb stick for the mouse as well as the button that acts as a mouse button.The throttle Quad:Moving onto the throttle quadrant I noticed the same great shape and layout that the old x52 had, however I started to notice several difference.The first difference I noticed is that they removed the three buttons below the mini screen and replaced them with two buttons that are also scroll wheels; this gave the ability to have two extra axi's of control on the throttle quadrant.Moving on I also noticed that they made the slider sensitivity greater, that way you could move the thing with much more precision.As I continued to look at the details I also noticed that the throttle part of it had a much stronger tension to it, which is nice for when you want to find that sweet spot in your fighter; Saitek also kept the tension adjuster on the throttle for those of us who don't like the extra tension.Most of all, I really enjoyed the new texture they have on the potentiometers on the throttle; instead of the normal rubber grips from the old x52 they now have a more easily gripped plastic ridge feel to them. Now if my finger tips get sweaty during combat I can be guaranteed that my fingers will not slip off of my potentiometers.I think the best feature of the throttle is that they have added lights to the part of the throttle that tells you the throttle position. This way you can see the numbers.More of a minor detail of the throttle is that they have added a stopwatch basically into the screen display part. There is a start/stop button along with a reset button. I still do not see a benefit of this feature but it has limited use in my combat sims. I can now time my flights to and from a target for example.The joystick:The joystick held all of its details from the x52. Different textures give the x52 pro a better look than its predecessor. The mode selector wheel still exists in the same great location, although it no longer has the old rubber grips. You can still adjust the lower part of the joystick up and down for your hand size to give you a better grip of the joystick.Overall the most noticeable difference is the spring tension. It is much greater which gives you much better accuracy in your sims.Overall construction:Overall the construction of the joystick has stayed the same with the layout of the buttons and the style of the joystick; however, the joystick has gained many new parts made out of a harder plastic and even some metal parts for better durability. I see no problems with my joystick breaking on me unless I was to throw it against the wall.Minor details:Among the more minor details of the joystick we have the new color of the lights. Honestly I find the green lights to be very attractive to the joystick, however, the sheer brightness of the new lights causes some distraction while I am trying to use the joystick.There is also the addition of the protected button on the joystick having two different light colors for which mode its in. If it is protected it is a green color while if it is unprotected it turns red. That is nice to have, just in case you forget that you have unprotected the button.Overall score:Personally, I enjoy all details of the x52 pro; most of all I enjoy the new spring tension as it gives me greater flying accuracy in my sims. The joystick has a real sturdy feel to it. I would give it a 4.5 out of 5 stars if possible, but since I cant I will give it 5 stars instead.

After reading all the talk online about this having issues with Windows 10, or with USB 3.0 specifically intel's z97 chipset (supposedly doesn't work with any of the USB ports for that chipset), I was pretty worried after I ordered that I would have to disable USB 3.0 in my bios, or get a separate USB card for the controller to work properly with out massively screwing up my system.I was pleasantly surprised with the ease of install and use... I downloaded the latest drivers from the Saitek website, for Windows 10 x64, began the setup, when it told me to plug in the controller, shockingly, I did :-O, and it worked perfectly. I did not attempt to use any of the USB 3.0 ports on my computer, instead opting for 1 of the 2 USB 1.1/2.0 ports, but even that wasn't supposed to work since I have a z97 chipset, and no other USB controllers in my system... But there it was, working beautifully.As to the controller itself, it's great! I have been dying to get a new one for years and years, ever since I had been unable to use my Microsoft Sidewinder precision pro (unfortunately it was one of the first versions with a game port connector, but no USB support even with adapter) in my TIE Fighter and XvT days. So this has been quite an upgrade from that. Everything seems to be intuitively placed, and easy to access and use. The sheer amount of buttons, sliders, dials, switches could be overwhelming when trying to remember which every one does, but the more you use, the easier it is to remember.The only thing I'm not sure about yet is the pinky button on the Stick, I like it, I use it, but my hand isn't the most comfortable while not using it, because I don't have any good place to put my pinky finger, small sacrifice, and not worth a star removal, because I do still use it, so it is still useful.I like the tension amount on the stick, and it is adjustable on the throttle, so no qualms with that.I also do like that, even without the software, just the driver installed, I still have control of all of the lighting and various settings of the stick itself. I haven't tried that actual software for it yet, just messed with some of the settings in game controllers in Windows control panel, and really, for me that's enough... If you have multiple profiles you use for different, or even the same games, that's where the software will come in for you.