Anyone hear about or have Speedlink Black Widow Flightstick?

[eagleworks4u]

Can someone give me some reviews on this product as I have had a hard time finding a vibrating joystick for a reasonable price especially compatible with win 7

[trooper1822]

Just for the sake of asking, why a vibrating stick? I just got the Saitek x52 Pro and love it. Took a while to get it all set up but makes flying 10x better. BTW how is FSX running on your PC? I see we have the same AMD. Just OC mine to 3.8 today.

[eagleworks4u]

I just figured it would be a better feel for flying as well as on landings. Are you familiar with this joysticks reliability??What did your x52 cost you. My FSX is running pretty good but mine is not OC'd yet. Can you give me some instructions on what and how you OC'd your AMD I would love to have mine run faster. BTW does your Corsair H70 liquid cooler make a big difference?? Thanks again

[trooper1822]

My x52 cost me 169.95 from frys.com. Im sure you could find it cheaper on like amazon but I wanted my stick new. I have a LOT of eye candy addons, Active Sky 2012, Ultimate Terrain x, FSPassengers, FScene total pack, My traffic x, PMDG 747(with 800 add-on), PMDG MD-11, Pro Flight Emulator, Topcat, Ultimate Airport Environment, FS2Crew 747, MD-11, FSBuild v2.4, FSUIPC4, FScaptain. I run my settings at everything minus aircraft settings at max and I am getting about 17fps on the ground and 29 in the air. I cap my fps at 30 max. I can give you some direction and point you to a few sites that can show you how to OC but you must remember that If you do it wrong and don't take your time you could fry your CPU. You need to have a good cooler to OC. I like my H70 because it is a sealed unit and is easy to install. It is kinda big so you need a decent size tower. OC at your own risk. But if you take the proper steps and take your time you should not have a issue. Here shortly I will be selling my H70 and converting to a custom liquid cooling rig so I can get into the 4+ range.

[Quaser]

Hi there. I bought a Speedlink Black Widow Flightstick about a month ago, having just returned to flightsimming from a long break. Previously I had had an MS Sidewinder Force Feedback, but had to give it up when I upgraded my computer to one that didn't have a serial port!

So, I've been very pleased with the Speedlink overall - it is just great in FSX, but I couldn't get it to run at all in MS Combat, as every time I tried, the program changed the name of the joystick, and still failed to recognise it. I am aware that there is a fix out there for Win 7 users, but I tried and tried, and still couldn't get it to work. Mind you, I couldn't get Combat 2 or 3 to run at all.

In FSX though, everything works like a dream. The rudder controls on the throttle lever are just fantastic, and the whole thing is so big and well put together it just feels so 'right' that I can highly recommend it. My only gripe is that I had to tape the rubber feet to get them to stay in!

[eagleworks4u]

Hey Quaser,
Thanks for the info I would only use it for FSX. What do you mean by the whole thing is so big I couldnt find the dimensions and weight specs. Is it well weighted for vibration?? BTW how much did you pay for yours and where do you recommend the best deal??? I miss my old Saitek force feedback but I cant get the software to work in win 7. I also haveyhe Saitek rudder pedals will they cause a conflict do you know?? Thanks again

[Quaser]

Well this is not a little piece of equipment by any means. The base measures 9" x 6", and can be fixed to the desktop by 4 rubber feet. The joystick is a substantial one, standing over 8" tall. There are numerous function buttons on the stick itself, and a hat switch, as well as four on the base. These are preset, but provided you install the drivers which come on the CD (don't use the Windows drivers), each button is programmable. The usb cable is about 1.2 metres long, plenty long enough for most people. The vibration effect, although not quite as good as the Sidewinders, for the price offers really good value for money. The vibration for me really adds realism, which is what I thought simming was all about. As for price, shop around. I bought mine from Amazon in the UK for £24.95, a month or so ago which I thought represented good value, especially with free delivery. Of course, it isn't perfect. I would probably prefer a yoke, but am not serious enough to splash out that amount of cash (yet). Hope this helps. Feel free to ask anything else if you want.