My cockpit project - Jamie

[Jamie Wilson]

Thanks Atti, but although I could be persuaded over the suede/leather issue, one definite requirement is that it has to be round.

[Attila Domján]

290 mm round Momo? (ok, this i did not found on the Frex site lol)

[Jamie Wilson]

I've found a 300mm leather OMP, and a 285mm Sparco as well, but in suede...

Man, this is going to be one hard decision process...

[Attila Domján]

If you are really preferring the leather, the 290mm leather Pocono wheel in my first post is really a great choice, it has a nice grip, and also the leather has dots/wholes to breathe. I liked that wheel too, just was a bit big for my taste.

[Attila Domján]

Ok, as i promised, here is the current condition of the wheel. Shiny parts clearly coming where i regularly touch it, but the touch of it is still soft there, not harsh at all, only smooth.

[Jamie Wilson]

Thanks for sorting the pic out Atti.

I know it's only cosmetic, but I'd be wearing 4 layers of gloves to avoid a suede wheel ending up like that after only 6 months. That said, having looked around a bit more now, I'm actually starting to think that maybe the 270mm Sparco LN - the most obvious choice for the Frex wheels since the DFP days - will be okay for me after all.

I've got a little while to make my mind up anyway. I'm still in "ooooh" mode today, looking at almost every steering wheel on the market has overloaded me a bit lol :p

[Attila Domján]

what u mean? it is in perfect condition lol

[Jamie Wilson]

Well the whole plan is down the shitter now, Frex will not put out Vista drivers for months it turns out, and no immediate plans to provide 64-bit drivers even when they do.

So, I buy a high-end PC with 4GB of RAM (so I must run 64bit), and then when I want to spend the money to buy a high-end wheel with it, I have to downgrade!

Vista32 and Vista64 support should be ****ing automatic by now, surely! What if it was a new printer or a graphics card or something; Vista32 support is unconditional, with Vista64 not seen as the awkward bastard that 0.003% of people run.

Pissed off now. Been doing research all day, when I close my eyes I see steering wheels. I could've put my order in on monday, but now the whole cockpit plans are off for at least a couple of months, great.

Jamie smash!

[Simon Trendell]

Harsh luck Jamie, Vista64 should defiantly not be seen as a minority. The whole 64bit driver situation is very much MS' making, Vista should have been a pure 64bit OS, like OSX. Instead we've got OEM's putting out 32bit PC's, while the pretty much everyone I know who's built a PC recently has gone with 64bit.

And to make it worse, it seems that even the next Windows will have a 32bit version.
To date the biggest problem I've had with 64bit is finding a wireless card with 64bit support, I gave up eventually and just run a cable.

Also, You seem to turn right alot Atti :p

[Jamie Wilson]

The only device I don't have 64-bit drivers for is the USB functionality of the synth pictured above, and it's known to be coming soon - and in that case I can use 99.99% of it's functionality through other means. Everything else I have 100% rock solid drivers for.

It just doesn't make sense that a company would release a product with the support only for an OS heading into retirement which isn't even being sold on PCs any more (as of this or maybe next month, I believe)

I'll probably end up caving in and downgrading but I spent lots of money on this system only 3 months ago, and by putting XP32 on it I feel like I'm being punished for having a high-end system. I may as well have burnt the money.

That's really, really shat on my day.

[Attila Domján]

Jamie, go for ECCI. The non-force -feedback there is actually an advantage for it, and the guys suuporting ECCI sales and customer service is incredible helpful, answering all stupid questions day and night, and not just until you paid the bucks.

Last time i order a 20 USD part to modify the wheel force, the support level was the same when i originally ordered my set for 1600 USD.

[Jamie Wilson]

I admire ECCI as a company, I've heard only really great things about them, but my two absolute must-haves in a wheel are multiturn (which they do) and FFB (which they don't). Similarly in the pedal department, load-cell pressure sensitivity is a must, so I'll be going the CST route rather than the ECCI route there too.

Obviously when you're spending this sort of cash, you need to get something which is absolutely right for you, and in my case that means that FFB is an absolute must. I could be persuaded over a suede wheel but converting me to non-FFB is going to require an act of God :p

I'll be getting the Frex wheel even if I had to run it on an Atari ST, but it's just such a disappointment that I have run an old OS that doesn't fully support all of my hardware in order to do so.

[Attila Domján]

About the need of FFB i understand your point, however i do not agree with it, but we are different.

About the pedals load-cell pressure question i can not even understand your point, and of course i do not agree with it lol
in my eyes ECCI-s solution is ahead in feel and precision of any other wheels, but ye, a point which can be hardly decided i think.
at this level where these pedals are all of them is good i think, still i would never exchange mine to any other type

[Jamie Wilson]

I think we're trying to achieve slightly different goals Atti; you're definitely so tuned in to your setup that it's allowing you to fully exploit your talent to go very fast and be in the top handful of drivers, but I'm more inclined to take the purist route and go for all-out simulation accuracy, which for me means a loadcell brake and - bit controversial here - a force feedback wheel.

That's not to say that your setup is deliberately unrealistic, but just like I can't limit myself to 260 degrees of lock, I can't go for a travel-based braking system now that I've read so much about the advantages and accuracy of a loadcell system.

Ultimately it's whatever works best for you.

[Attila Domján]

Ofi coursei, when you plan to spend that much amount of money on something, you must choose which is feeling good for you. Feelings usually do not let down people.

[Jacek Kozlowski]

Jamie i hope You will make right decisions (for you of course) on choosing your high-end wheel and PC.Soon(in about 3months) i will have to decided wich way to go too.Just yesterday i upgraded my pc -9300 procesor,asus p5kc motherboard,4gigs ddr2-800,8800gts and vista64.what ive notice that FF(g25) have change a lot with vista64(502log. 64bit.drivers)-its weaker than it was with 32bit vista.next thing that i want to buy is high-end wheel with pedals set.I also thinking about FFwheel,waiting for new frex but as you said we dont know yet if there will be suport for vista64.I read about this JL-g25 but you would have to wait for it at least 6months.Still have some time to decide,but im confused with the choice,dont want to spend 1300euros on wheel that doesent work good (like some vpp wheels-lack of good drivers).Do You consider some other brands(wheel),if yes then what?
Jacek Kozlowski

[Attila Domján]

Well, there is also a BRD wheel is waiting for release for a long time now, not sure if it will ever come. Other then that i am not aware of any high-spec wheel... TSW is still there, but i am not sure if it is in the same League with the others.

[Jamie Wilson]

Oops. While trying to catch a spider on my desk I accidentally fell over my keyboard and mouse and accidentally ordered a Frex simwheel to the tune of £1100 in value, by accident. Accidentally.

...

[Christopher Aponte]

loooooooooooooll Jamie

[Cam Wedgwood]

LOL@ Jaimie!! Congratulations on your accident...

[Attila Domján]

loooool, must have been a damn big spider you wanted to catch there....

[James Yates]

that's a lot of money Jamie - i hope it all works fine

[Warren Dawes]

We'll be expecting at least Group 2 performance and results now Jamie, or you'll have to sue that spider.

[Jamie Wilson]

Bah, I dropped my keyboard, hitting the ground in such a way that it typed a PM to Todd Cannon asking about pricing for his new pedals...


OT - Warren: I had enough time in me for G2 at Brands, but I just couldn't string the lap together last night (which was my only chance all week to do any laps whatsoever)

[Attila Domján]

loooooooooool