Customer Reviews

Saitek PS38 Cyborg F.L.Y5 Flight Stick

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I purchased a Saitek Cyborg X joystick for use with the excellent IL-2 Sturmovik 1946 combat flight sim, also purchased from Amazon.com. It's a great joystick, with only a few small shortcomings.

First the good stuff--there are a total of 12 programmable buttons, a programmable rotating trim wheel just below the weapon switches, a rudder control operated by twisting the stick, and a dual throttle lever that can be locked for single engine use. There is an eight-position hat switch in the middle of the four weapon switches at the top of the stick, and two LED's that illuminate the weapon switches, hat switch and trim wheel from above.

On top of all the controls, the Cyborg X is highly adjustable. The top head including the trigger and weapon switches can tilt fore and aft, the length of the stick can be adjusted with the push of a button, and the stick itself can be adjusted fore and aft. A tabbed hex key used for most of the adjustments stows in one of the three joystick supports.

As for smoothness and ease of use, I really like the way Saitek centers this joystick. A spring seats a shallow cone-shaped disk inside another cone when the stick is at center. When the joystick is moved off of center, this makes for very smooth action in all axes, unlike the joysticks used in radio control transmitters. There is about five degrees of slop evident in the stick when it is centered though, due to play between the screw adapter the stick attaches to and the joystick base arm. (The joystick comes disconnected from the base as packaged.) It wouldn't hurt if the manufacturing tolerances were a little tighter here.

All this adjustability comes at a slight price. When you press any of the four weapons switches, the top of the joystick flexes, making them feel somewhat imprecise. The weapons switches also don't close as crisply as the trigger switch does. The last fault I found with it is that, when pushing the joystick far forward, the base can tip forward too. This is because while there is a base leg to the rear of the stick, there are none forward. The two front base legs are mounted laterally.

These are minor quibbles. The Saitek Cyborg X is the best joystick I've ever bought.

Shipping:
Shipping was great. I actually got it in exactly 48 hours via UPS.

Packaging:
When you first get the device, it will be easy to set up ( I won't spoil the assembly for you if you haven't seen it before ). I was really impressed with the packaging for starters.

Software:
I installed the drivers ; quick and easy. I didn't install anything additional but that's up to you. I'm using a iMac (2008) with windows vista ( not sure anymore what level ).

Hardware:
I use this stick with Flight Simulator X. At first the stick was uncomfortable for my hand.
I had to adjust it , which it then became a perfect fit. If you're worried about force feedback, don't. My logitech stick's FF motor died after maybe a year of use. The spring which hold it center and provides a force is good enough.

What I was most excited about but a tad bit disappointed by was the throttle ( more so with FS X than the stick it self ) . It's a dual throttle which can also become single throttle isn't able to control individual engines. They both control all engines whether or not you use one or both. There is also a button that will join the two throttles.

You also have lot of options when it comes to buttons. I actually have less use for my keyboard now that I can put those commands on the stick. There are 10 number keys, a "shift" key , a trigger and dual throttles. The book says you can assign them to commands such as the trim and different engines but you'll have to play around with that in the game you're using it with.

The base can be folded and be put behind your monitor if you have a flat screen LCD monitor to save space. The over all texture and stainless steal of the device is very smooth.

There is a light under the hat switch which can become distracting at times when you push the stick forward during flight. The light for some reason is very intense on that angle so don't look directly into it.

Another thing is when you're pushing the stick forward, the base lifts up. I personally do not mind when flying because the only time I'm really pushing the stick forward is when I'm landing. Even then, I don't even push that hard for the stick to really lift. I only notice that when I'm flying freehand. It might bother some but it's fine with me.

Final:
I would suggest this to anyone who is interested in an adjustable stick, great over all feel and style. Of course there are more advanced sticks around but this certainly is worth the buy for what it offers.

Good:
Easy to instal drivers
Great feel ( texture )
Adjustable
Great Style
Lots of buttons
Space saver

Bad:
Intense blue light
Lifts when pushing stick forward

i own allot of Cyborg products..but this is my first stick..bought it to play HAWX for PC

the GOOD:
-love the finish on the stick its top notch smooth and soft
-blue LED lit thumb trigger
-fully adjustable to the max
-more buttons then you could of dreamed of
-locking/unlockable dual throttle
-comes with its own built in tool for adjustment
-expandable base
-really does assemble in seconds
-great response in Hawx
-overall looks are very impressive
-controllable dead zones..

the OK:
-stick assembly is a little loose, more play than i would like
-all plastic
-nose down the stick and it comes off the table do to ill support-Velcro required

The Bad:
- its programmable just not with the software...programmable via the game your playing..a Cyborg X SST profile dose not exist for this stick to create custom profiles for it

-is a tad on the sensitive side as once of the censors on mine died in a week..causing the stick to fail to center..i have received another one...
it hasn't died yet..

-while the driver support is good in its own right, it sometimes has an issue with its fellow cyborg products..like the cyborg mouse or keyboard...can, will and has knocked out the driver configs for them..on my end, but problem solved by moving stick to a diff USB bus..its most stable on the primary MB USB bus..it also properly power's off when its on the MB usb bus- expanded shared bus's - at least for my MB cause it to remain powered on..when the machine is off..which is why i think the first one died..

-packaging for stick looks good..but main base unit is just jammed against cardboard-thus jamming the plug connector-that plugs into the main body of the sick..luckily 2 sticks down and no damage

-support for this item is surprising weak, im not sure if its cause its new or its on the verge of being discontinued....

I got this for Christmas a few years ago because I had really gotten into Flight Simming. This thing is THE PERFECT JOYSTICK if you want to get an all-in one, affordable control system.

Features:

TONS of Buttons. On FSX I use them for Throttling, Flap adjustment, landing gear, tailhook, brakes, differential brakes, speedbrakes, lights, and view switching. The twisting function works well as a rudder and if you're like me, you don't even need it that much except for ground steering (I seldom use the rudder when flying).

Easy programming- and if it gets sensitive/sticky you can adjuts it.

I own the Saitek 3D joystick which is 60% metal where the new F.L.Y.5 is 10% metal. Not as durable, but having said that... it has 12 programmable buttons that are much easier to access then the buttons on the Saitek 3D joystick. The stick also feels much more comfortable in your hand. The adjustments are easy and custom fit the stick to your hand. I keep the old Saitek 3D joystick as a trusted back-up, but the F.L.Y.5 is my new favorite. I've only had it a few days, so the durability is still in question, but it is so responsive that rough treatment in a game or simulation would probably be counterproductive. The design is well thought out and although superfluous the blue LED's are cool.

This Joystick was bought for my current deployment overseas. I have used it successfully with Microsoft Flight Sim X with Acceleration, DCS Blackhawk, Falcon 4.0, and Rise of Flight. I have also used it with Battlefield series, however the center null zone issue makes it the difficult to use competitively. By this I mean that if you set the null zone too small then the joystick will jump when you overcome the mechanical centering device. If you set it too large then it takes way too long to change directions in-game. This was not an issue in the Flight Sims, as I just adjusted the null zone to correspond exactly to mechanical center.

The dual throttles DO work in both FSX and DCS. Proper set up of the engine controls in the game menus is needed.

The other reviews about the buttons may affect some buyers. I have been lucky so far (4 Months of play), but the number three button definatly feels loose. There is also very little resistance to abrupt pitch down manuevers due to the arrangment of the feet, causing the joystick to lean foward.

Overall a good joystick (not great)

Pros-

Throttle and Joystick in one unit.
Small and lightwaeight for travel
Can be disassemble for travel.
Can be adjusted to fit your handsize.
Good in game responses

Cons-

Buttons may break if you are not careful.
Software is poor (and not really needed for most newer games.
Joystick feet are poorly designed

The joy stick provided came boxed as the MadCatz Cyborg F.L.Y. 5 Flight Stick, which is apparently the same device as the Saitek PS38 Cyborg X Stick. All of the functions and switches work great with my Mac and X-Plane. The the thumb-wheel under the hat switch is great for adjusting trim.

First of all let me say that this product exceeded my expectations, having thought to take a risk by purchasing this product, due to the influence from other "REVIEWERS".

THROTTLE
Twin throttle was just what I was looking for and also the placement of it was very excellent.
They advance very smoothly and there is also a button which locks both of the throttles together.

HAT SWITCH
The hat switch is made of durable rubber

OTHER BUTTONS
They are very durable and will survive for a very long time

PROGRAM
The joystick is programmable by all means

MOVEMENT
The movement of this joystick is very smooth and the axis is very smooth also

All in all this joystick is excellent and an exceptional choice for FLIGHT SIM.
My name is Luke Seecharan.
I'm 14 years.

This stick is not even worth $40 IMHO.

First out of the box, trying to adjust the head angle and stick height a washer fell out, not sure where it came from or what it held up but it broke while loosening the screw with the included tool. After you break off some washers adjusting the stick to something usable you will be greeted by some driver madness in win 7, come on CH sticks are plug and play why did I have to go to the support forum to figure out that the drivers won't load from the CD it ships with for win 7.

Well so lets try some old school cfs 3 or falcon, it did take the sticks profile and use it well but the stick is tooo stiff with the wobbling head just makes it too difficult as a sim stick, even casually. The wobble is caused by how they allow for the adjustments, which is nice that you can adjust the stick but not nice that it wobbles so much. Now add the stiff springs and not so sensitive sensors with the wobble and you'll under stand what I mean, you actually think your turning the stick when your just making the head wobble about with no input to the stick itself. Now that you realize your not going any where you put some more force into it and then the stiff spring makes you have to push it all the way just to get the plane to bank. Come on Saitek you guys are supposed to know better than this.

When I read the other reviews about it lifting from the table I was thinking they were fps gamers hammer fisting the stick, but now as I am using it in a flight sim it does the same, you can get it to raise off the desk with our lil finger trying to use the hat switch. You need to press down on the stick to keep it planted with one hand while trying to guide your plane to land ( gotta point the nose down to land now ),

Next problem is button 3, it's so going to break off in normal use, the others are on better and feel more solid but this one looks and feels like they just glued it on, the construction quality of this stick ( well the one I got ) is about equal to a freebie throw away $2 mouse with the buttons already missing.

I am ready to send it back to amazon but my younger brother thinks it's cool and loves the stick, well he can have it as he isn't a sim gamer. I just ordered a CH stick and will stick with thrust master or ch stuff for sims for now on, do yourself a favor and stay away from this stick if your a serious sim buff.

Started by having an hard time to get it to work on Windows 7 64, the throttle is stiff, and it ended up breaking after 2 weeks of normal usage ( from 30-to 1 hr daily usage, Falcon 4 ). What happened is that all of a sudden the rudder control was going off randomly. Returned for a refund and the shipping costed me a whopping 17$ ( although the estimate cost was 6$). Definitely won't order hardware from Amazon again unless they start giving free shipping of returns.