Thomas Super Wheels

I own a TSW and am very happy with it. It's built VERY strong. Matter of fact, the couple of times it's fallen off of my desk, I've been more worried about the TSW damaging things on the floor than the TSW getting damaged. :) I've never driven a Thrustmaster product, so I can't tell you how much better and/or different the TSW is. I like mine a lot, though. Is it worth the money? Well, relative to other wheel/pedel combo's, I think it is. Is it worth that kind of money to play games? That's your decision. Two side notes: 1) The TSW is a very simple design. This is part of what makes it so strong. If you get one, don't be surprised if you think "I paid that kind of money for this!" for a while. Just keep driving. You'll learn to appreciate it. 2) If your coming from a keyboard or joystick, don't expect instant lap time improvements. A fair amount of people (myself included) take a while to get used to the significantly greater control you get with a wheel. It took me 5-6 months of casual playing to get down to the times I was turning in after two years of joystick playing! Have Fun! -Bill

Quoted text (12 lines)

> I am starting to look at a wheel/pedal combo to play my favorite sims. > I've found the site for the 'Thomas Super Wheels" and I am intrigued and > want some feedback on different wheel/pedal combos OTHER than the > Thrustmaster line. Is Thomas as good as their website says? Any other > suggestions? > Thanks for the help! > Brian Nadwidny > Townsville > QLD > Australia

The TSW is great. Infact i tried to run with my t2 i cant even make a lap with it:) _Brian

I am starting to look at a wheel/pedal combo to play my favorite sims. I've found the site for the 'Thomas Super Wheels" and I am intrigued and want some feedback on different wheel/pedal combos OTHER than the Thrustmaster line. Is Thomas as good as their website says? Any other suggestions? Thanks for the help! Brian Nadwidny Townsville QLD Australia

On Tue, 09 Sep 1997 01:16:32 +1000, Brian Nadwidny > Is Thomas as good as their website says? In one word -- BETTER. I was one of those original testers he mentions in the history page of the website and have had various versions of the TSW for about 4 years now and they are OUTSTANDING -- as good as anything on the market for any price. The quality is rock solid and the guarantee iron-clad. Just ask anyone who owns one... | )/-\(_)|__ IGN4 Netcar Div Champion | ================================= IGN -- Josta Pontiac Firebird #77 F1SA -- Miskatonic/Cthulhu #77 TPTCC -- Black Cat Mercedes #77 =================================

This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --------------40322B3E26B0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Quoted text (16 lines)

> On Tue, 09 Sep 1997 01:16:32 +1000, Brian Nadwidny > > Is Thomas as good as their website says? > In one word -- BETTER. I was one of those original testers he > mentions in the history page of the website and have had various > versions of the TSW for about 4 years now and they are OUTSTANDING -- > as good as anything on the market for any price. The quality is rock > solid and the guarantee iron-clad. Just ask anyone who owns one... > | )/-\(_)|__ IGN4 Netcar Div Champion > | ================================= > IGN -- Josta Pontiac Firebird #77 > F1SA -- Miskatonic/Cthulhu #77 > TPTCC -- Black Cat Mercedes #77 > =================================

I wouldn't buy one right now. Why? Because there are new wheels coming out shortly that for the price will blow it away. There is one coming out from Act-Labs that especially has my eye. It is a force feedback wheel that has F1 style controls and fully programable wheel buttons. I believe it should be out shortly. You can check it out at --------------40322B3E26B0 Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Base: "[link lost in import] <BASE HREF="[link lost in import]> <META NAME="Author" CONTENT="ACT LABS *** Controllers"> <HTML><HEAD><META name="description" content="Arsenal of joysticks, feel the power of Hyper Programmability and the future of *** controllers"> <META name="keywords" content="games, computer games, ***, input device, gamepad, joystick, Sony, PlayStation, Sega, Nintendo, Nintendo 64, netlink, Saturn, Genesis, 3DO, game gear, *** equipment, PsychoPad, PowerRamp, Gunz, EagleMAX, *** peripherals, PC peripherals, peripherals, ***, PC games, computer *** equipment, buying a joystick, gamepad, best flight stick, finding a game controller, *** input devices"> <HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>ACT LABS - Reactor Game Site</TITLE> </HEAD> <frameset cols="130,*" frameborder=NO BORDER=0 framespacing=0> <FRAME NAME="nav" SRC="nav.htm" FRAMEBORDER=NO BORDER=0 framespacing=0 align=center scrolling="NO"> <FRAME NAME="main" SRC="reactormain.htm" SCROLLING="AUTO"> </FRAMESET> <NOFRAMES> <HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>ACT LABS - Reactor Game Site</TITLE> <META Name="description" Content="ACT Lab's Reactor Game Site. Hot reviews, cool contests, fast ftp downloads, on-line chat, links, and BETA TESTERS NEEDED!"> <META Name="keywords" Content="contest, free, gamepad, joystick, Sony, PlayStation, Sega, Nintendo, game gear, *** equipment, PsychoPad, PowerRamp, Gunz, EagleMAX, *** peripherals, PC peripherals, peripherals, ***, PC games, computer *** equipment"> </HEAD> <BODY BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#FFFFFF" LINK="#FF8000" VLINK="#FFFF00" ALINK="#FF0000" background="reactormain2.JPG"> <center><FONT COLOR="#FFFF00">You are entering ACT Lab's WWW Game Site</FONT></center><BR> <center>Welcome to ACT Laboratory's Reactor Game Site.</center><BR> <a Href="arsenal2.htm" ><IMG SRC="buttjoy.GIF" WIDTH=103 HEIGHT=21 BORDER=0></a> <BR> <a Href="cfgfiles/cfgfiles2.htm"><IMG SRC="buttfiles.GIF" WIDTH=103 HEIGHT=21 BORDER=0></a> <BR> <a Href="links2.htm" ><IMG SRC="buttLinks.GIF" WIDTH=103 HEIGHT=21 BORDER=0></a> <BR> <a Href="reviews/feature2.htm"><IMG SRC="buttRev.GIF" WIDTH=103 HEIGHT=21 BORDER=0></a> <BR> <a Href="[link lost in import: /:8010/]"><IMG SRC="buttchat.GIF" WIDTH=103 HEIGHT=21 BORDER=0></a> <BR> <a Href="Contests2.htm" ><IMG SRC="contest.gif" WIDTH=103 HEIGHT=21 BORDER=0></a> <BR> <a Href="lab2.htm" ><IMG SRC="lab.GIF" WIDTH=103 HEIGHT=21 BORDER=0></a> <BR> <a Href="maillist2.htm" ><IMG SRC="MailList.GIF" WIDTH=103 HEIGHT=21 BORDER=0></a> <BR> <a Href="retail2.htm"><IMG SRC="buttretail.GIF" WIDTH=103 HEIGHT=21 BORDER=0></a> <BR> <a Href="wholesale2.htm"><IMG SRC="buttwhol.GIF" WIDTH=103 HEIGHT=21 BORDER=0></a> <B><FONT SIZE=4 COLOR="#FFFFFF"><CENTER>Resistance is... FUTILE !!! </CENTER></FONT></B> </BODY> </HTML> </NOFRAMES> </BODY> </HTML> --------------40322B3E26B0--

The price is slightly less than a TSW, but looking at it, I see a lot of stamped metal and plastic which is much lower quality than the TSW. Please go to the TSW site and look closely at the construction of the Thomas wheel and compare the two. The only plastic on the TSW is the molded covers for the wheel and pedal units. If something goes amiss on this other wheel, how easy would it be to get to the defective component to repair or replace it? And speaking of that, what's the warranty on this other wheel? And why didn't they show any pictures of the pedals? To me, it looks like a slightly fancier T2-clone... Just my dos centavos. | )/-\(_)|__ IGN4 Netcar Div Champion ========== | ==================================================== IGN5 -- Josta Pontiac Firebird | F1SA -- Miskatonic Cthulhu LFRS -- Blind Faith Phantom XVI | TPTCC -- Black Cat Renault ================================================================= "It's already been written that today will be one to remember..."

Sean, have you _tried_ force-feedback? So far it seems to be merely "okay" for the flight-sim weenies, and worse than useless for auto-sims. While driving the wheel twithes insipidly, with no feeling of fighting it or communicating. The major feedback is when you whack a wall (like you need a wheel moving to tell you that), and little or nothing when you really need it, for your wheels to tell you how they are gripping and sliding. Right now FF technology is where 3D cards were a couple of years ago. At some point there will be a "3dFX" of FF-wheels coming along, but for now all we have are the sad acts like Diamond Edge 3D and Matrox Milleniums. I've yet to see the TSW "blown away" by anything, and only ever eclipsed by units far more expensive - even that comes down to personal preference. My own TSW has the steering wheel cover almost worn through as I've used it so much, but never so much as a squeak of a problem from any other part of it. Happy? I'm ecstatic. :) Cheers! John

Quoted text (25 lines)

> >Why? Because there are new wheels coming out shortly that for the price > >will blow it away. > >There is one coming out from Act-Labs that especially has my eye. It is > >a force feedback wheel that has F1 style controls and fully programable > >wheel buttons. I believe it should be out shortly. > Sean, have you _tried_ force-feedback? So far it seems to be merely > "okay" for the flight-sim weenies, and worse than useless for > auto-sims. While driving the wheel twithes insipidly, with no feeling > of fighting it or communicating. The major feedback is when you whack > a wall (like you need a wheel moving to tell you that), and little or > nothing when you really need it, for your wheels to tell you how they > are gripping and sliding. Right now FF technology is where 3D cards > were a couple of years ago. At some point there will be a "3dFX" of > FF-wheels coming along, but for now all we have are the sad acts like > Diamond Edge 3D and Matrox Milleniums. > I've yet to see the TSW "blown away" by anything, and only ever > eclipsed by units far more expensive - even that comes down to > personal preference. My own TSW has the steering wheel cover almost > worn through as I've used it so much, but never so much as a squeak of > a problem from any other part of it. Happy? I'm ecstatic. :) > Cheers! > John

I'm not saying the TSW is not a fine product. I'm sure it is. However I think for the money this Act-Labs wheel will be an excellent value. Especially if you have a Playstation, N64, or Saturn since you will be able to use it on all those platforms as well. later Sean