Review by S. Gera for Logitech Freedom 2.4 GHz Cordless Joystick
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I purchased the ?Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback 2? joystick, and it is not as great as it seems. I was very interested in purchasing the ?Logitech Freedom 2.4 Cordless Joystick? because of the way it looked, and the fact that it is cordless!There were no reviews on Amazon.com, so I was a bit uncertain about this joystick, and went with Microsoft?s joystick. I came across a review on the ?Logitech Freedom 2.4 Cordless Joystick? in Maximum PC magazine. The only drawback for this joystick was the fact that it relied on AA batteries (because it is cordless), which do not provide enough juice for the force feedback effects. So if you?re not into that much force feedback, then this is the joystick for you. I thought that I?d post a review for this joystick for people to decide whether or not to get this joystick over some of the other ones. Here is the review from the magazine:?Logitech Freedom 2.4 Cordless Joystick: Sturdy, agile, cordless ? it?s simply the best. Odds are that every Maximum PC reader has the same problem: thanks to all the gamepads, mice, keyboards, digital cameras, speakers, MP3 players, and networking equipment you?ve got hooked up, there?s a rat?s nest of wires behind your PC. Wireless peripherals are the obvious solution, but no hardcore gamer would trust his online reputation to a flaky wireless joystick, would he?But what if the stick wasn?t flaky? We?ve been using the Logitech Freedom 2.4 Cordless Joystick for about a month now, and from a reliability standpoint, it?s virtually indistinguishable from a weird joystick. Its 2.4GHz wireless connection to your PC is every bit as responsive and sensitive as the cable that gets wrapped around your chair and trips you when you stand up.Because it?s wireless, the Freedom 2.4 relies on three AA batteries for power ? and they don?t provide enough juice for force feedback effects, so you can cross that feature off your list (a non-issue for the many people who just don?t care for force feedback). The good news is that the batteries provide a sturdy ballast for the base and prevent it from sliding around on most desks.We were especially impressed with the three-axis stick itself. It sports six buttons, including the trigger and an eight-way hat switch. All the buttons are easily accessible, even for a gamer with unusual hands (large, small, it doesn?t matter). Along with an analog throttle, there are four more buttons on the stick?s base.This is the perfect stick for the casual joystick gamer. Anyone who likes to hop into a Spitfire in ?Battlefield 1942?, play an occasional round of ?Crimson Skies?, or enjoy space-based slaughter in ?Independence War? will find this stick to be perfectly suitable. That said, Flight-Sim fanatics will be better served by picking up a more ?realistic? controller with more buttons and hat switches.?Pros: A great wireless joystick with more than enough options for any arcade-style flyer.Cons: Wireless design precludes force feedback. Not optimal for hardcore flight sims.

Review by Earl P. Thayton for Logitech Freedom 2.4 GHz Cordless Joystick
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I was really pleasantly surprised by the Logitech Freedom cordless joystick. The first thing I noticed–it fits your hand really well. The second thing was that it is very, very smooth. This is hard to describe, but on some sticks you have a hard time making a clean circle… it always feels like you are fighting the stick a little… or more accurately, like the resistance isn’t perfectly even at all positions. Not so with the Freedom. It has a great feel, very even, and just the right amount of resistance. It takes some getting used to if you are coming from a force feedback joystick, though. It has a load of buttons, and for the most part they are placed very well. My only quibble is with the throttle. Mine isn’t loose or anything, but I don’t like the position very much. I think I would have preferred having it on the side, more like a Sidewinder, but to be fair it certainly works where it is. I would have really liked two hats too, but that’s more of a sim junkie feature so I am not surprised there is only one. (The one hat it is equipped with does have a great feel, it is easy to hit the diagonals.)As to the cordless feature, well, it works perfectly. I haven’t gotten interference from my Logitech MX700 mouse or my cordless phone (though it is 5.8GHz so not in the same band). To start using the stick, you just click a button. A green LED will light up on the stick for a few seconds to show it has syned up with the base. It will go to sleep after a few minutes of disuse.If you are looking for a precise and comfortable non-force-feedback joystick, or if you just want to cut the cord, I recommend the Freedom very highly. (Now, when will Logitech make a complete flight controller suite, with an external throttle, collective and all that good stuff?!)