SimHQ Review: Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog

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Lawndart
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SimHQ Review: Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog

Post by Lawndart » Fri Oct 22, 2010 1:49 pm

Review
October 22, 2010

Thrustmaster HOTAS WARTHOG™
The Latest Flight Sim HOTAS Has Arrived
by Joe Keefe

Click on the image to open the 7-page long HOTAS Warthog review by SimHQ:
Image

SimHQ first discussed the Warthog after getting hands-on time with it at Thrustmaster's Invitation-Only Preview Event during E3Expo 2010 and its follow-up article. If you haven’t read those articles you will want to, because this Review focuses on new topics: the Warthog HOTAS mechanical design, programming software, and comparisons with other HOTAS systems.
Excerpt of [url=http://www.simhq.com/_technology3/technology_174g.html]SimHQ's conclusion (page 7)[/url] wrote:Conclusion

I said it at the Thrustmaster Preview Event at E3Expo and I’ll say it again here: “Wow!”

The Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog is a truly superb and fantastic controller. Its mechanical actions are smooth and precise, its buttons and switches have a feel of unparalleled quality, and it is a beautiful piece of hardware.

There is still lots to explore in the Script Editor that SimHQ will be bringing to you as we discover and work with it more.

Chris "BeachAV8R" Frishmuth is going to report on the HOTAS Warthog for some extended flights and report from the perspective of a real pilot, and see how the HOTAS Warthog matches up with DCS: A-10C Warthog. He will also put the software through its paces in Windows 7 x64. Look for his report soon.

SimHQ will also be embarking on a series of extended "road tests" with the Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog, and the other premiere HOTAS systems flight simmers have access to using. The extended tests will appear every six months and will be our real world benchmark to check durability and dependability. Look for the first reports to start in January 2011.

Finally, it’s not often that we get a new HOTAS and an entirely new and powerful programming application that is evolutionary if not arguably revolutionary. T.A.R.G.E.T. is a huge step in the right direction towards simplifying the daunting and time consuming task that programming a complicated 6-layer HOTAS can be, plus it unifies four different controllers and gives new life to the old Cougar.

However, despite the fact that Cougar pedals can be combined with the HOTAS Warthog, the lack of updated USB pedals from Thrustmaster may leave users wanting more. A quality HOTAS like the HOTAS Warthog deserves an accompanying high quality, robustly constructed set of pedals; these would be a good product to have to round out the total high-quality HOTAS package. We hope that Thrustmaster will consider developing this hardware in the future.

Good:

Hardware

•Superb stick and throttle feel for all buttons, switches, and axes
•Ball joint and helical spring mechanism provides smooth and precise joystick response
•Detachable stick grip can be used on the HOTAS Cougar base
•Finger-lift throttle detents and optional afterburner detent for throttles
•Removable joystick base plate for cockpit mounting

Software

•T.A.R.G.E.T. is powerful, easy-to-use software that virtualizes controllers and gives 6-layer capability to a wide range of Thrustmaster products
•T.A.R.G.E.T. Scripting Language provides immense and almost limitless programming possibilities

Could Be Better:

Hardware

•Expensive MSRP
•HOTAS Warthog users are forced to retain Cougar to integrate pedals with T.A.R.G.E.T., or use non-Thrustmaster pedals and lose the ability to include a rudder axis in a single virtual controller
•Throttle lacks useful hands-on rotary axes

Software

•T.A.R.G.E.T. cannot create more than one virtual controller
•T.A.R.G.E.T. GUI cannot map Cougar rudder axis to virtual controller
•T.A.R.G.E.T. and T.A.R.G.E.T. Scripting documentation should be more polished and complete
•T.A.R.G.E.T. has no keyboard shortcuts and has some quirky Windows GUI behavior

Reviewer's System Specs

•Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.53 GHz
•NVIDIA 8800 GTS 640MB
•4GB DDR2 RAM
•Windows XP SP3
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Ray
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Post by Ray » Fri Oct 22, 2010 2:38 pm

That's a great review! It's an awesome HOTAS 8)
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Post by Grab » Fri Oct 22, 2010 5:09 pm

:shock:
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Post by Lawndart » Thu Nov 25, 2010 1:16 am

Review
November 23, 2010

Thrustmaster HOTAS WARTHOG™
Flight Report
by BeachAV8R

Click on the image to open the 4-page long HOTAS Warthog review by SimHQ:
Image

BeachAV8R took to the virtual skies in F4AF, IL-2, FSX, X-Plane and DCS: A10C Warthog with the new Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog.
Excerpt of [url=http://www.simhq.com/_technology3/technology_200d.html]SimHQ's conclusion (page 4)[/url] wrote:Conclusion

In summary, as a veteran PC flight simmer coming from Saitek hardware and trying on a Thrustmaster product for the first time, I was extremely impressed with the HOTAS Warthog. The solid feel and life-like button and toggle throw forces lend an air of precision and authority that other controllers just can’t match. The smooth action of the Warthog ball joint and sensors gave me an unprecedented feel of precision when lining up cannon and rocket attacks.

I’ve always been a very happy fan of Saitek products, and I do feel they give a great bang for the buck. If you can afford it though, I highly recommend picking up a Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog since it represents the pinnacle of flight simulation controllers to date.
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Post by Dimebag » Thu Nov 25, 2010 7:07 am

Great review, if I had a spare chunk of change lying around and my wife wasn't looking I'd probably order one of these.
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Post by Thumper » Thu Nov 25, 2010 10:41 am

Dimebag wrote:Great review, if I had a spare chunk of change lying around and my wife wasn't looking I'd probably order one of these.
You do, and she isn't... just do it! :wink:
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Post by Dimebag » Thu Nov 25, 2010 3:41 pm

Thumper wrote:
Dimebag wrote:Great review, if I had a spare chunk of change lying around and my wife wasn't looking I'd probably order one of these.
You do, and she isn't... just do it! :wink:
Haha, don't do that to me, you are the devil on my shoulder. Anyway I already bought the G940 a while ago, which makes this even more tempting.
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