So far it totally kicks the crap out of my old sidewinder pro 3d.
One of the great features of it is that you can emulate a mouse in the programing software for just about any buttons.
So using that i've set the 8way hatswitch to function as a mouse and set a base button to be the mouselook on button and it actually functions like a freelook hatswitcht that most flightsims have.
If your looking for a new stick definately check this one out.