Saitek ST290 Programmable Joystick with Throttle

This joystick works perfectly as advertised. It isn't a high-end expensive stick with all the bells and whistles, but it does have everything you will need to use it in games like IL-2 or Apache AH64 Assault.Don't expect the same response as a $150.00 stick. I also play Comanche 4 with it. If you want an excellent all-round joystick, this is it, and it is plug & play as advertised. I am not really surprised knowing that it's made by Saitek. The throttle is in a somewhat awkward place but it isn't to hard to get used to. (not enough of a problem to remove a star)Very good product. Have used about a month with no problems.

Ein wiklich guter Joystick, der mehr Funktionen hat, als es manche Games unterstützen.Die Software ist Kinderleicht zu bedienen/programmeren.Die verstellbare Handballenauflage ist Idiotensicher und generell ist das Gerät sehr leicht. Die Tasten sind angehnem gut von einander getrennt.Für anspruchsvolle Gelegenheitszocker durchaus zu empfehlen!

Absolute B.S. nonsense! This stick does not twist! There is no rudder control! Did I get the only ST290 in the whole universe that does not twist? That was the only reason I bought this stick!!

Well I decided to wait a month before reviewing this joystick. Its my first "real" joystick, the first was some cheap unbranded thing that died soon after being taken out of the box.I was a bit skeptical when I first saw the price, but as I am a student, I cannot afford top of the range sticks like the X52 or CH products. This one appeared to fit the bill. It had everything I needed; enough buttons, throttle control, and a twist handle for rudder (no space and no money for pedals, which is one of the reasons I decided not to get a CH stick even if I somehow found the money).First impressions: On the pictures it looks great, nice contrasting colours, cool LED on the top, looks comfortable to hold. When taking it out of the box, it had the contrasting colours and it looked comfortable to hold. Close up, something that the pictures don't really show, is that it looks very much like a toy. Huge (and I cannot emphasize this enough) seam lines, and you can see Saitek does not bother with filing down the bits that stick out along the edges of the seam line (albeit there aren't too many of those bits so that can be excused to an extent). Also, the box shows the LED glowing. Well, either thats just false advertising, or they forgot to put an LED in mine, because when I got was just a blue piece of plastic with regular silver plastic underneath. But I don't mind about that, I think I prefer not having an LED, it would probably reflect off my screen and annoy me or just be a distraction. As some people have complained, the ergonomics are somewhat lacking, although I don't find it too bad, my hands are average size, maybe a bit bigger, but not big by any means. The stick itself is fine to hold, the palm rest is good for support, though the adjustments are a bit big, so one may be too low for your liking, and the next one up too high. The buttons on the far right of the stick (left if you're left handed) do prove awkward to press with your thumb, though you get used to it after a while, and it would be best to assign them to something you don't need to press that often in the heat of battle. I have mine assigned to airbrake and something which I dont remember.The base is another area which isn't as good as it could have been. Sure the push throttle is great fun, its not stupidly easy to push, it has resistance which I find to be a nice feature, and allows for good precision when adjusting throttle. However, it has a bit of inaccuracy at the extremes. Sometimes throttle won't go past 99% or lower than 1%, and if that happens, you have to lower/raise it a bit, then push it up/down again. Anyway, the base. Too light. The size of it compensates a bit of course, but it has no manner of weighting whatsoever. It's just a slab of plastic with some rubber(?)pads on the underside (which for some reason saitek decided to make nice and shiney, so instead of gripping on painted surfaces they slide. Why can't saitek just use rubber like that found on notebooks for the studs?). I havn't had too much trouble with the stick sliding/tipping though, even during dogfights (IL2). So thats not much of a problem, not enough to warrent removing 2 stars.One last small problem is that the spring does tend to lose its strength after not too much use. At first the stick was nice and resistant, now it seems to glide. But this doesn't really matter much to me, in fact it allows me to make more precise movements. As long as it doesnt become weak to the point that the stick moves when I sneeze on it then it should be fine.So overall, this is a really nice stick, I would definitely buy it again (unless it decides to break in less than a year, but its too early to tell). But if you really do yank your stick around, or if you have small hands (or a small thumb), I would suggest looking for another option.

I have owned four or five of these (Saitek ST290 Pro) over the past three years. I love the stick for its ease of use, no doubt about it. My only complaint about this stick is the way the trigger is attached to the stick. The trigger has plastic hooks that grab a rod, holding the trigger in place. However, these hooks are rather weak and thin, and after numerous trigger pulls they weaken and break, and the next thing you know... BAM, your trigger flies off. This has happened to every one of these that I have owned. Once I went to great lengths to repair the trigger, affixing it with a little loop of 12-gauge electrical wire (which worked for some time) but the trigger wobbled during that time and always felt a bit weird.I am not a crazy trigger-puller or anything like that. I play normally, usually for a total of around 5 hours a week. The trigger is just poorly-engineered. Stronger plastic should have been used, and the trigger connection should be a complete loop around the rod (making it stronger) rather than just little hooks that grab the rod. If they would have used 1 or 2 more grams of plastic, this could have been achieved.All in all, I love this stick, and for $20 a pop it hasn't been a bad investment. I would just appreciate a little more durability instead of having the trigger self-destruct at an inopportune time.