Since several Force Feedback wheels have hit the market in the last year or
so, I thought I seek some input from those of you how own them, and which
one you might suggest?
Thanks a bunch for the help!
Jay J
I believe they offer a USB version, would this make a difference?
And.... I've heard wonderful things about the TSW products, albeit a bit
pricey... Do they offer a FF wheel?
Thanks again!
I researched and researched ff wheel reviews recently and decided on the Act
Labs Force RS (serial version). Besides being influenced by the many favorable
reviews, Act Labs is currently selling the serial version for US$119.99 with
free ground shipping to any North American address. For me, that was too good
to pass up. I've had it for about 10 days now, and I *really* like it! I was
worried about additional load on the CPU, but I haven't noticed any difference
in NFS3 with ff turned on vs. off. I haven't really tried it with any other
games yet, although I'm planning to get GPL soon (I already downloaded the 1.1
patch which adds ff support).
I was tempted by the Logitech Formula Force (and a lot of folks on this ng
really seem to like theirs), but I wanted a setup with good ff effects *and*
good pedals out of the box. The Logitech wheel apparently has touchy,
short-throw pedals; a number of people have taken their old, long-throw pedals
from their non-ff sets and hooked them up to their Logitech wheel. This
approach didn't help me since the Force RS was my first wheel and pedal set (no
old pedals to reuse). The Act Lab pedals have a decent throw, and the pedal
unit is very solid and doesn't move around the floor. The tension and angle of
the pedals is about right, too.
If you've read some of the Force RS reviews, you'll see that the reviewers gush
about the grip of the wheel. Well, I have to agree - the rim of the wheel is
very meaty and is covered with a grippy faux leather cover. And yes, the wheel
produces strong, believable ff effects. Basically, I found that my own
experience with the Act Labs wheel matches the reviews I read very closely.
Anyway, I'm happy with my Act Labs wheel so far. By the way, I bought it direct
from Act Labs over the phone. The sales rep I talked to was very polite and
knowledgeable. The company promptly emailed me a receipt and my UPS tracking
number when the wheel shipped, and the wheel arrived when they said it would.
Although they're a small outfit compared to Logitech or Thrustmaster, Act Labs
seems to be a class act.
I think the Force RS is definitely worthy of your attention - and no, I don't
have any sort of business or employment relationship with Act Labs :)
Grant
> I believe they offer a USB version, would this make a difference?
> And.... I've heard wonderful things about the TSW products, albeit a bit
> pricey... Do they offer a FF wheel?
> Thanks again!
