Saitek X45 any good?

[OleBoy]

Time for me to get a decent stick.

Do any of you use the Saitek X45? Are they pretty good?

 

[lagunare]

X52 : X45 = 1 / same bottons

 

[Tom Clayton]

It's surprising how much you can find to do with the buttons - even without using the profiling software! The only thing on my X52 that I still need to find a function for is the third toggle on the stick base. The first two toggles surrently operate the Concorde Visor and Cowl Flaps.

 

[fnkybnch]

I had the X45, then upgraded to the X52. IT'S THE BEST!!!! You'll wonder how you ever flew without it!

Go for it!

 

[OleBoy]

Finally!!! Someone that answered my question.

My old Wingman Extreme has seen better days. A friend of a friend has an X45 that he wants to sell.

I will look into getting it.

Thanks fnkybnch for the answer I was wanting to hear :ernae:

 

[Ferry_vO]

The only thing on my X52 that I still need to find a function for is the third toggle on the stick base.

Got an X-52 too, and I love it!

Tom, I have my toggle switches set up for mixture, prop pitch and smoke system/tailhook.

Other functios I can control from the hotas are gear, brakes/parking brakes, flaps, elevator trim, viewpoint up/down, select view, pan view, speed brakes, diff brakes, zoom in/out, pause.
And I still haven't found a way to program the rotaries and the slider, and I'm using only 1 of the three modes so far.

On my new computer I had to install a newer version of the profiler software, but it can't read the old profile so I had to start from scratch.

 

[Matt Wynn]

my toggles are set to conc visor (like yours Tom) thats the far left one, centre one controls gear and reversers (lower thrust, handy as i have a deadzone set on my throttle) and right one controls Wingfold and Tailhook, spoilers/airbrake is set to the pinky trigger, smoke to the 'D' button on the throttle unit, and my aileron and elevator trim set to the uppermost hatswitch on the Stick, i previously owned an X45 and CH Products Fighterstick, X45 is a good replacement or temporary stick while you save for X52 (or that new logitec beauty!) especially at reduced cost

 

[Lionheart]

I had the X-45 and recently upgraded to the X-52.

Differences;

X-45 has a rudder rocker under the throttle quad on the left side. Rudder on the X-52 is a twist joystick style control. (I liked the one on the 45).

The buttons on the 52 are incredible! But somewhat different then the 45. more buttons on the 52.

The 52 is far more 'subtle' then the 45 with much more softer control able to be done. The 45 wasnt as nice.

The 52 has odd 'lock zones' in the throttle, where as the 45 didnt. Full on, to full off. The 52 somehow has a reverse prop zone at the back (towards you). At first, its difficult to get used to.

The 52 has an 'auto-calibrate' software system in it. You 'can not' calibrate it. You 'must' restart the computer to run calibration. This is rare though. (I found out about this as I was flying in a slow circle and coudnt figure out how to calibrate the darn thing. Found out its automated on bootup. The 45 has a calibration center, so thats another factor).

The blue lights on the 52 are very bright (I think) and there are MANY of them, lol... . So if all the light bothers you, you will need to pull the USB plug on it, like at night. I plug it in only when I am going to fly, so my lights to not wear out.


I am happy with the 52 aside from calibration, throttle rear lock, and the twist rudder control. I kind of liked it on the left side and for it to be a rocker, which sort of reminded me of a rudder bar on the floor, for some strange reason, lol..


Great joystick sets! I think they are the best...


Bill

 

[Z-claudius24]

Hi,

One of the reasons why I prefer the X52 Pro (use it from the release day) .. is that it is more reliable mechanically
No problems with the buttons or chinese hats ..
This was not the case for the three X45 and the X36 who passed between my destructive hands

 

[Ferry_vO]

The blue lights on the 52 are very bright (I think) and there are MANY of them, lol... . So if all the light bothers you, you will need to pull the USB plug on it, like at night

You can adjust the brightness of the LEDs and the MFDs in the menu, Bill.

I have the LEDs turned off by default and have the MFDs set to medium brightness.

 

[fliger747]

Having had both, the X-45 isa good stick, since I used pedals I didn't have to fuss with the rocker on the throttle for the rudder. The X-52 is somewhat silkier and is OK even for helicopters and has the more familiar twist function for rudders.

T.

 

[strikehawk]

When I decided to get "serious" about flying games I went with the X45. It was the best investment I made at the time. Sadly, like claudius24, it suffered at my destructive hands. But it did last about five years of heavy use, both for FS9 and the Strike Fighters/Wings Over... series of games.

I have since upgraded to the X52 and really the only thing I miss is the rocker on the front of the throttle. Having all the butons and switches means I rarely have to take my hands off of a control at a critical moment.

Since the X45 is now obsolescent I'd get the X52 instead, just to make sure you have the best available.

 

[srgalahad]

The blue lights on the 52 are very bright (I think) and there are MANY of them, lol... . So if all the light bothers you, you will need to pull the USB plug on it, like at night. I plug it in only when I am going to fly, so my lights to not wear out.

Great joystick sets! I think they are the best...
Bill

Bill, you can set/control the LEDs from either the taskbar menu or from Control Panel/ Game Controllers / Saitek flight COntroller.. tabs at the top.. one is labelled LED and has a slider (Same for the MFD Tab where you can set the brightness) . Not to worry tho' .. the LEDs should be good for 20-50,000 hours

I estimate mine have 25,000 hours on them and still glowing away

Rob

 

[Tom Clayton]

Bill, I moved my rudder input from the rotary on the left to the stick twist on the right. Other custom assignments include mix and pitch on the left rotaries, spoilers on the "Precision Slide" (also on the left), and gear and reverse are also on the "D" and "E" buttons respectively. The second hat switch on the right (top left on the stick) controls the heading bug with lateral movement and elevator trim with vertical movement. Autopilot toggle is on the black button just under that, and flaps are on the two blue buttons on the opposite side of the stick. I use the pinkie sw. for the parking brake - I thought that made sense, since the service brake is on the trigger.

 

[Lionheart]

Bill, I moved my rudder input from the rotary on the left to the stick twist on the right. Other custom assignments include mix and pitch on the left rotaries, spoilers on the "Precision Slide" (also on the left), and gear and reverse are also on the "D" and "E" buttons respectively. The second hat switch on the right (top left on the stick) controls the heading bug with lateral movement and elevator trim with vertical movement. Autopilot toggle is on the black button just under that, and flaps are on the two blue buttons on the opposite side of the stick. I use the pinkie sw. for the parking brake - I thought that made sense, since the service brake is on the trigger.

Hey Tom,

Some cool tips.

I use the pinkie trigger for ATC com. I hate having to keep hitting the keyboard button each time ATC says something.

I also have Heading bug mapped to a HAT switch, top left on the joystick control. Elevator trim on the top/bottom axis of same HAT switch. Landing gear I have linked to the missle button (with finger guard). Flaps are the two buttons beside the missle button.

I still havent used all the buttons up, lol.. I did on the older 45, but the 52 has alot of new stuff and new locations.. More to setup.


Both are awesome. Cant go wrong.


Bill