The Thrustmaster T500RS Thread

  • Thread starter Thread starter TomN
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$648.42

That is going to be the walkout price for my T500RS at Fry's.

Theya re only getting 2 at each Fry's in Houston - and they are only possibly being delivered to the stores on the 19th of January.

This wheel is a very expensive toy,and anyone who says "oh, $648.42 is cheap blah blah blah" is either spending their parents money or is in no way shape or form going to be actually dropping the cash on one.

Think about it carefully, that is $648.42 before the shifter, which if priced like a high end Thrustmaster Joystick will be another $150.00.

The fact that a multi-million dollar a month turn-over big box retailer is only prepaired to stock 2 (with no indication of when a restock would happen) should be all the clues one needs of the kind of sales this wheel is going to see.

This wheel is not for the people to buy, it is like that Audi R8 with all the fingerprints on the windows down at the local Audi dealer - the "folks" come down to the dealership for dad to gawk at the R8 and the family to drive home in a used A4.

The T500RS is going to get the oohs and the aaahs and the "Great Wheel" reviews from the spoiled folks at the likes of ISR that might use earned business income to pay for their toys, but the real Thrustmaster that almost everyone will walkaway with is the Ferrari F430 wheel.

Let the number $648.42 reverberate through your mind again.

It is no more a simulator than a Frex or ECCI is a simulator - these are just the steering wheels - you still need to fill in the missing environmental cues with your eyes, ears and mind.

$648.42
 
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I think Thrustmaster realizes these wheels are not going to jump off the store shelves it really doesn't surprise me that Fry's only stocked 2. I believe the only people willing to pay to play are real hardcore players and people that have everlasting money.
 
Looks like a great wheel but like many I'm not willing to spend that much. I could afford it but it's not how I'd like to invest my money. If it was around $400-425 I'd probably already have one ordered.
 
Yeah, I am going to return this wheel as soon as I have done a GT2 G25 T500RS back to back to back test.

For goodness sakes, $650 buys me 2 REAL LIFE track tyres for my trackcar. hehe
 
What's funny though is the amount of people that had no problem (myself included) shelling out $500+ shipping for a GT2 CS package. To me, it's not really a huge difference...a $100. Once it's available on Amazon in the US I'm sure it will qualify for free shipping through amazon, and I live in a state with no sales tax...the price is the price.

The wheel certainly seems superior to the GT2, it's just that I'm having a hard time giving up the CSP's for the pedal set that comes with T500RS. In both cases you're giving up something to get something. The thing that's most appealing to me is who's going to give me better service....Fanatec, or Thrustmaster?

Edit: Actually....after shipping for the Fanatec package...it's actually less than $100 difference now that I think about it.
 
Shecki
What's funny though is the amount of people that had no problem (myself included) shelling out $500+ shipping for a GT2 CS package. To me, it's not really a huge difference...a $100. Once it's available on Amazon in the US I'm sure it will qualify for free shipping through amazon, and I live in a state with no sales tax...the price is the price.

The wheel certainly seems superior to the GT2, it's just that I'm having a hard time giving up the CSP's for the pedal set that comes with T500RS. In both cases you're giving up something to get something. The thing that's most appealing to me is who's going to give me better service....Fanatec, or Thrustmaster?
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You are not going to need to deal with Thrustmaster for the service, because you can just return the wheel to your retailer if unsatisfied.

Its not like any companies "service" actually makes the problem go away. These things need to either work out the box or get returned. :)
 
Like any serious hobby things can get expensive If someone can justify spending 600 dollars on a T500RS I say go for it. I can respect someone taking their hobby and joy's to that level. For example really good headphones can get expensive, but to most they never notice the difference when in actuality there is.

RC45 can't wait to hear you feedback on this wheel. I like your idea of testing it out and returning it, I might have to do the same.
 
RC45
You are not going to need to deal with Thrustmaster for the service, because you can just return the wheel to your retailer if unsatisfied.

Its not like any companies "service" actually makes the problem go away. These things need to either work out the box or get returned. :)
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I'm talking about "down the road". A company like Amazon is only going to take it back for something like 30 days. And if I need parts or any kind of servicing....who's going to be easier to get said parts or service from? Fanatec or Thrustmaster?
 
Zoom!Zoom!
Well I spend more time sim racing than watching cableTV and it costing me $720 a year.
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Except such a wheel purchase should last many years. I purchase my G25 4 years ago - and it has given me thousands and thousands of miles of service in PC and PS2/3 games.

This allowed the $300 fo rthe G25 to be amortised over 4 years - if a T500RS or GT2 can last as long then the $600 for either setup is more palletable.

Just because it is your hobby doesnt mean the tools have to be a wasteful purchase - they actually better last along long time.

Shecki
I'm talking about "down the road". A company like Amazon is only going to take it back for something like 30 days. And if I need parts or any kind of servicing....who's going to be easier to get said parts or service from? Fanatec or Thrustmaster?
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Probably TM. My experience with all these tools hase been if they are going to fail then they will fail early - any failure down the road just buy a used unit and swap parts - its not like the manufacture is going to do anything different, except charge you a price that covers all their costs and then some.
 
RC45
It is no more a simulator than a Frex or ECCI is a simulator - these are just the steering wheels - you still need to fill in the missing environmental cues with your eyes, ears and mind.
$648.42
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You think that's bad, CA tax is at over 9% and I bet they slap some kind of recycling fee on it...

What I bolded is most important to me... even for a great wheel, I would be hard pressed to pay this much (I sweated my G27 and I got it for $150 brand new) but if this was some kind of motion simulator... something that would even just tilt my chair a few degrees each way... THAT would get my interest up a lot...
 
RC45
Yeah, I am going to return this wheel as soon as I have done a GT2 G25 T500RS back to back to back test.

For goodness sakes, $650 buys me 2 REAL LIFE track tyres for my trackcar. hehe
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Ha ha looks like you are playing with fire, hope that don't spoil you too much or you will have a hard time trying to convince yourself for not returning it. :)
 
Price complaints need to stop.

The market in sim wheels is vast. This wheel is in the upper middle price range. It's not for everyone. Isn't meant to be. There are several cheaper options which work just fine. And several more expensive options.
 
crox
Price complaints need to stop.

The market in sim wheels is vast. This wheel is in the upper middle price range. It's not for everyone. Isn't meant to be. There are several cheaper options which work just fine. And several more expensive options.
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It's a discussion about the pricing which is perfectly reasonable.
 
crox
Price complaints need to stop.

The market in sim wheels is vast. This wheel is in the upper middle price range. It's not for everyone. Isn't meant to be. There are several cheaper options which work just fine. And several more expensive options.
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Agreed. And not to put anyone down but if you are not a student and have a steady job it shouldn't take you that long to save enough to buy this; IF it is something that you want you can not go out for lunch for a month or make some other simple sacrifice and it shouldn't break the bank.

I'm not judging anyone, it's just like crox said, there are plenty of cheaper alternatives on the market so if the price is such an issue you have many other choices.
 
Booey
Agreed. And not to put anyone down but if you are not a student and have a steady job it shouldn't take you that long to save enough to buy this; IF it is something that you want you can not go out for lunch for a month or make some other simple sacrifice and it shouldn't break the bank.

I'm not judging anyone, it's just like crox said, there are plenty of cheaper alternatives on the market so if the price is such an issue you have many other choices.
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To be fair, in order to pull that off your lunches would have to cost over $20 a day 30 days a month...

But yes, it's not completely out of reach even for the average Joe, however neither are a lot of things that are over priced or luxury priced.

Saying price complaints need to stop is like saying GT5 offline complaints need to stop... there is simply no reason other than your own preference to do without them.
 
Devedander
but if this was some kind of motion simulator... something that would even just tilt my chair a few degrees each way... THAT would get my interest up a lot...
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The closest you can get with GT5 is a Buttkicker + KOR-FX, for real motion simulation your best bet is PC sims + X-Sim.

Personally I think that a race cockpit + T500RS + future brake mod + Buttkicker + KOR-FX would be a kick arse setup if you can afford it.
 
It makes you wonder why, surely having something like this would be an asset to PD and the PS3. I remember years ago seeing a motion cockpit in a PD video that they obviously had made for themselves, it makes me wonder if PD are already working on something like this with a partner and that is the reason they wouldn't support Dbox.

EDIT: I just looked up the price, it's obvious why PD don't support Dbox. :(
 
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Don't complain! Get to grinding your job so you can afford this!

Shifter is coming in future updates. Wow this is really the perfect GT5 wheel. :p

I am actually happy with my old DFPro I picked up for $40 that has more of a shifter then this does.
 
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Insidesimracing said they don't even know where the shifter will be plugged since there is no port for it....
Anyway I'll never get this thing, it's too expensive. Got a DFGT and I'm happy with it.
 
crox
Price complaints need to stop.

The market in sim wheels is vast. This wheel is in the upper middle price range. It's not for everyone. Isn't meant to be. There are several cheaper options which work just fine. And several more expensive options.
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+1. I'm amazed to see "$600 is too much" as if there's an objective value to any of this stuff. The wheel will sell just fine to the intended market. Everyone else is rationalizing. :sly:
 

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