This time, they made no mistake. The sleek, black appearance even makes the X35T throttle look attractive, and throttles are often just squat, ungainly-looking things. This is a combination that will look really sharp on your desk. The units themselves are essentially the same units which when they first came out a few years ago, except with upgraded hardware, revamped software, and USB connectors. Anyone who has had gameport problems interfere with joystick function will know how nice it is to have USB versions of their favorite game controllers.
Setup is quite easy and there are no hitches in performance.
Calibration is done via the standard Windows Control Panel methods using a special window to allow for all the buttons. The difference is that this software won't crash your system, and has proven completely stable on my system for months of use. Programming a button or knob is as simple as clicking on it in the program window, and setting the function through a combination of keystrokes and radio buttons. Saitek provides a variety of game configuration files on the CD that comes with the controllers, although many of these files are for older games such as Eurofighter 2000 and Flight Simulator '98 . Those seeking additional files can check out the .