|
Like somebody already mentioned, the Competition Pro USB updates the host computer about the state of the stick some 12 times per seconds - any other USB gamepad or joystick (adapter) updates about 100 times a second. Depending on what game you play, you will notice that lag a lot: stick movements will simply get swallowed, occasionally. Speedlink did never fix that problem.
And while it looks like a real Competition, the plastic is a lot more fragile. My original competitions are at least 25 years old by now and the softener has completely evaporated from the plastic - but if one of my antiques and one of Speedlink's clones would fall off my desk, I'd still bet money on the oldtimer looking better afterwards.
In the very first edition of the USB stick, the mounts for the switches below the fire buttons were too big (so the switches would fall down after a while) and the snap ring holding the actual stick together was to weak (meaning the stick would get loose after only a few hours of playing). I've never seen one of those up close, but I've seen the inside of a 2nd generation stick: They 'fixed' the problem of the mount being too big by squeezing a small plastic piece between the mount and the switch...
The USB version is crap. Schoenfelds version with the 9 pin plug is slightly better (since it doesn't suffer from the USB version's lag), but still no match for a real competition IMHO.
If you can, try to get your hands on a 2nd hand Competition from back then, and replace all micro switches with new ones (preferably branded ones, I recommend Cherry). Or build your own stick, using quality Arcade parts.
|