Fanatec Announcements: CSW V2 Reviews Out

[VWMasteR]

I know pricing is still speculation, but I thought I saw the CSS was going to shoot for around $100, is that correct?

He did say 100 (errr sorry 99) and has wanted to keep that price. He's mentioned it a few times in the blog. If the price did go up I wouldn't imagine it would be by much as he has hit the other prices he mentioned in the past fairly well.

I find it somewhat disrespectful to all the reviewers in communities like this one who made reviews and put their thoughts out there about all pro's and con's. I mean to say ISR is your only influence on what you buy makes their efforts seem completely useless.
Also the news is often faster via communities like this that you and I are part of then via ISR. I have seen it on multiple occasions in the short time I was here.

I don't think it's disrespectful at all. When you go to a spot like ISR that have been around for awhile, they have a reputation to maintain. When searching for info in other locations, it's hard to gauge the accuracy of anything in forum posts. Like someone popping in to any of the Elite threads would have a well written review to read but would not know if the source is credibile. The people would never know enough about any of them to understand why they were selected or maybe if they were selected at all.

Unless you're in the community, it's really hard to tell if the information you're reading is good. I could reference a few arguments with Latte that have taken place that were around the time I joined. I saw the result but not how it got there. So from an outsiders perspective that conversation, that may have been an actual useful conversation / debate, meant zero to me as I had no idea about the context. So no disrespect intended but I had no idea if any of them actually knew what they were talking about.

.. I don't find it disrespectful.. more of a challenge

I agree entirely.

Getting back the the Elite, has anyone noticed any cogging while playing F1 2011 on the 360?

I'm sure I didn't notice it the first time I played F1 (PRE-Firmware), but I don't know whether I'm now noticing it after being spoiled by the Forza and GT5 feedback that I happened to play POST-firmware.

Is it quite normal to feel cogging on one game, but not another?

Also, I'm only just learning the effect of setting adjustments - is there a way to reduce or disguise any game-specific cogging with these?

Codemasters has an odd way of doing FFB. I play GT5 / F4 fine with my wheel. F1 2010 / 2011 both feel different and sometimes I notice cogging. This is not with an Elite but I don't imagine the Elite would be any different as I don't look at the issue being hardware related.

F1s ffb us weird so it is quite plausible

Yeah sometimes it cogs sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes the feedback from the car is amazing and then other times I pull an almost 4G turn and tap a strip but would have no way of telling had I not seen it.

You will never catch everything in limited beta/community testing that would pop up once the product gets into the hands of consumers and used under many conditions. But as thorough testing thats possible should be done.
The community testing is a great idea and i hope fanatec continues to do so with upcoming releases along side beta testing.

This is bang on. They are not a massive company so some of the Beta testing needs to come from external sources. The one main pro of the CSW is the internals are getting the test now with the CSR-E. So in the very least he'll have some information on whether there are any changes need mechanically. I think the CSW development will go much more smoothly has it's main focus is PC. This means he will have to do less to try and get it compliant with a system. He can through software do exactly hat he needs to do as he won't have to consider, doing things the way the console needs to see them. I know PS3 is a console but he could very easily just emulate the G2x again and save all the advanced features for PC, the intended market.

 

[LogiForce]

To be honest how do you know if anyone is credible at all? Because a show looks professional it doesn't mean per definition that they are. Also to your analogy ISR is just as credible to a new person just getting to know them as any random person in a community forum to do a review.
So in all honesty when you are new and read a review you should be able to distinct from the way the review was written if a person is knowledgeable enough and has enough experience to be credible enough for you personally.

 

[mikochu]

I know this is off-topic, but I watch ISR once in a while...only for the products they review. However, their reviews are normally shallow and misleading...and they seem they would be socially awkward.

That is all.

 

[Spagetti69]

...and they seem they would be socially awkward.

Retarded? What are you on about?

As for reviews it's all speculation.
I can't comment on how good a review is until I've used the product and can compare my own opinions on it.

 

[LogiForce]

Retarded? What are you on about?

As for reviews it's all speculation.
I can't comment on how good a review is until I've used the product and can compare my own opinions on it.

You are mixing up two things here. The quality of the product and the quality of the review.

As a reader/viewer you won't know how good a product is until you've used the product yourself. However you as a reader/viewer can judge the quality of a review by the knowledge and experience the reviewers use to bring across the different aspects of a product.

 

[mikochu]

Retarded? What are you on about?

As for reviews it's all speculation.
I can't comment on how good a review is until I've used the product and can compare my own opinions on it.

No, not retarded...just socially awkward. I don't completely understand some of the stuff they go on and on about sometimes.

 

[LogiForce]

Sounds to me like ISR is too much into the scene to be able to address the common folk then. Getting too technical and so on.

Or isn't that what you're meaning here? Maybe you can give an example you remember well?

 

[amf7]

In my opinion ISR Csr wheel review was accurate..

 

[thehawk05]

In my opinion ISR Csr wheel review was accurate..

I would concur except for the reference to how quiet the CSR is. If you listen carefully you can clearly hear the Xbox mode high pitched whine that early units suffered from that had Firmware 704.

Aside from that Shaun's comments were pretty much spot on with what I feel separates the CSR from its Porsche cousins in terms of feel. Personally IMO Shaun does a solid job with reviews and I find his personality on the show very likable........he's a Sim geek and has no shame about that.

 

[VWMasteR]

To be honest how do you know if anyone is credible at all? Because a show looks professional it doesn't mean per definition that they are. Also to your analogy ISR is just as credible to a new person just getting to know them as any random person in a community forum to do a review.

It's logical from the outside to assume that if a site has been around for years, that they would have been around for a reason. Where as anyone can come in and create an account and start posting. I'm in no way saying that the community reviewers are less credible, I'm more saying that a person looking from the outside in wouldn't think they are on the same level. We are not the target group I'm thinking of.

So in all honesty when you are new and read a review you should be able to distinct from the way the review was written if a person is knowledgeable enough and has enough experience to be credible enough for you personally.

Credible isn't something that fluctuates based on the person it. In this situation I'm looking at credible meaning honest / rational / plausible / trustworthy. Those are, for the purposes of my argument, absolutes. So in these ways I can see newcomers considering ISR reviews to be more credible than reviews posted in a forum. I'm not meaning to say they are, but could be seen as that way.

Is hope this a bit more clear.

 

[Energizerrr]

ISR are a bunch of (looking for a proper word to express myself)...tools.

I mean, they give a 10/10 to some headphones without noticing the $250+ price-tag, and for ARC-G27 they give it a 7/10 due to price...?


They're just tools, blatent advertisers who have very limited idea of making proper unbiased reviews and that's why I never take their opinions on any hardware seriously.

 

[LogiForce]

It's logical from the outside to assume that if a site has been around for years, that they would have been around for a reason. Where as anyone can come in and create an account and start posting. I'm in no way saying that the community reviewers are less credible, I'm more saying that a person looking from the outside in wouldn't think they are on the same level. We are not the target group I'm thinking of.

Credible isn't something that fluctuates based on the person it. In this situation I'm looking at credible meaning honest / rational / plausible / trustworthy. Those are, for the purposes of my argument, absolutes. So in these ways I can see newcomers considering ISR reviews to be more credible than reviews posted in a forum. I'm not meaning to say they are, but could be seen as that way.

Is this a bit more clear?

It is clear but I just disagree on some points if I had to take my own knowledge into account, but yeah for common folk that are simple of mind I agree. With that I mean that they won't question everything like a little child would, think twice about everything and think out of the box to take a look at the information given in different perspectives.
By all means I don't intend to insult anyone here, but if you are my apologies hereby in advance.

 

[VWMasteR]

@LogiForce

I totally agree. I was just saying that everyone doesn't purchase or research hardware as hardcore as some of the people here. They don't want to or don't care to.

 

[LogiForce]

I only started to research so intense myself after a lot of disappointing purchases in the past. I am sure other people had these as well, which makes me wonder why they keep blindly gambling on products sometimes. The reasons I can come up with are like you say they just don't care, or in most cases I think people never learn from their mistakes.

 

[mikochu]

Sounds to me like ISR is too much into the scene to be able to address the common folk then. Getting too technical and so on.

Or isn't that what you're meaning here? Maybe you can give an example you remember well?

Nah, I was saying they go on and on about stuff or blow things out of proportion. *shru* it's not a big deal. I just don't take anything they say seriously.

 

[Snotgobbler]

Yeah sometimes it cogs sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes the feedback from the car is amazing and then other times I pull an almost 4G turn and tap a strip but would have no way of telling had I not seen it.

Yeah, you're right. It's stopped cogging now and just feels awesome in 2011.

One thing, though... I've noticed that my hub is now a touch loose on the column. Not at the black metal bit with the allen screw, but just slightly towards me where the plastic hub meets that metal bit.

Irrespective of what you think about his agenda or impartiality, I think Darin actually mentioned it...

"You like the button placement or the plastic rim? Also, is the hub still coming loose ?"

I'm hoping it doesn't get any worse. Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[amf7]

Someone mentioned you can easily screw it up.. on ISR forums user papa did ask him

 

[LogiForce]

The hub is even coming loose on the T500 wheels. Certain users even used loctite without results. So it's not just Fanatec with that issue.

 

[Spagetti69]

The hub is even coming loose on the T500 wheels. Certain users even used loctite without results. So it's not just Fanatec with that issue.

I seem to have missed all this.
Would a spring washer suffice? What part of the hub exactly?

 

[Crispy]

With the Fanatec wheels, loctite should work. Not sure about the T500 though as I didn't realize you could remove the rim until the F1 rim was announced!

 

[redmalloc]

The hub is even coming loose on the T500 wheels. Certain users even used loctite without results. So it's not just Fanatec with that issue.

I have not heard about that. Can you cite your source for that?

 

[paskowitz]

I only started to research so intense myself after a lot of disappointing purchases in the past. I am sure other people had these as well, which makes me wonder why they keep blindly gambling on products sometimes. The reasons I can come up with are like you say they just don't care, or in most cases I think people never learn from their mistakes.

After a couple of terrible purchases (1st paintball gun and 1st laptop) I finally learned my lesson. Research is everything.

I am very proud of my laptop purchase. Dell Studio XPS 1647 (i5 2.53Ghz, ATi M Rad 4670 1gb vram, 4gb ddr3, 500gb 7200rpm hdd, 1920x1080 screen, a killer wifi card and a fully loaded 3 year warranty) all for under a grand, about 3 years ago. Aside from a dedicated gaming laptop it was the best option factoring in price, mobility and performance. To this date it has been the best purchase I have ever made.

The only reason I got such a good deal was because I went to notebookreview.com. I learned more about computers and consumerism there than any "tech" site. I think a lot of people don't want to go through to effort to research a product and then they are surprised when their purchase turns out to be crap.

Despite the possibility for rabid fanboyism (which is usually easy to spot) I have always found consumer reviews (ie consumers that have actually bought the product in question) the most informative and trustworthy. With a "syndicated" review even if they are unbiased, there is that factor that they did not spend their own money on what they are review and thus have no "real" skin in the game. There is also the fact that if they continue to review a product negatively then the maker of the product will no longer send them products to review. So no matter what their "unbiased" claims are, they are by nature, biased.

 

[LogiForce]

I seem to have missed all this.
Would a spring washer suffice? What part of the hub exactly?

The 4 screws of the hub itself on the base that hold the connector and makes the wheel connect with the base so you can actually turn it. Within 4 days I had to tighten them. Although mine never came loose again unlike others.

 

[12thgear]

That's interesting. I have some thread locker on hand.

I do want to take those screws off when mine arrives to see how the wheel is attached to the hub. Perhaps it will be relatively easy adapt a real wheel to fit.

 

[redmalloc]

The 4 screws of the hub itself on the base that hold the connector and makes the wheel connect with the base so you can actually turn it. Within 4 days I had to tighten them. Although mine never came loose again unlike others.

What material are they screwing into?

For those who had chronic problems, has Thrustmaster replaced wheels?

 

[FCTaff]

I'm papa on ISR, your pm is disabled on there snotty.

 

[Spagetti69]

I'm papa on ISR, your pm is disabled on there snotty.

Hello Fellow Taffite.

 

[left888]

I'm papa on ISR, your pm is disabled on there snotty.

There goes the Neighborhood.

 

[VWMasteR]

Can anyone take a photo of this problem and post it (area affected)? Maybe Latte already has a photo that he can put up.

 

[Crispy]

They coming guys, they coming!

I've been learning how to heel and toe, but I can't get it down. I need help learning it before I get into iRacing. BTW, I'm using the Clubsport pedals. Would it help to move the brake pedal over closer to the gas?