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We here at Laptop-Review.eu bid another peripheral maker welcome. This time around we look at a spectacular joystick from Thrustmaster, quite interesting to me as it is a field I enjoy.
The name is T.16000M; 16000 refers to a 16000 dots resolution made possible via a unique technology known as Hall Effect Sensors. I will be discussing what that is all about, as well as try out the joystick to see if it is as good as it sounds.

Guillemot Corporation makes interactive hardware and peripherals for computers and consoles. They offer a wide range of products under the Hercules brand (audio and WiFi products) and the Thrustmaster brand for PC and console peripherals. They have been active in this market since 1984, have a presence in 10 countries (with the international headquarters in France) and sell their products around the world. The group sees it as their task to offer high-quality products that enhance the enjoyment of gamers and music enthusiasts.
The Thrustmaster branch has existed since 1992 and became well-known in the middle of the 90s for making expensive but high-quality game controllers. They have made several controllers that directly resemble the joysticks you find in real fighter planes. Things went downhill for Thrustmaster between 1999 and 2002 as they tried to make cheaper controllers in lower quality, but hardcore flight simulation enthusiasts still swear by their high-end joysticks as they are of very good quality. Thrustmaster now sell peripherals for a long range of consoles including Xbox, PS3 and Nintendo Wii.

The product was kindly lent to us by Thrustmaster

Technology

Hall Effect sensor technology

Hall Effect sensors consist of P-type semiconductors such as gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium antimonide (InSb) or indium arsenide (InAs) which conducts a constant current. A magnet is placed perpendicular to the direction of the current, with the south pole facing downwards. The magnetic field created by the magnet will induce a voltage that is perpendicular to both the direction of the current and the lines of the magnetic field. This voltage can be received and used. When the magnet is moved relative to the semiconductor, the magnet field will move and the current flow will bend differently, which again is received as Hall Voltage.

This can used to determine a lot of things, such as position sensor, angle sensor, velocity sensor and so on. It is widely used, for example in cars to count the number of rotations of a shaft, the position of the car seats, seatbelt and airbag control and the rotations of the wheels for ABS systems. It is also widely used in industrial and computer sensors – generally in places where direct contact between the movable object and the sensor is undesirable.


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Category
The category of this class of joysticks is middle- and high-end simulation enthusiasts, but it probably caters to everyone who likes to play flight games, arcade as well as simulators. It is far from the most expensive joystick on the market, but not the cheapest either.


Product specifications

Price
At the time of writing, it can be acquired on Amazon.co.uk for £45.91.  

Package contents


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The wrapping is relatively simple and consists of an almost quadratic box. Atop a layer of cardboard is a bag with a thin Quick Take-off guide and a slightly thicker User manual. Below the cardboard layer you find the joystick itself, wrapped in another bag and an extra thumb rest such that the joystick can be fitted for left-handed users like yours truly. The bags are easy enough to open. No driver CD is included, simply because it does not need one.

Construction and Design

The first impression
The base of the joystick is medium-large without being extreme, but after having owned the monster of a joystick that Microsoft’s first sidewinder ForceFeedback was, it seems quite small. It does not weigh much either.


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When you first grab hold of the stick, you will be surprised at how well it fits in your hand. The support at the bottom is large enough for you to rest your hand on it, and the thumb support is right where it should be. It does well in terms of design too, being almost symmetric and quite simple; black plastic with grey buttons and a green plate of plastic around the sphere. You find ’Thrustmasters’ imprinted in the plastic on both sides of the base, a reasonable way to get the name out there as opposed to stickers and such.

It is not exactly of much decorative value on your desk, but does not take up too much space either and weighs very little, so it is easy to get it out of the way.


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Build and materials

The joystick itself is made of hard plastic, and the thumb rest of a softer material that is incredibly comfortable to touch. Similarly there is a surface of the same material on the other side. These can be removed and exchanged so as to fit the joystick for left-handers.
The base seems very solid all in all; the buttons on it appear to be of decent quality and provide sufficient resistance when you press them, the three buttons atop the stick less so. The trigger at the front and the slider on the base seem quite robust as well. There are no obvious joints or loose parts. At the bottom of the base are 8 rubber duds that ensure the joystick does not glide around, as well as prevent scratches. The overall impression is that of a solid product that will not just break from one day to the next.  
The product in general

There is no driver for T.16000m, which should make it easy to set up and play without major difficulties. In my opinion Windows’ built-in drivers generally do a good job, but we will see if that generates any problems later on.

H.E.A.R.T  - Hall Effect AccuRate Technology
Hall effect sensors in the base provide supposedly 256 times greater precision. This is because the conventional joystick usually has a 1000 x 1000 dots resolution. That translates into 1.000.000 positions the stick can be in. T.16000m on the other hand has a 16000 x 16000 dots resolution thanks to the Hall Effect sensors. This gives 256.000.000 dots which is, mildly speaking, pretty wild. That should make this joystick much more precise than other joysticks.

No friction resistance.
Moving the stick itself is frictionless as there is no sensor that requires friction to interpret the position of the stick. A spring screw provides even resistance over the stick’s entire movement spectrum.

Right- and left-handed support
The option of moving the thumb rest over to the other side of the stick allows both left- and right-handers to use the stick. This also switches around the functions of the buttons on the right and left side of the base.


Twist
The stick can be twisted such that it can be used as rudder in flight simulators if you do not have rudder pedals. While not unusual for joysticks in general, it is a new move from Thrustmaster as some of their most expensive joysticks do not have this function.

Plug and play
Connect the joystick to a standard USB 2.0 port and you are ready to go. Windows recognised the joystick immediately and there was no need to recalibrate.
A small plastic lid is included to cover the USB connectors when not in use so as to shut out dirt and dust, which is handy if you need to store it in one place for a while.

Another nice little feature is the greenish light emerging from the base when the stick is moved.

Buttons - Wheel - Precision

T.16000m has 12 buttons on the base, placed in two rows of three on either side of the base. The rearmost row is raised relative to the other so you can feel where the separation is without looking. As mentioned earlier, they are incredible to the touch and feel quite robust.
Furthermore there are three buttons atop the stick, and 8-direction hat-switch and a trigger in the front. The three buttons at the top feel slightly looser, but not by much.


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Precision

The extra precision is not particularly noticeable right away, and the even spring resistance makes it easy to move the stick by exactly as much as you need. The difference in precision is there though – if you want to make very small movements all you practically have to do is think of it, and you will see the effect in the game. So, along with the lack of friction, it is possible to make very small and precise movements.


Conclusion

Overall, a superb joystick. The Hall Effect sensors work really well and provide excellent precision. The most important buttons along with twist and slider are there as they should be. It is robust and very easy to set up and use.
I personally find the spring action a little too powerful. When you want to move the stick back into the centre, it can be a little fast when the spring “helps”, and after a while I started to notice that I am simply used to a slightly weaker spring action. That is a personal preference, however, and I can imagine it is as much a question of getting used to and that the spring weakens over time.
The stick is comfortable to hold and provides a solid grip. The buttons work well too, although the button in the middle on the stick is located a bit too far under your thumb, so you will have to use the joint of your thumb to press it. The buttons on the base are quite close to each other, so working them without looking will take some practice as you do not really get a feel for where your finger is.
Another feature which sadly has a downside is the hand rest at the bottom of the stick, because it hits the base so you cannot move the joystick into the farthest right, closest right and closest left corners. It can almost go there though, so it is only a minor point. The length of the groove that the slider can move in should perhaps have been a little longer.
All in all though, the joystick is very good and I can easily recommend it if you are even just a little into flight simulators.   

  

Pros
Great precision
Comfortable grip
Plenty of buttons
Wide spectrum

Cons
Slider groove too short.

Construction:	5 / 5
Innovation:	5 / 5
Price:	5 / 5
Design:	4 / 5
Weight:	4 / 5
Performance:	: 5 / 5
Overall:	4.5 / 5