The
R440 Force Wheel is absolutely incredible! It starts with easy installation and ends with the perfect gaming experience. The user is given the option of installing the basic drivers for the wheel, or installing the programming software too (which you can install later if you want to). Usually, the basic drivers will be enough, as most game titles offer in-game configuration for wheels/pads. However, without any setup required, the
R440 Force Wheel was ready-to-go out of the box.
For those that do what to program their wheel outside of the games, Saitek's Smart Technology software lets you do just that. The software is fairly easy to understand, and allows you to program multiple button/keypad/mouse combinations into a single button press. Unfortunately, on my system, the software tends to really bog down the computer at times and after testing, I opted to just not use it. This isn't a huge issue with the R440 Force Wheel, however, because the basic actions will always be included in the game software. It is because of the software that I did have to knock off a point from the score though.
Saitek's R440 Force Wheel truly does put you into the action in a huge way. With games that support it, the Force Feedback technology lets you feel every bump, turn and crash. The wheel also has great response to user action, so everything you do will be on the screen in front of you with precision control. The four buttons on the wheel are located in the perfect place, allowing you to use quick thumb movements to change views, toggle your mirror, or whatever else you want to do.