FlightSim.Com Reviews: EagleMax
EagleMax Joystick
From Act Labs

Review by Erik Pabst (22 Jun 2001)


Act Lab's EagleMax joystick is the latest addition to the field of programmable joysticks. It's a solidly built stick with a good feel and appearance. The stick itself is comfortable with a good grip and the base is heavy so that it doesn't move around. A wide variety of buttons are included, all of which can be programmed to fit the software being used.

INSTALLATION

Installation is easy enough. The computer actually sees the EagleMax as two components: a joystick and a keyboard. Thus you need to plug it into your joystick port and also into the keyboard port. Your normal keyboard then plugs into the joystick. Cables are supplied to make all this easy, with both standard types of keyboard connectors being included so no adapters are necessary.

PROGRAMMING THE EAGLEMAX

The EagleMax is immediately useable as a basic joystick. But the main benefit is all the programmable buttons and other features, including: There are two kinds of programmable buttons. Both kinds act as a substitute keyboard, sending keyboard commands to the game being used. The "1 in 1" buttons can be programmed to send a single keyboard key. The "10 in 1" buttons are more useful, as they can be programmed to send up to ten keystrokes, including the use of the shift, control and alt keys. You can use this to combine commands or for those programs that require you to hit several keys to perform a function.

Programming is easy and unlike other similar products can be done at any time (including while playing a game). Simply push the Setup button to on and program any button by typing the desired key(s) on your normal keyboard. Usually that's all there is to it, though sometimes the programming wouldn't take. As an alternative a Windows based setup program is available where you can see the actual keystrokes being programmed, review and test the setup and also save an entire setup to a disk file.

The stick can save four completely separate setups (what they call "macros") and the setups remain in place even when you power your computer off. If you need additional setups you can use the Windows setup utility to store them to disk.

USING THE EAGLEMAX

The stick is comfortable to use. The metal base is large and heavy so that it stays in place during normal game play. For the most part the buttons are easy to use, though some are a bit close together (like the two buttons near the top hat).

The EagleMax is intended for flight simulators and has the features needed for combat. Fire buttons are right on the joystick handle and the top hat is normally used for changing views which is vital during a dog fight.

For non-combat sims the many buttons can be programmed for things like flaps, landing gear and other aircraft functions, almost eliminating the need to use the normal keyboard.

Like most newer products, the EagleMax is intended for Win95 use. This turns out to be a bit of a drawback for DOS programs like FS5. The throttle on the joystick won't seem to go past about 90% of full. This is no problem in Win95 games where all joystick functions are calibrated before use, but in FS5 there seems to be no way around this. I was also looking forward to using the top hat for changing view in FS5, but unfortunately the top hat is all "1 in 1" buttons and FS5 view changes require two keystrokes.

Even in Win95 programs like Air Warrior II the throttle seemed to need frequent calibration. It's kind of a nuisance to have to calibrate before every game. The top hat is a bit hard to use. It has eight positions, but they aren't very definite so you often end up getting a position 45 degrees off from the one you want. It would also be nice to have an easy way to label the buttons; with so many of them it takes a while to remember what they are all for.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall the EagleMax is a fine joystick for combat pilots and a reasonable choice for civilian sims as well. It does have some quirks that could be improved on but its solid feel allows it to serve its basic function--as a joystick--quite well. It's certainly worth a look for anyone considering a new joystick and with a suggested price of $59 (U.S.) it's quite a bargain compared to some of the competition.

Erik Pabst
erik@flightsim.com

For more information, visit Act Labs Web site.


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