rec.autos.simulators

So is it REALLY worth 149 then???

Comments please :)

(I have a GP1 at the moment - is it worth my time and money upgrading to
Digital Edge F1)

Thanks in anticipation,

Tony.

I have just upgraded from a T1, My first impressions of the wheel are good.
The feel is good and within the game it is very presise. I liked the way
that it can be secured to the desk a big problem with T!.

Overall I would say it is worth it just for the presise control that you
gain in a game.

1.  Latest versions don't have the dual axis switch

2.  Inside the steering tube, the shaft is connected to the pot with a
*** tube. My first wheel had this slipping all the time - losing
calibration. Supplier replaced the wheel without question.

3. My latest wheel has had the nut on the steering pot come loose. As
it was Xmas, i stipped and retightened the thing myself.

4. Pedal postioning is uncomfortable I find. There is an option to
preload the pedals to a lower position but this worsens problem 5
below.

5. Pedals have a max of about 45deg travel. The pots are connected on
a straight shaft so that they also only move 45 deg (unlike geared T2
pedals). This gives them little electrical travel under calibration
and fine control is more difficult. Although totally unreliable, my T2
pedals were much more sensitive in this respect.

Would I still but the wheel? I'm afraid the answer is no. A steel tube
does not necessarily mean quality. There is a lot of lateral play in
the wheel and both steering and pedal pots are difficult to replace
and poorly implemented. It is a little better than my T2 but, as I
paid 150 for it, I wish I had exercised patience and gone for a TSW.
The only thing that stopped me was Trevor's ludicrous ordering method,
ridiculous shpping costs to the UK and his inability to take Amex (or
any other credit card). This may have changed by now. I would order
one tomorrow if it had.

Just my personal experiences - take them for what they're worth.

Regards

--
Neil Charlton      

http://www.racesimcentral.net/;
--

found the fixing method to be ... er ... CRAP!
There are 2 "quick-release" screws that attach to brass inserts in the base
board,
and on my wheel BOTH inserts came out of the board within 5 mins of playing :-(

But I've done a DIY fixing now, which is much better:
1. Get a piece of MDF, roughly the depth of your desktop, and the width of your
screen.
2. Cut MDF in to 2, such that 1 piece can be left under your Vid.
3. Mount wheel on "other" half of the MDF by one (or both) of the following
methods:
3a. Mount AND GLUE brass inserts into MDF
3b***wheel to the board, by placing screws just outside wheel's base, and
putting large washers on screws.
4 G-clamp "vid board" to desktop (that'll stay there permanently, under your
vid)
And finally, ( and this is the bit I'm most pleased with :-) ...
Mount some "guitar case" type clips to allow you to clip the "wheel board" onto
the "vid board" whenever
you want to use the wheel. (by "guitar case clips" I mean the sort of thing
that is used to hold guitar cases close:  kinda hard to describe .... er ...
there's a litle metal bit on one side, and on the other side there is a
lever/hoop mechanism,  the hoop goes over the little-metal-bit, and then you
press down the level to tension the hoop.

Works a treat!

-If this is the Digital Edge F1 Compact Sim you are talking about then its about
80 in Dixons. The DE Gp500 is about 280 and this is supposed to be the best
wheel/pedal combo you can buy.
peter hughes

The DE Gp500 is about 280 and this is supposed to be the best

Well.....after careful thought and consideration (and all of your
comments!!!) i have decided "temporarily" to stick with the GP1 with a view
to getting the pedals later.
Thanks all for your comments.....much appreciated.

Cheers,
Tony.

P.S.
(p.s. it's always a good idea to look through the previous messages on RAS
before posting):
Neil...i've looked in here for the past 2 weeks on posts about the digital
edge......how long does your isp keep its messages??? :))))

Well.....after careful thought and consideration (and all of your
comments!!!) i have decided "temporarily" to stick with the GP1 with a view
to getting the pedals later.
Thanks all for your comments.....much appreciated.

Cheers,
Tony.

P.S.
(p.s. it's always a good idea to look through the previous messages on RAS
before posting):
Neil...i've looked in here for the past 2 weeks on posts about the digital
edge......how long does your isp keep its messages??? :))))

Well.....after careful thought and consideration (and all of your
comments!!!) i have decided "temporarily" to stick with the GP1 with a view
to getting the pedals later.
Thanks all for your comments.....much appreciated.

Cheers,
Tony.

P.S.
(p.s. it's always a good idea to look through the previous messages on RAS
before posting):
Neil...i've looked in here for the past 2 weeks on posts about the digital
edge......how long does your isp keep its messages??? :))))

Regards

--
Neil Charlton      

http://www.charlt.demon.co.uk/  
--

On Wed, 31 Dec 1997 01:14:01 -0000, "Tony Powell"

There have been several threads that have included discussion about the
F1 Sim / GP500 over the last few days, let alone weeks. Maybe they didn't
explicitly say "Digital Edge", but when searching it usually helps to
search around the subject ;-)

BTW - for older messages, go to www.dejanews.com where you can find a
searchable archive of messages going back several months.

Cheers,
Richard

Sorry to sound "abusive" in any way - this was NOT my intention.
Pipex only seem to keep messages for a couple of days then thats it!
Still...thanks for the dejanews info.

Cheers (again!)

Tony.