Hotas X is good, was my first hotas and bought it when ED came out. Did have some standalone sticks years before. Dusted off the last one, Saitek Cyborg Evo but found the throttle slider was super twitchy, so it had to go.
Later I found out the hard way that on the X it was easy to break the buttons by smacking them too hard though, it’s a cheap plastic ring underneath each one. Got a bit tired of the throttle action as well.
Eventually upgraded to the T16000.m after I got to test on ED, and both the stick gimbal and throttle control is a lot better once you compare the two. Been using that for 2.5 years until the Z axis twist got super twitchy, deadzone adjustment didn’t help and didn’t really like the look of the self-service route. My DIY skills mean I’d probably just break it further. The TWCS throttle has a slight twitch in the rudder paddle but generally still good. The stick design and button placement is not as good as the X, IMO, but I got used to it.
So, a few days ago, my new stick arrived, a VKB Gladiator K. I’m very new to both VKB and Virpil. Lucky timing I think, because the K is a new combo of components with a good discount, given they are both pretty expensive niche brands. It’s like a mini TM Warthog, and appealed because it’s a compact desktop-friendly unit, while the Virpils are significantly bigger and cost more. Undoubtedly excellent though.
Super high quality internals + built to be serviceable is the way to go, no more TMs or Logitech’s etc. The big brands seem to average about two years and the companies then expect you to bin and replace. Seems wasteful.
After a few days of SC, DCS, and getting back into some ED just now, the difference has exceeded my expectations. The feel and control is once again a league above the T16k, and I am taking down targets significantly faster in the space sims than before, which I hadn’t expected.
I’m not on the ED forums much any more but someone else bought one as a second stick for use with his Virpil, so I put some detailed thoughts up on there: