Comfortable and Accurate, You Can't Go Wrong With It

When many people think about Microsoft, they cringe as images of Illegal Operations and General Protection Faults come to mind, as well as the recent anti-trust lawsuit. Many people out there believe that all Microsoft Products are evil, and refuse to buy them. Too bad for them they are missing out on one heck of a Joystick.

The Microsoft Sidewinder Precision Pro isn’t perfect, but it is better than 99% of the Joysticks out there. But before we get started, if you are left-handed, stop reading now, this stick is designed with right-handers primarily in mind.

First, lets start with the features. The Precision Pro has a 3-axis design, meaning in addition to up-down and left-right movement, it has a 3rd dimension of control. This is achieved by twisting the joystick handle. Most games use this as either a rudder in flight simulations, or rolling in space combat simulations. In addition to the unbelievable amount of control allowed by the stick, there are also unbelievable amounts of buttons. Eight buttons grace the surface of the joystick, not including one button, which will allow all of the sticks buttons to perform one extra function (More on this later). All of the buttons are within easy reach for me (but I have big hands, so watch out those who have small hands).

In addition, an eight-way hat switch allows complete control over whatever you are playing. Also making an appearance on the joystick is a throttle wheel. There is only one problem I have with the wheel, and that is that if you push it all the way down, you have to move it up a little bit before the game will actually register your input. It’s a minor quibble, but it sure is annoying.

On to accuracy. The Precision Pro is designed as a Digital controller. This means that it is very precise, registering even the tiny adjustments caused by touching the stick (It’s that accurate). The only problem with the digital nature of this Joystick is that it hates MS-DOS; so if you use some DOS programs that require a joystick, look into a different one. Like the controls, all of the buttons on the joystick are very responsive, aside from the Throttle wheel issue already mentioned.

Installation is simple, just plug it into the port on your sound card or dedicated game card and install the software. One thing I really like about the Precision Pro is its Programmability functions. This means that you can set each button to do any function you want (You can even type with the thing if you only use sixteen letters =)) All this is achieved through an intuitive piece of software called the SideWinder Profile Editor. This software comes with ready-made profiles for most of the popular games, such as the Mechwarrior games and, naturally, all of the Microsoft Games.

Programming the Joystick is accomplished by clicking a button on the joystick and then typing the key or combination of keys that you want to use that button for. The software can even program macros, which measure how long you hold down each key and which keys you press. This allows combination moves to be set up with ease. This software is not exclusive to the Joysticks however. All Microsoft controllers, save its line of mice, can be programmed here. The only feature it could have used is a print function, for printing out your control schemes.

Overall, this Joystick is a good bet for anyone who wants a good stick, but doesn’t want force feedback (don’t get me started on that…anything that causes me to loose accuracy in a game is not something I want to use). The Precision Pro is comfortable, accurate, and has buckets of functionality, with no standard Microsoft bugs. I recommend this joystick to everyone I come across.

One word of wisdom: As you turn your computer on, make sure the stick isn’t moved into a different position than it normally is. Windows calibrates the stick when you turn it on, and it will be left thinking that it has a weird center point.