WEBVTT

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so joysticks are a category of products that i haven't really gotten into much

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the last time i bought one was back around the release of the first hawks

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game since i'm more into arcade flight than sim flight incidentally it was a

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seitak aviator zero zero one and it ended up being the main reason i didn't

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really get into that game because it felt like such a shoddy piece of kit

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compared to my old thrustmaster top gun the only other joystick i've ever owned

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which i only actually replaced because it requires a game port but with elite

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dangerous being dangerously fun and star citizen coming eventually we hope i felt

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like it was time to jump in and jump hard with the x55 rhino the top of the

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line flight some accessory from satech

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Corsair's hdi gt and h100i gtx

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all-in-one liquid coolers improve both the appearance and cooling of your pc

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click my face to learn more

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so let's get this out of the way this puppy not cheap it costs more than the

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moto e 2nd gen cell phone review that

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i'm working on well it doesn't cost more than the review it costs more than the phone but you guys get the point and

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while it certainly packs a wallop in terms of features my initial impressions

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of it actually weren't entirely positive opening up the package i was greeted by

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environmentally friendly paper-based packaging the separate flight stick and

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throttle units that together make up the hotaz or hands-on throttle and stickness

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of the device some documentation and three optional springs which combined

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with the one that comes pre-installed and the option to go bareback gives the

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user the ability to adjust the tension of the stick to five different levels

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without any tools or special modifications the stick assembly was

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easy just pop it in place so the contacts line up and tighten the ring

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plug in the two usb cables install the software from the satex site and you're

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ready to rock sounds good so far Linus what didn't you

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like well honestly the biggest thing is that for 200

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i expected something a little more substantial feeling i can forgive the

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noticeable clunk that exists when centering the

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stick thanks to the spring tensioning system but the flex that even my weak

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hands can detect in the plastic of the stick shaft and the sheer

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lightweightness of the unit just don't feel like i just spent 200 on something

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honestly satech probably could have impressed me by simply putting lead

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plates in the bottom of these because then at least i could actually use them

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at all without bolting them to my flight cockpit or desk something that's not

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convenient for everyone but

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all of that above stuff was for the most part feelings and looking at this

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objectively i don't see any better options on the market at this price

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point with more premium feeling hotaz units like the wartog from thrustmaster

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costing about twice as much so let's see if i can get over

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these feelings and appreciate the functionality of the x55 rhino because

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boy does it ever have a lot of it the software is a touch on the buggy side

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and crashes from time to time even when doing something completely unrelated to

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the stick like writing this review but it never happened in game and it's

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pretty easy to use allowing everything from universal dead zone configuration

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and response curve adjustments to remapping buttons to macros that can

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include keyboard and mouse inputs on the aforementioned buttons did i mention

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buttons buttons buttons buttons button button buttons buttons did i mention

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buttons let's start with the stick excluding the twisty rudder control

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something that i wish had a simple lock for games that don't support it that

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would be nice but including the four-way hat switch this mama has 18 discrete

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inputs about two-thirds of which i can reach without too much effort while

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flying in spite of my baby-sized hands and the decidedly grown man-sized stick

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they're trying uh desperately to handle the sheer number of inputs combined with

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the good to excellent tactile feel of the switches across the board is a

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definite selling point of this stick even without the throttle you can bind

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almost anything you'd need to do in an arcade style game to the stick alone

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which i guess leads us over to the throttle my favorite piece of this

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product unlike the joystick i didn't find the throttle's construction disappointing if

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your air or spacecraft has separate engines on each side the left and right

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portion of the throttle can be controlled independently or you can lock

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them together the tension of the throttle can be adjusted via a dial on

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the side and while it was too stiff out of the box after about five minutes i

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was able to get it configured just right for me which brings us to buttons again

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omg button button button buttons truthfully

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i may have lost count at some point because with all the toggles and buttons

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i counted 34 discrete inputs plus the

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five rotary inputs plus the three

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separate modes that can be accessed with the switch at the bottom left i mean

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landing gear counter measure silent flight mode seat belt no smoking light

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if your craft has a function the chances are excellent you can find a button on

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the x55 to bind it to which leads pretty well into my general

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impressions of using the x55 as expected

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without the stick or throttle bolted or stuck to anything they slip all over the

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place but once they're secured boy is it a lot of fun to fly with this thing it

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makes my aviator look like a toy and once i'd quickly studied the default

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mappings for elite dangerous had me pulling maneuvers i simply couldn't on

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my top gun which i've actually since obtained a usb adapter for thanks to the

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nearly unlimited number of inputs that i could bind to individual thrusters

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energy rerouting weapon systems etc etc etc i never once felt like accuracy was

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an issue during my use of the products so i guess their 16-bit hoop-de-doo

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granularity on the x and y-axes is paying off and the backlighting

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particularly on the throttle where it's a bit more prominent is a godsend when

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you're fumbling for a switch in the dark so i guess it's conclusion time for all

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my griping the x55 is a really great choice for folks who are after bang for

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the buck most of what i didn't like was a minor annoyance and i feel like all of

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the deficiencies i mentioned can be overcome one way or another the included

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bolt through holes on each unit allow it to be installed on a weighted base if

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you don't want to permanently mount it somewhere the fact that i couldn't

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conveniently reach a lot of the buttons was overcome by the sheer number of them

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and thankfully if you're like me and you love one of the pieces but not the other

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they each use a separate usb cable so you can mix and match with something

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else if you really want which leaves the one real criticism for 200 i think the

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plastics in the stick especially should be heavier and more solid feeling or

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satech should at least take advantage of the fact that it's removable and offers

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some alternative sticks for folks who have smaller hands because i found this

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one a little on the uncomfortable side or for folks who want something that

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feels more premium but it's still a darn good value if you get a good one because

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many online accounts while my unit had

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no issues do point to the qc on it not

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being exactly perfect speaking of perfect this is a perfect

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segue to audible.com which of course it

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isn't but don't worry about it it wouldn't be the first time i screwed up a segway they've got over 150 000 audio

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books and with their audible membership

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you get one audiobook per month with discounts on additional ones as well as

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a slew of other benefits but why would you want an audiobook you might ask well

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because maybe you want to oh i don't know read but you don't have the time to

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actually set aside and stare at a book like if you're in the car or you are a

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forklift driver or you you know really

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really hate you know dinner with your family and

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they don't notice that you have like your headphones on or but anyway the

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point is they've got all kinds of different audio books even stuff that

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you can listen to with the kids like winnie the pooh by a.a milne

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i had no idea they had that on there the membership is affordable and if you sign

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up now at audible.com Linus which is linked in the video description the

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first audiobook is 100 free cool beans there are no beans just

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audiobooks so guys thanks for watching like this

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video if you liked it dislike it if you thought it sucked leave a comment on the

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Linus tech tips forum which is linked below if you'd like to well comment on

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the video and you want to avoid the cesspool of youtube comments uh also

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linked in the video description is a place where you can buy a cool t-shirt like this one give us a monthly

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contribution if you love what we do and you want to support it and a place where

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you can change your amazon bookmarked one with our affiliate code so we get a small kickback whenever you buy oh i

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don't know this product or something else we cover on the show or something completely unrelated thanks again for

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watching and as always don't forget to subscribe