Introduction

Through the years, we've seen computing businesses come and go. Aureal, 3dfx, DEC...we've seen plenty of companies that made some awesome products that later went down the tubes, usually for financial reasons. With this is mind, it's very comforting to see a company that makes a great product and survives in the market without behaving like a corporate shark, like so many others we see these days.

CH Products has been around for years, producing quality flightsticks, yokes, rudder pedals, and throttle/weapons systems for flight-sim enthusiasts. Up until recently, they had competition only from Thrustmaster, until Thrustmaster had to be rescued from financial dire straits by Guillemot. Sure, there's also Gravis and Microsoft to consider, but they don't make joysticks with the same authenticity and attention to detail that CH Products and Thrustmaster put into their systems.

CH Products' earlier version throttles

Times do change, and CH Products has had to change with them. DB-15 is considered ancient these days, and thus CH Products is moving all of its previous mainstay products to the USB interface. Of course, nobody would buy a brand new joystick if the only difference were in its interface, so CH Products kindly elected to give some of their peripherals the once-over and giving them some tuning and improvements before re-releasing them. With that in mind, we bristled with excitement when CH Products allowed us to test out their new Pro Throttle USB.

Features

If you've had any of CH Products' previous...um...products, you'll probably notice that the throttle looks very similar to its predecessors. This is, of course, by design. CH Products had a comfortable and winning design in its older throttles, so they kept the molding the same, but changed the button layout somewhat.

The Pro Throttle USB features three buttons, three four-direction switches, an 8-way hat switch, and a mini-stick, giving you a plethora of controls at your disposal. Initially, one might balk at the lack of buttons, but since the Pro Throttle USB isn't designed to be a primary controller, the lack of buttons isn't as much of a concern. The multitude of switches allows you to easily program in different axes or adjustments that can be logically controlled. For instance, you might set your flaps and gears on one switch, so that you can push down on the switch to put your landing gear down, or push the switch back to activate your flaps.

The mini-joystick is on the right, adjacent to the hat switch.

The mini-stick is the newest addition to the throttle. Effectively, it can be used as another hat switch, but it functions just like an ordinary joystick, which means that, if you were hard pressed, you could use the throttle as a singular controller, and fly with the joystick. Cumbersome, but it does work. It's definitely useful for space flight sims or mecha sims, where you might have a floating targeting reticule instead of a fixed mounted cannon. If configured properly, it can allow you to aim independently of where your flight stick or other controls are pointing, meaning that you can easily turn your mech's torso while still controlling where you're walking.

You'll also notice three LEDs at the bottom of the Pro Throttle USB. These are indicator lights to be used with the CH Products Flightstick Pro, which has a mode indicator switch. This mode switch, when used with other CH Products USB equipment, lets you toggle three different button profiles for not just your flight stick, but the entire control array. The LEDs on the Pro Throttle USB correspond to the button mode you've set on your flight stick. If you don't have the CH Products flight stick, though, then don't worry about the buttons.

Software

The software that comes with the Pro Throttle USB is similar in fashion to Microsoft's Sidewinder Game Profiler, except not quite as flashy. For starters, the throttle's default setup in Windows gives it normal button functionality that can be mapped in any DirectX game with relative ease. Without having the extra software installed, I installed MS Combat Flight Simulator and was taking to the skies in no time. With that said, the control application isn't really necessary for someone who uses the throttle on an occasional basis.

I would like to point out that while the product doesn't really include a printed manual, the documentation of the Quick Start sheet doesn't take much explaining, and the software help is *very* useful. Check this picture out from the installation process. It pops up this helper window describing everything you'll need to do during the installation process. More vendors could afford to be so helpful with their installations.

The software does have its benefits though. For one thing, if you have other CH Products equipment in the house, you'll need the control manager to configure the button profiles for the toggle mode. Also, the software lets you load new button assignments and key configurations into memory without having to reprogram all your games' default key arrangements. Furthermore, if you have several different joysticks, the control manager can integrate their functions into one "virtual joystick" which can be mapped into a game where multiple controllers aren't supported.

The Control Manager application

According to the CH Products support page and their support technicians, Control Manager doesn't support Windows 2000. Oddly enough, though, I installed it in Windows XP, and the instructions and documentation give a lot of information about using the app in Windows 2000. It also works fine in WinXP, so your mileage may vary. But don't go crying to CH Products if your software won't work in Win2K.

Speaking of Win2K users, I tested the throttle mostly in Win2K. According to CH Products, the Pro Throttle USB is supported in Win2K, but only as a normal joystick device. With this in mind, I plugged it in and started right away configuring X-Wing Alliance and Combat Flight Simulator to work with it. Both did, flawlessly. With this in mind, you Win2K users out there shouldn't have a problem at all using your new Pro Throttle USB with your favorite games. I didn't have a USB joystick to test it alongside, so I used my MS Sidewinder 3D Pro, which complemented the feel of the throttle well.

Conclusion

The button and switch response was really good. The throttle's axes were very precise, and the mini-joystick even worked well. I tried to play with the joystick isolated as well, and it's functional, but certainly not something you'd want to do for very long. Besides...if you're willing to pay $150 for this throttle, the odds of you having an accompanying joystick are pretty high.

The price of the Pro Throttle USB is really its only debilitating factor. The throttle itself is sweet, and useful in both Windows and MacOS, but for most buyers, the price tag will be very hard to swallow. Ultimately, a few hardcore gamers would probably buy this device, but the majority of its sales will probably go to flight sim enthusiasts specifically, especially considering that they make up most of CH Products' prior business sales.

That's not to say that you shouldn't buy this throttle, of course. It's an excellent stick, but too pricey for most people. Couple that with the fact that a lot of people won't see past the device as "just a throttle", and a lot of people won't justify the price. Hardcore gamers, though, should be able to recognize its extra features for what they are, and will probably drool over this throttle, with good reason.

If you can afford it, you can probably appreciate it too. As I've repeatedly mentioned, it's very pricey at $150, but it's money well spent. Get it from CH Products.

Rating: 8/10 SystemLogistics

Re-Printed From SLCentral

Fatal error: Call to undefined function view() in /home/slcentra/public_html/temp/layout/footer/reviews/hardware/periph/print1.php on line 5