Customer Reviews

Saitek ST290 Programmable Joystick with Throttle

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

There are few games I play that require a joystick. I love playing flight sims but am typically more attracted to other types of computer games that seldom require them, so when I hooked up with my old buddies on "Aces High 2" I needed a decent, working joystick to replace my old Gravis Blackhawk analog stick that stopped working on my PC years ago. I drove down to the local ubiquitous low-cost super store (you know it's name) and this was the *only* joystick that they had in stock. This made me a bit nervous as I like to browse through any potential gaming-related hardware I purchase for my computer, but the price was right (under $20) and my experience in the past with Saitek products hasn't been bad. Ultimately I'm pleased with the purchase and despite a few shortcomings this has been a reliable and sturdy joystick.

The joystick itself is, as pictured, largely comprised of hard black plastic mounted on a spring base. There are 6 programmable buttons, a POV hat switch, and an adjustable hand rest to give you a more comfortable grip. At the bottom is your throttle adjust, basically a large plastic flap, and the stick itself can be twisted left or right to act as one's rudder. There's also a clear, blue plastic piece on the top that lights up, but serves no other purpose but for looks. Neat-O.

I have two problems with the stick. The first revolves around the throttle control. This may be more due to the setup of my desk...I have no place to hold the joystick but on my lap and that presents a throttle problem of its own. Its positioning on the tail end of the stick makes it tricky for me to cut throttle in mid flight since leaning forward to hit buttons on the keyboard will usually push the thing back up. Bad idea when you're making a dive bombing run or an approach for landing. My second issue has to do with the style of the stick's rudder. Dogfights are fast paced and intense affairs and usually involve a lot of frenetic jinking and weaving, and lots of use of the rudder. The rudder turns well and responds fine but the problem is that when yawing left you're liable to accidentally push a button with the area of your palm nearest the thumb. Depending on what you've programmed into that area of the joystick this can have disasterous results in a pitched dogfight, and not something that reprogramming buttons is going to fix.

Still this joystick has been well worth the meager investment involved and has proven itself of great value to me. Definitely a must-buy for anyone looking for a good, solid starter joystick.

I really like this joystick. I bought it for use solely with FS 2004 on Win XP SP2. I installed the latest drivers from the Saitek website before I even tried using it. Fired up FS 2004 and joystick worked like a champ.

My one complaint is the scary warning label on the USB cord: "Warning! Handling the cord on this product will expose you to lead, a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer, and birth defects or other reproductive harm. Wash hands after handling." It seems this has to do with IBM's agreement between a large number of manufacturers and the state of California to meet the requirements of California's Proposition 65 law. Here is an article on the subject from Harvard's Environmental Health & Safety web site: http://www.uos.harvard.edu/ehs/pr/pr18052004.shtml

I am guessing that all USB sticks will have similar PVC wrapped cables whether they provide the warning or not...

In this joystick, you combine some of the top controls at a very affordible price. I use it for flight simulators like Fly II and MS Flight Simulator 2004, and driving games such as the Need for Speed line, and a number of other EA racing games. You can program every button and switch to your specific liking. The throttle is the ideal feature on this joystick for flight simulators, along with the yoke. I've been using it for quite a while, and I don't plan to give it up for any type of upgrade. Don't let the price fool you. It is a quality piece of gaming equipment.

The stick is good for space sims and casual aero sims not for AF nuts or Falcon 4.0. It requires no drivers despite what reveiers are saying it just plugs in and windows XP(SP2) detects the stick no prob! The twist roll feature is the best sytem for doing banks and is easier than using a stupid rudder pedal. the only "special equipent" you need is probably a separate throttle system(but a separate USB port means it does not work in Space games as they only allow one controller at a time) The unit is sturdy and feels realistic in your hand the throttle is also very heavy duty and steady in it's travel. The stick includes only six buttons total(that is including the trigger) but some of the fancy ones only have hat control for fighters and only two or three buttons and are not for space ships or similar games. I would recommned this even over the "EVO" models in that it's price is good and the rediculouls driver requirements of those devices makes more resourse for windows to give up. DONT USE SST IT SUX! my only gripe(still five stars) is the weird "Santa's beard" layout for the missile and secondary wheapons buttons that are too far out and can't be gripped well by an over-zealous player it gets in the way of the straffing buttons. Also the trigger is too far protruded and though doesn't seem breakable feels slightly wrong in some games. IT is stilll the best stick as far as simplicity and good solid control with lots of options to boot. Nice wrist shelf for those carpel tunnel nuts who play for 12 hours without going for a stroll.

I have been very pleased with this product. I bought it to use with Microsoft "Flight Simulator X". I'm terrible at that sort of thing, but this joystick makes me look like a pro. I find it to be very user friendly. Everyone in my family(ages 5 yrs to 30 yrs) has used it successfully. Ease of installation was also a great feature.

The drivers I got from Saiteks website made my system crash to shutdown/restart. I use it with only Flight Simulator 2004 becuase it doesn't seem to be suited for RTCW, Quake, and other shooters. It crashes with every game. The only way I can get it to stop crashing is to plug it in when I'm in the game and ready to start playing, but NEVER start up the system with it plugged in. It also induces the problem. It works great otherwise.
The cord says it will expose you to lead, and I wonder who would be dumb enough to put lead in it anyway...

Currently testing this model w/ MS Flight Sim '04. Comfort level is good due to adjustable palm rest that accomodates Lefties as well as us normal people. Ha-Ha. Operation has been solid and responsive thus far, Will update in one month. Question about the lead warning label on cable. I don't know the severity or risk level. ????

I bought this joystick for use in Space Sim games I play and occasionally Mechwarrior 4, though my gamepad is probably better suited to that game now. This joystick may look cheaply made at first but I'd call it a minimalist design approach because it is in fact a very solid feeling joystick, I expect this to last longer than my old Interact Raider Pro Digital did. The joystick stays centered very well without the spring tension being too much, is self-calibrating, and moves through it's full range of motion easily. The joystick came with no drivers or software but I didn't need any on XP SP2 (I installed them anyway from the Saitek site). The joystick has all the controls you would expect 6 buttons including the trigger, a throttle (which operates very smoothly), and a rotating handle to control yaw. Some may find the button positioning odd, however, I did not. Maybe someone with smaller hands may have difficulty reaching the higher buttons. I bought this joystick for 19 dollars as a replacement for my Interact RaiderPro Digital that had the throttle broken by a friend (DOH!). This joystick fully outperforms that one and has the yaw rotation as an extra feature. For such a low price this joystick couldn't be beat. The joystick could use a longer cord due to the placement of my tower I have to use it left-handed but that is made easy due to the adjustable ambidextrous hand rest it's as simple as turning a screw reorienting the plate your palm rests on and then attaching it to the other side. It does lack the extra buttons on the base other joysticks may have but so far in X2 I haven't really needed even the 6 buttons. Buy this you won't be disappointed!

I just bought this joystick. After configuring it on Win XP SP2. It recognized the device, was easily calibrated, and easily allocated onto BF2. When the game-play started my trigger didn't work. After restarting in another server, my trigger worked, but then my yaw (joystick twist) and all the secondary thumb buttons as well as the 8 way hat did not respond. I still have no idea as to what might be causing the conflict.
On a second note, I bought this joystick as an upgrade to my logiteck attack 3. Mostly because I wanted a joystick that I can twist for in-flight yaw motion. The first thing I noticed was that the stick is like a broom stick. Unlike logitech's pistol grip design, Saiteck make it difficult to use the thumb input buttons. It's difficult for me to expain it without you having tactile experience with both sticks, but I'm planning on going back to Logitech.

I just got this joystick like a week ago and it rocks it took me less than a minute to install it, i bought this joystick for my pacific fighter games and am looking forward for mfs2004. the only problem with this joystick is there is no landing gear button so i had to alwas use the keybord.