Cyborg 3D Stick
Score: 90% Developer: Saitek Device Type: Controller
Function: YEEEEHAAAAA! Finally an excellent throttle! The Cyborg 3D Stick wins the ?onboard throttle? segment right away -- NO CONTEST! I have to mention this, as it is by far the most precisely graduated and incrementally fine in its application of power to engines that I have ever used in a flight stick. In addition, the throttle has a slight amount of built-in friction that provides just the right amount of tactile feedback to your fingertips. In a nutshell, poor throttle response makes air to air refueling and formation flying near impossible. The Cyborg 3D?s accurate throttle is excellent for both of these. Refreshingly unusual in appearance, the Cyborg 3D can be physically adjusted to fit a variety of hands and is fully dynamically ambidextrous in design. You will definitely be able to configure it into a ?most? comfortable arrangement by adjusting the palm rest; the pitch and roll axes of the section mount the four main upper stick buttons-- (three buttons and an eight-way HAT stick). For the main fire button, there is what looks like a rifle-style trigger. On the rear base of the unit are four additional buttons as well as a single ?shift? button on either side of the stick. The fourth axis or twist stick feature (the 3D in Cyborg 3D) is a very convenient replacement for rudders and is quite useful for minute yaw ?side to side? corrections in flight sims. The Cyborg 3D is fully software programmable in which any function or combination can be programmed to any button. The two ?shift? buttons on the unit can be used to multiply the functions available on a single button. Included in the software is the ?Saitek Command Centre,? a quite elaborate programming utility that with perseverance will allow the user to program the stick to do just about any function or combination of moves imaginable.
Performance: Overall control response is very accurate and the unit feels very ?solid? in dogfights -- just the right amount of spring and dampener resistance. The throttle control on the unit is top notch. The basic stick controls are quite easy to master. However, it will require some inventiveness when assigning commands to buttons since the Cyborg 3D Stick doesn?t have a standard type ?thumb rest? button and it has no ?pinkie? button, which virtually all other flight sticks have. The programming interface is somewhat difficult to figure out and will take a lot of attention and some tinkering for the ?average user? to master, though it is quite comprehensive and provides all the necessary options to fully configure any game.
Features: Digital Twist Stick with throttle Adaptable for any hand Fully programmable
Drawbacks & Problems:: Unfortunately, my testing uncovered a problem with the Cyborg 3D Stick in that each time I rebooted the machine, I had to recalibrate it or the controller wouldn?t work at all. I?m using DirectX 7 and the DX Diagnostic program says everything is working with no problems. This points to a driver bug which will hopefully be worked out by Saitek.
-d0gsb0dy, GameVortex Communications AKA Kelly Key
IntelliMouse Explorer GM2 Action Pad and Game Mouse