What a Disappointment!

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nh170914
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Joined: Thu Sep 14, 2017 14:20

What a Disappointment!

Postby nh170914 » Tue Oct 17, 2017 18:23

I think it's got to be time for an honest review on the Gladiator MKII. I received this stick in early September 2017.

On the positive side, it has a good feel to it and it controls smoothly. It's very stable on a table top and doesn't slide about like many other sticks. But, unfortunately, that's about the end of it.

Negatives:

1. Peripheral programs needed to make it work. In order to make it work, you need to have VKBDevCfig, VKB_JoyTester, and WIZZO. Without downloading and using these programs, you're doomed to hours of impossible programming. On top of that, you will also need to download a profile. There are about 8 of them and it's a bit of a chore downloading and loading each one of them to see which one is "closest" to what you expect the stick to do.

2. The Hatswitch doesn't work UNLESS you depress the pinky button. No big deal, right? Wrong. Trying to hold down the pinkie button and then reaching up to move the hatswitch into the right one of 8 positions while trying to evade an enemy and trying to engage is virtually impossible for most people. So, get used to being able to only use the keypad on your keyboard to look around. Unfortunately, unless you depress the pinky switch, the hatswitch is dead and will not reprogram to anything.

3. The hardware simply doesn't hold up. This morning I needed to bail out of a badly damaged plane. I used the A3 switch to bail out. There I was riding the flaming crate all the way to the ground because the A3 button broke. It's depressed and it appears the spring failed as it will not come up.

4. Lack of support from VKB. Yeah... eventually you will get an answer to your emails. But that's about it. I had one problems after another with this stick since the beginning and told them it was a defective unit. Not once did they suggest returning it. It was just "try this and try that" over and over again until the 30 day warranty ran out. But here's the real kick. The stick cost $99 plus shipping, or about $115. If you ever did get authorization to return it, shipping costs to return it and to have another shipped to you are your responsibility. So now your $99 joystick costs about $160 (since you will want to insure it when you ship it).

Overall, the drawbacks to this stick are unfortunate as the stick does have a great feel to it. But I got stuck.

If you were to receive one that isn't defective, I would rate it as 2.5 out of 5.0 primarily due to the hatswitch issue. But having gotten a defective unit and no backing from VKB I would have to give it a 1.0 out of 5.0. In other words, I couldn't recommend this joystick.

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Re: What a Disappointment!

Postby AeroGator » Wed Oct 18, 2017 4:29

Your feedback is gratefully appreciated.
Here http://forum.vkb-sim.pro/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=2764&p=27619#p27619 two experts (Ron61 and myself) offered you help and asked you for additional information.
Which you never provided.
In simple words, you refused to be helped out.
I'm taking the liberty of freezing this topic. I will not delete it though. If there is anything you want to add to it, you can continue in the original (above linked) topic.
Best Regards,
AeroGator


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