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Comment by WhipeeDip | Hacker News Reader

If you want both a stick and throttle for under $200, you'll likely want the Thrustmaster T.16000M FCS (~$150). If you're willing to add another ~$150 to the budget, I highly recommend the VKB Gladiator NXT EVO with the SCG Premium grip (~$210 with US shipping) and picking up the Thrustmaster TWCS throttle alone (~$130).

Either way, the Thrustmaster TWCS throttle does have some stiction and you might want to clean it up, or even better 3D print/buy a slider replacement for about ~$40 on Etsy.

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> Either way, the Thrustmaster TWCS throttle does have some stiction and you might want to clean it up.

It really does, I opened mine up and cleaned off all the factory grease, replacing it with a bog standard lithium grease (sparingly!) and the difference is night and day.

Some people swear by the fancy silicon grease and I see a lot of good things but I'm fine with regular old lithium.

If you're a light player an T.16000m will work but they all die with hardware issues at some point. The matching TWCS throttle has similar issues. I'm a heavy space sim player and went through 2 T16000Ms and 3 TWCSs before switching fully over to VKB sticks.

VKB sticks last longer (no issues after 2+ years heavy use), are repairable and VKB will sell you parts. Much nicer if you can afford it. Take a look at their youtube channel if you are curious about the repairibility. https://www.youtube.com/c/VKBSim

Forgot a link to VKB's site. :P

https://vkbcontrollers.com/

Just a VKB stick isn't actually as functional as a cheaper T16000M HOTAS with separate stick and throttle quadrant, so I'm not sure I'd recommend VKB unless you're getting the rest as well.

A VKB setup is about $800 (dual THQ+SEM+FSM+stick+rudders) so... don't look at VKB until you've flown with a <$200 HOTAS for a while and actually know what you enjoy flying (and whether that kind of flying even justifies buying into the whole "real controller" thing =)

The OP was just about a joystick and the VKB's Gladiator NXT EVO is a very nice one within their budget (<$200). It has a simple analog/throttle wheel on the base. IMO one of those is a much better investment than the thrustmaster HOTAS setup as it will last much, much longer and is still in their budget.

They've also never fired a up a flight sim, so they don't know that they don't want just a joystick but a HOTAS. Just a joystick is not enough to determine whether you're going to like a flight sim or not, and both the standard Thrustmaster (T16000-M) and Logitech-Saitek HOTAS (X52) offerings are <$200

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