Reviewing the Logitech G940

[Ruggbutt 45]

 

This year has been a great year for flight simmers. Announcements of new software and new hardware piqued the interest of the flight sim community. Of all the products we were promised nothing generated the buzz that the Logitech G940 did. It was promo'd at E3 earlier this year. With E3 being an industry show many people just didn't get the chance to see it, touch it or talk to someone who had. I was fortunate enough to get my hands on the G940 and run it through it's paces. Those of you that know me know I'm a gadget guy. I love to make periodic additions to my cockpit to ease the "workload" when I'm flying online with my squadron. I own a couple of Logitech mice (510's) and two Logitech 5.1 surround systems, one for my pit and the other for my FPS (First Person Shooter) desk. My main mouse has been going for 5 years.

 

The G940 is a HOTAS (Hands On Throttle And Stick) and rudder pedals. The stick itself is FF (Force Feedback). I haven't "flown" with FF for years. I was anxious to see how well I'd be able to fly the jet and use the weapons with a stick that was alive, shaking and shuddering and doing it's best to spoil my aim. That's a common misconception that I'll touch on later in this review.

 

I was promised the G940 sometime in August as soon as the eval copies were to be made available. Sure enough I received a box that was shipped "next day". How's that for service?!! I immediately broke out my camera and started tearing into the boxes. The outer box was your standard brown cardboard with the Logitech logo, taped on all the corners with clear tape. Fitting tightly inside was the store display box. I thought to myself, let's see how well these are packed. After all, we know that our boxes get thrown around by UPS and FedEx. I hoped that nothing was broken.

 

 

I know that some of you like the unboxing part and like it documented, so I attempted that for you. The first parts I pulled out were the HOTAS itself, packaged up nicely and covered with thick protective plastic. Logitech did it's homework with it's packaging, the G940 arrived in pristine condition despite obvious abuse on it's outer packaging.

 

 

I'd heard from a friend who was at E3 (sadly, I wasn't able to make it this year) that the stick had a nice feel to it. He said it was kind of rubbery to the touch. I unpacked the stick and set it down on the counter, I wanted to handle it a bit first. My friend was right, it felt great in my hand. I have medium size hands and the stick fit just right. The hand grip part of the stick is smaller in diameter than sticks from some of the other high end manufacturers. I liked it. I also liked the coating that was on it. It was slightly rubbery to the touch. I don't think you'd lose your grip with sweaty hands. After imagining myself in a dogfight with an adversary (and making the appropriate machine guns sounds with my mouth) I set the stick down and took a quick look at the how many buttons and switches it had. Two stage trigger, POV (Coolie) hat, another hat, several buttons, and three rotators. There's also another button that lies under your pinkie on the stick that can be programmed as a "Shift" button. Excellent! That's absolutely mandatory and doubles the programmability. You'll notice mounting holes on all four corners of the HOTAS. There are rubber feet on the bottom but I'll bet that a lot of you out there will want to secure the HOTAS via the mounting holes.

 

 

Shot of the front of the stick so you can see the trigger, shift button and connectors for the throttle and pedals.

 

 

Trim rotators on the base of the stick.

 

 

I couldn't stand it any longer, I unpackaged the throttle and set it up on my left side. In my mind I was back in the dogfight, chopping throttle and maneuvering my imaginary aircraft to keep on my bandit's six. Immediately I felt the afterburner detent. Gotta love that! There's an idle detent too. Well done! There's some major cool factor going on with this throttle, it seems like Logitech did it's homework and listened to it's potential customers. I'm seeing all kinds of things that I'd want on a HOTAS and it's on the G940. You'll only need one open USB port for the G940. The stick has the USB connector, the throttle and pedals connect to it via gameport-type connectors. There is also a power cord that plugs into a wall outlet with an ac/dc converter. The converter itself is about 4 inches long, 2.5 inches wide and an inch or so in height. The wiring is fairly robust and I found that all cables were long enough to string around my cockpit without having to tension them.

 

 

I take a closer look and there's a rotator in the front of right throttle. Right throttle you say? Did I forget to mention that it's a split throttle? You can lock the left and right side together or disengage them and adjust them separately. This feature is one of the most wished for features in the combat flight sim community. If you're flying an F-16 you just lock the throttles together, but hop in that Su-33 and you have total control over both engines. There's another rotator on the side of the right throttle. There's also a POV switch, another 8 way hat, several buttons and a mode sliding switch. Remember me talking about programmability? The mode switch lets you program 3 times the amount of commands. You could use mode 1 for Navigation, mode 2 for Air to Air and Mode 3 for Air to Ground. In this manner you could fly any number of aircraft and not have to load different profiles for each plane.

 

 

Front side of the throttle:

 

 

On the bottom of the throttle there's an adjustment rotator so you can adjust the tension of the throttle.

 

 

I set the HOTAS aside and pulled the pedals out and removed the plastic. The pedals look nice, they have stainless steel foot rests. I particularly liked the "humps" that fit where the arch of your foot goes. There's a dial tension adjuster in between the pedals as well. I personally like a little bit of resistance.

 

 

I turned the pedals over and found a nice surprise, carpet spikes. They normally sit recessed into the base but you can extend them (by pushing in on the locks) and they'll keep the pedals from moving forward as you push on them. They work great, I use a lot of rudder flying the A10 and they didn't move an inch all the time I used them.

 

 

I took a closer look at the connecting rods for the pedals and was happy to see that they seem to be built very thick and heavy. This is good because pedals take huge amounts of abuse compared to their HOTAS buddies.

 

You can plug the G940 in and play. For the first time user this is great. You're up and running with little to no effort. I recommend that you take the time and use Logitech's software to create profiles for your sims. It's more time consuming but you'll be pleased with the end result and you'll find you'll be using your keyboard much less should you go this route.

Now that all the exploring was done it was time to install the software. Installation went without a hitch and walked you through every step of the installation. You plug in the G940 during the software installation, it'll tell you when. The GUI (Graphical User Interface) was fairly straight forward and similar in nature to Saitek's software. If you're a first time profile creator there's a bit of a learning curve. You'll catch on quickly though. It worked just fine in Lock On/Flaming Cliffs and Black Shark. You have to tell both sims which axis is assigned to which command but the buttons and POV hats worked right off the bat.

 

The Profiler software (as it's called) is well thought out. You can pull up a graphic of each controller in the GUI and when you press a button, move a hat switch, dial a rotator or move an axis the software automatically highlights that particular part for you to command. No guessing involved.

 

 

You click with your mouse on the command panel and another menu opens with multiple choices.

 

 

When you choose to add a keypress or a cycle command another menu opens (depending on which of those you chose) and you can give custom names to your commands. For instance, if you're programming Flaps and there are three levels of flaps (full up, half flap, full down) you can add all of these commands to your new flap command and every press of the button will change the position of your flaps. The Profiler software allows you to record macros, keybinds, bands, etc. I played around with the software quite a bit and after a couple of days I had a nice Lock On/Flaming Cliffs profile that I was content with. Remember where I discussed "Shifted" commands? You can do that as well and Logitech has changed the color of the shifted commands so that there will be no mistake when the user is creating his/her profile.

 

 

I know you're all dying to know how well the hardware works so I'll move on to that. I love the pedals. They feel great. They're accurate. They feel solid. Don't let anyone tell you that cuz the G940 is made of plastic that it's "cheap" or isn't a quality product. I've put quite a few "miles" on my G940 so far, but it seems to be built sturdy. The throttle is just plain sick! (that's means awesome for some of you old folks). I programmed the rotators for radar elevation and for wide/narrow scan. The buttons seemed to lay nicely underneath my fingers and even though I'm used to using a different HOTAS I found I got used to the G940 fairly quickly. To unlock the split throttle you reach around to the lever on the left throttle. There's a raised metal "button" that you push in which separates the throttles. To lock them you align the throttles and push the metal button in on the right throttle shaft. During combat you'll find it a bit difficult to lock the throttles back together. At least I did because my stick and throttle sit at my waist in my pit.

 

 

The stick was "different". I haven't flown with force feedback in a long, long time. I found that I liked being able to feel buffeting on the wings of my A-10 as I pulled into a tight turn. In the F-15 I could feel I was at corner speed and I found myself quickly pulling just hard enough to feel the buffet. It made me fly better and the force feedback was a better cue than the visual one I was used to. The stick has a dual stage trigger, I messed around with programming it for jet sims but found that it just didn't work as well as it would in a sim like IL2 where some aircraft can fire machine guns and cannon at the same time. The dual stage trigger would really pay off in that sim. I flew several different types of aircraft in Lock On/Flaming Cliffs with the G940, just like I do with my old kit. I wanted to see how well I could adapt to a stick that "kicked back" at me. I spent countless hours using unguided rockets and GAU 8 to see if I could shoot as well with the G940. To my surprise I can. The stick doesn't spoil your aim even if you're in a turning fight against other jets. It makes you fly smarter. The stick is as accurate as anything else I've used. I'm told that Logitech uses Hall Sensors in this stick. I was able to tone down some of the centering forces in the stick as I found that my wrist became tired after flying for a while. I found the perfect adjustment and that pain went away. You can also adjust other parameters of the force feedback without affecting centering strength.

 

I try to be completely honest with my reviews and with that usually comes some criticism or suggestions that would make for a better product. Some of these are based strictly on preference and I would like you readers to take that into consideration. I only have a couple things I'd like to point out and see changed.

 

Hat switches. There are two kinds on the G940. The "coolie" hat and the one that's shaped like a cross. The cross hat is too smooth. It needs a bit more texturing.

 

I mapped the rotators on the base of the stick to trim pitch and roll and rudder. They really need a center detent. There are marks for center on the rotator but over time I can see them being rubbed off. Besides, tactile beats a graphic any time and being able to feel center is better than seeing it. I mapped the rotator on the front of the throttle to the elevation axis for my radar. I had to roll the rotator to the max end of travel both ways before it would auto-calibrate and work correctly. I'm not sure if this is a component of the software or if it's a hardware issue. Either way, I'm sure that those coming from an X-45 or X-52 will miss that detent.

 

Lastly (and most importantly), stick center compared to elevator position. With most of the sticks I've owned I found that stick center related to elevator center. Not so with the G940. I found that if flying straight and level that if I let go of the stick that I could expect a 10 degree nose down attitude. Upon mapping the rotators to trim I found that I could correct this situation. If you look at the close up of the rotators you can see about where the trim has to be to rectify the situation. The stick still jumps around a little when trimmed and doesn't work as well as it should. The good news is that I've been in contact with Logitech's support and it's a software issue. I've been told it can be fixed and that the Logitech software guys hope to fix issues like this by working with the developers of the sims we play.

 

Edited 8/31/09 by ruggbutt

Mark from Logitech posted this on another forum: The issue described is from the slight force dead zone, which allowsthe stick to lean forward against the force feedback "spring". Thestick centers perfectly, but when you let go, the optical dead manswitch turns off game force and substitutes the default centering.There is some looseness, to avoid high power usage of the motors atrest. We are looking at tweaking the driver to have the stick rest atcenter. Its not a difficult fix.

 

We are also working with sim developers to improve the in-gamelooseness of forces. There hasn't been a good reason to put in extraeffort on force feedback until G940. We find that the developers areeager to incorporate better feedback now that the work will berewarded..

 

It's nice to see that Mark is active in the community and that Logitech will work on the centering. There's nothing better than being able to interact with the developers on a product that you would like to purchase. Out of My three criticisms of the G940 Mark shot the important one down in flames. Nice shooting Mark, I'm glad to see that you're on this. As are the slew of potential customers.

 

End edit

 

The last thing I'd like to discuss isn't a criticism. It's more just FYI. It has to do with the colored buttons on the throttle. I'm sure many of you have seen the flash movies on Logitech's site showing how the buttons can show the state of landing gear with colored lights. Currently this isn't available. From what I understand software is being written that reads the state of gear, flaps, etc that would translate into the colors you see on the buttons. I would also imagine that the sim you're playing would have to be able to send that info (probably via LUA programming) for that function to be available on the G940. However, you CAN run the joystick SDK (Software Development Kit) to change the color of the buttons or turn them off completely.

 

Retail price on the G940 is $300 U.S. This may seem steep for some but the G940 is built sturdy and should provide many hours of use. I'd like to thank Sarah at Logitech for providing me with the G940 to evaluate. Mark at Logitech answered my questions and walked me through the use of the SDK. My e-mails were answered promptly and this tells me that Logitech is on the ball with their customer service.

 

IMHO Logitech did their homework and released a product that mid to hardcore flight simmers would be happy to have as part of their kit. I predict that Logitech will sell a whole slew of G940's to satisfied customers.

[Sparkchaser2010 24]

Well I know what I want for Christmas!

[FastCargo 412]

Nice to see someone besides TM and CH in the hardcore HOTAS game. Makes me pine for the days when I had the time...flying with a true HOTAS is awesome...and FF to boot!

 

Thanks for the review Rugg!

 

FC

[+Dave 2,322]

That looks damn nice. Logitech seriously upped their game on this one.

[Shaolin 0]

The link doesn't work!?

 

But a stupid question: if it costs 300$, why do we have to pay 300 EURO in Europe???

(That's 428,85$ !!!)

[Gr.Viper 131]

That's 428,85$

Which can get to $500 or more in Russia... X-52 Pro still costs here twice as much as Amazon asks for it.

They'll get as much as they can leech out of the eager crowd.

[+streakeagle 871]

Despite the quality and reputation of CH Products, I have never liked their "F-16 like" stick layouts. I especially don't like their throttle. So I have never purchased any of their products. Thrustmaster's only interesting product for me is the Cougar. Unlike CH sticks, the Cougar felt pretty good in my hands (I guess I am a sucker for the feel of cold black metal). Of course, its layout being that of the F-16 gives it many of the same problems that I have with CH sticks. Considering the fact that the Cougar needs several hundred dollars of third party upgrades to get the level of quality it should have had out of the box, I have never bothered to buy a Cougar even when I could get one brand new for almost nothing. This has left me with only one viable choice for HOTAS: Saitek sticks. Over the years, I have bought the X-36 USB, X-45, and X-52 Pro. While I had minor fixable hardware problems with the X-36 and X-45, they both still work 100% to this day. The futuristic silver and blue X-52 did not appeal to me in any way. GoGamer had an awesome $100 sale price for the X-52 Pro, which I couldn't resist despite not really needing it. So far the X-52 Pro has been flawless. The problem with Saitek sticks is the software. The profiler always has some minor bug and the next revision is almost always incompatible with the profiles from the previous revision. So, almost every time I upgrade the software, I have to reprogram the sticks.

 

If it were up to me, the stick grip would be identical to the B10 found in all US fighters from the F-80 to the F-15A. I understand most people want more buttons and hats as provided by grips on modern fighters. But if you have ever wrapped your hand around a B10, you would know how good it feels and at the same time have the most used stick grip of all time. A good throttle for me would be an exact replica of an F-15 or A-10 throttle. Suncom's F-15E HOTAS had the right idea, just not the right level of quality.

 

Now enter the Logitech G940.

 

The stick looks like a mod of Saitek X-52 Pro blended with a CH Fighterstick. The big differences from the Saitek are:

1) The extra switch midway down the stick on the left side (common on real stick grips and other HOTAS such as the Fighterstick).

2) A swap in position between the Fire button and the upper POV hat.

3) A swap in POV hat styles between the upper and lower hats.

4) Styled to look more like a Fighterstick (shape of top of stick, especially from the front), which is more like real stick grips.

5) FORCE FEEDBACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

The throttle is in a class by itself if you don't count the old Suncom F-15E sticks. I love my Saitek throttles over the CH and Thrustmaster iterations, but the G940 throttle looks like a twin engined fighter jet throttle. So if you are flying LOMAC/Flaming Cliffs, this baby is for you. If you are flying P-38s, Mosquitos, Bf110s, etc. in any of the better WW2 flight sims, this throttle is for you. If you are an Falcon 4.0 junkie and have lots of money to burn, you are proably still better off with a heavily modded Cougar since it perfectly replicates that stick's layout and functionality.

 

The rudder pedals are hard to judge at all without actually trying them. But at a glance, they look plenty good enough.

 

Not having felt this stick in my hand, not knowing its actual quality, and disregarding price or need, I think I would pick this stick over any other on the market. With the addition of force feedback, I don't see how any other product can compete except in the area of price.

 

So let's talk price (using GoGamer quotes):

Saitek X-52 Pro + Pro Pedals: $160 + $95 = $255 (thanks to an awesome sale, I got this same combo for $200)

CH Products Fighterstick + Throttle + Pedals: $109.90 + $109.90 + $109.90 = $329.70

G940: $300 retail (don't know what GoGamer will do with it)

 

CH Products have an unbeatable reputation for quality in an industry where quality is hard to find. If you can live with some of the oddities of their stick and throttle layouts, the difference in price margin is unimportant. Of course, I don't like their stick or throttle, so I am clearly not going to pay a higher price for a product I don't like in the first place.

 

Saitek clearly has the lowest price, but it doesn't have force feedback and the long term quality compared to CH Products is an unknown to me.

 

If the G940 has quality anywhere near the CH sticks and the force feedback lasts as long as long as the rest of the components, how can this product not dominate? Given it generally has the same or better features than the Saitek, I would gladly pay $45 more for force feedback.

 

Now here is my problem: I already have 3 fully functional Saitek sticks and one custom built F-4 Phantom stick, how do I tell my wife I need to spend another $300 to get force feedback and a good dual throttle? In reality, I mainly play two flight sims: Aces High 2 and Third Wires SF2 series. I think both would benefit from the force feedback, but only Aces High 2 would let me use the dual throttle (and then only when I choose twin-engined aircraft). When I have the time, I prefer to set up and use my real F-4 stick which means I can't have force feedback (at least the way I have presently implemented it). If I hadn't already gotten an X-52 Pro, I could probably justify the expense, but I definitely don't need to get another stick anytime soon.

[Gr.Viper 131]

only Aces High 2 would let me use the dual throttle

You can still use it in TW sims. AFAIK, real Harriers have a similar control arrangement - two handles on the left. One half of the stick for throttle, the other for vectoring control.

[+streakeagle 871]

You can still use it in TW sims. AFAIK, real Harriers have a similar control arrangement - two handles on the left. One half of the stick for throttle, the other for vectoring control.

 

But the main aircraft I enjoy flying is the F-4, and out of the box Third Wire doesn't support independent throttles. Given the design of the games not going into the details of engine management, independent control of the two engines is pointless anyway. Now in Aces High 2, LOMAC, and moreso in IL-2 and FSX, dual throttles can be very useful.

 

I wonder who the marketing guys are targeting with this product? People that fly hard core jet combat sims like Falcon 4.0 and Janes F/A-18 or even slightly dumbed down sims like LOMAC are few and far between. The WW2 air combat sim pilots are by far a larger market segment, but it is still a small niche market. The only flight sim market worth targeting based on size is the FSX group, and aren't most of them more interested in yokes and throttle quadrants? I could see wanting this setup for the DCS series, but how many people are going to buy the DCS games, and of those, how many are going to run out and buy a G940 setup when they probaly already have a Saitek, CH, or Thrustmaster high end setup? To me, it seems you are mainly going to get one of two guys buying a G940: a junkie like me that wants the force feedback despite already having a comparable setup or a hard core guy that likes the dual throttle implementation and/or force feedback. I wish Logitech well as this looks like a great product and more competition can only make everyone's products get better and/or prices go down. But I just don't see this one hitting a home run given the current national economic situation and the general lack of current/upcoming sims that can really use it. If I get enough overtime built up, I might buy a G940, but I would also like a TrackIR 5 and a few other things, not to mention the fact that I need to build a new PC and $300 would be a big step in that direction.

[Ruggbutt 45]

If I was to guess why it was more expensive I'd say take a look at local and import taxes. Additionally, since other countries use different voltage and outlet plug types that may bring the cost up for regional packaging.

[chshrkt 0]

Hmm,

Cannot get the link to the review to work.

[Gr.Viper 131]

Scroll to Hardware Reviews subforum

[Ruggbutt 45]

Whether you're flying a sim with a single engine or something that allows use of dual throttles you can't go wrong with a split throttle. I don't know about you guys but I fly more than one sim. But I only use one HOTAS. I'm looking for functionality, programmability and ergonomics although not necessarily in that order. Logitech will sell a whole bunch of these units. They'll appeal to the fast jet crowd, the FF crowd and most likely the prop sim crowd as well. If I'm flying a P-38 in IL2 I can manage both engines as well as fire both guns and cannon at the same time. If I'm flying the F-16 I have quick and reliable functionality to slew my radar up/down and change the bar settings. Maybe it's just me but I just really could give a rat's behind about owning a stick that "looks like" a real stick from a particular jet. If it can't do what I need it to do when I'm doing ACM then it's time for me to find something that can. And something that works every time.

 

The G940 may not be for some of you guys, I doubt that those of you who already own a HOTAS are going to replace it. Unless it breaks. Like I did with my X-45. I was looking for a step up and found it. The G940 may be a step up for someone else. Logitech is gonna sell a whole bunch of these. Split throttle and FF are the two biggest items on the wish lists I've seen on several different hardware manufacturer's forums.

[zcaa0g 0]

Scroll to Hardware Reviews subforum

 

 

How about a working link? :)

 

Under "Reviews", there is "Game Reviews" and "Interviews'. Under "Hardware/Tech/Gadgets", there is "Hardware/Software Chat", "Game Controllers" and "Case Modding". I don't see anything referencing the G940 review even after doing a search. I even tried the search using all of Ruggbutt's posts from the past.

[JediMaster 451]

This link worked fine for me:

http://forum.combatace.com/index.php/topic/46424-reviewing-the-logitech-g940/

 

I tried it again and it still works fine. It's under reviews/hardware reviews if you go there manually.

[Gr.Viper 131]

Under "Reviews", there is "Game Reviews" and "Interviews'.

No Hardware Reviews section?

 

Maybe a forum software bug..

[zcaa0g 0]

This link worked fine for me:

http://forum.combata...-logitech-g940/

 

I tried it again and it still works fine. It's under reviews/hardware reviews if you go there manually.

 

 

Thanks JediMaster. That's bizarre. I see what my problem is though to a certain extent, I don't have the "Hardware Reviews" link under "Reviews", I just have "Game Reviews" and "Interviews". Oh well, I guess I have under-privileged access rights on the forum. :-) When I click on your link, I get the following:

 

 

An Error Occurred

Sorry, an error occurred. If you are unsure on how to use a feature, or don't know why you got this error message, try looking through the help files for more information.

 

 

[#10342] We could not determine which forum this topic is in.

 

Useful Links

 

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[+Fates 63]

This should be resolved. There were yet more permissions that needed to be updated with the inclusion of the new forums.

 

Please report back if your still having issue.

 

M

[zcaa0g 0]

This should be resolved. There were yet more permissions that needed to be updated with the inclusion of the new forums.

 

Please report back if your still having issue.

 

M

 

 

Thanks Fates, it's working now.

[Ruggbutt 45]

Just a heads up, Mark (Logitech) responded to a thread on some other forums about the centering issue I described. I edited the review to reflect that.

[+streakeagle 871]

There is no doubt in my mind that this is a great setup if not the best setup available (if it doesn't have quality control or longevity issues)...

But CH sticks are so good that anyone who has used one for any length of time becomes a very loyal customer and for very good reasons: quality and support. I can see people with Thrustmaster and Saitek hardware giving this a shot, but on all the forums I tread through, CH sticks are the dominant product among hard-core jet jocks and prop-heads with cash to burn. Perhaps being the only high-end setup to support force feedback will get them the marketshare they seek, but I question whether the number of people that buy this system at this price is sufficient to justify all the development and production costs. I hope it does really well since that would force the competition to offer similar products and/or drive prices down.

 

As for looks and styling, I suspect I am not alone in considering the look and feel of the controls part of the immersion, otherwise most people would just be using a mouse and scroll wheel for their stick, throttle, and fire buttons (very doable in Aces High 2, I have met some "mouse" aces that fly rings around people with good sticks). The X-36, CH sticks, and Cougar all looked like a real HOTAS. The X-45 started drifting toward the shiny blue/glowing lights neon look. The X-52 went even further in that direction and pretty much all other Saitek, Thrustmaster, and Logitech products looked and felt like space toys. The X-52 Pro and now the G940 is a back to basics return to what HOTAS is all about: providing great performance and functionality in a package that also helps with overall immersion. CH is to be commended for never having deviated from this standard. The Thrustmaster Cougar was the last big push in this direction, but the price was very high for a product that fell short on quality. Had they simply used better sensors than old spiky pots, they would probably still be getting $400 for each one they sell. Had they also followed on with equally realistic interchangable stick grips for other aircraft types as originally planned, what hard core junkie flying different sims wouldn't have a Cougar?

 

For me, the choosing a stick grip is like choosing a pistol grip: functionality alone is not enough. Every gun has a trigger and fires bullets, but some fit and feel much better in my hand, have smoother trigger actions, and are more reliable. While I have tried quite a few guns and stick grips, M1911A1 0.45 cal pistols and US military spec B-8/MC-2 stick grips are the ones that suit me best. Judging by the proliferation of both of those, I think I am far from alone. Besides the B-8 grip that I have set up on a real F-4 stick, I ended up with a spare that can be easily mounted on any stick available at the loss of extra hats and buttons. I am not sure what I am going to do with it yet, but it might end up on top of my X-45. As much as I want a G940 for the throttle and force feedback, I just have too much hardware already laying around to justify it

[FastCargo 412]

I will say having over a decade of flying an aircraft with a B10 handgrip...there are FAR superior grips out there. Once we converted over to the C model with the new HOTAS setup, I never looked back (was dual qual for a while). And from a human factors standpoint, the B10 has several issues. Modern sticks are better overall, while adding the functionality required by modern aircraft.

 

Also, I think once the word gets out, there might be more folks that'll jump ship than you think. Just the fact that it has 2 unique things NO other stick currently made has (split throttles and force feedback), combined with ease of use/programming will cause many people to rethink. Also, compared to CH and TM, it's competitively priced.

 

Unless it turns out to be absolute junk, I'm with Rugg...I think Logitech is going to sell a BUNCH of these.

 

FC

[jomni 6]

This set is so expensive in Singapore. S$500++.

[Ruggbutt 45]

Now that Mark said they're going to fix the centering issue I'm going to have a hard time choosing between my CH stuff and the G940. The '940 stick feels just plain awesome in my hand. Best out of anything out there. I intend to fly the bejeezus out of this HOTAS to see what it can take. There is give and take with everything, I remember missing my rotators once I switched from my X-45 to my CH gear. I stopped missing those once I got used to CH. I have no idea if the G940 is going to be my ultimate choice over my CH gear, cuz there's just so much good with CH. I know people that are thrilled with their X-52's. I flew one and didn't like it as much as what I had.

 

Ultimately you guys aren't going to go from high end equipment that you've been using and are happy with to drop the cash on the G940. At least most aren't. Those that are upgrading from one of the cheapie joysticks will seriously consider what Logitech has to offer. I'm not sure what the lifespan of the X-52's are but I went thru 3 X-45's in a year (I purchased the warranty at CompUSA). Someone with broken gear in need of replacement just might give the G940 an edge cuz of the mix of stuff the community has been asking for over the years. Rotators, split throttle and force feedback. Those are some mighty impressive selling points.

 

Hopefully with hardware like the G940 vying for our dollars it will force the other hardware manufacturers to put out something new. Logitech won this battle and are going to move units because of it.

[+DoctorQuest 125]

Good review. VERY nice simming cockpit, Ruggbutt. I plan to print this picture and show it to my bride when she gives me grief about MY simming rig. :)

 

If I did not have a CH HOTAS setup right now I would seriously consider this product. I agree the CH throttle is a bit different being a slider but there are plenty of Russian aircraft that use a slider type throttle. Once you get used to it, it is really no big deal.

Edited September 2, 2009 by kirbykern