Thrustmaster MFD Cougar Pack (Compatible with PC)

These MFD's (comes with two) Add quite a bit of Immersion to my games and simulators! But, the best part is that it does it in a very subtle way! Better still:, Is that it free's up a few buttons on my Warthog H.O.T.A.S. as well(my flight stick and throttle), Which allows me to map more important things onto my HOTAS. Which allows me to say: Enter a dogfight in my F/A-18C in DCS-World by hitting a single button to drop my fuel tank(s) without having to "look down" at ym keyboard and put my fingers on the specific keyboard controls and then push them! The 2.5 seconds or so it takes to press those keyboard commands is ALL another player needs to lock his radar and fire a missile my way, thus putting myself at a SEVERE DISADVANTAGE by forcing me to fly evasively and defensively when everyone knows in a combat mission, you need to be able to keep your eyes out of the cockpit and looking around the sky for threats just as much as you search with your radar!And I use my Cougar-MFD's when flying ANY Aircraft that has Multi-Function (Color) Displays and it's especially helpful for navigating quickly to the proper display page in Simulators like the D.C.S. A-10C "Warthog" or their KA-50 "Black-Shark" helicopter which has it's own version of an MFD with it's "ABRIS SYSTEM" Which consists of it's Target Data Display and Navigational screens and/or Map Display System. I even find myself using these MFD's in other games as well!, like when Flying an F-16 in "Falcon BMS 4.33" Or Even when using the MFD buttons for the Remote-weapon controls for the armored vehicles in "Arma-3" with it's new "TANKS" DLC. I've even found it helpful for hotkeys in other games that recognize it. i use the bottom Row of one MFD to select ammo-types in Warthunder for it's "Tanks" gameplay. As well as others like Euro-Truck Simulator and American-Truck Simulator, as easily accessible buttons to quickly get me to specific pages on my "Dashboard Mounted GPS."In Short, the sheer Competitive edge and/or Potential that these MFD's offer the average gamer or simulated racing or Flight simulator enthusiast is only limited by their ability to visualize or imagine uses for it within their Simulators and Games! Better still, is that they're a steal for amount of immersion that they add! As an example of that point: I spent over $130 dollars on the "Track I.R.-5" Infrared Head-Tracking System, (Allowing me to move my head in real life which serves to control my Simulated pilot's ability to look around within the cockpit or simulation.) And it helps to mimic that feeling of actually being in the cockpit or behind the wheel!A little tip: Thrustmaster, If you read these reviews, you should seriously get into the market of manufacturing these with real color displays before someone else corner's that market and makes something with less plastic at only slightly higher price point!,SO MANY Flight simulator pilots as well as Racing enthusiasts would JUMP AT THE CHANCE to get their hands on a set of fully functional MFCD's that only costs them a little bit more than having to foot the bill of making a set for themselves!the cost of soldering equipment and connectors and wires and things from Amazon. Already simulations like "Falcon BMS 4.33" has a simple and easy way to extract the images from the MFD images eithin their simulator! And that allows savvy Sim pilots to display their combat-Radar as well as their waypoints and whatnot ONTO an external 4-inch by 4-inch screen which allows the enthusiast to see much more clearly whats going on inside their cockpit without having to squint or look down for an unnecessary length of time in order to find and lock targets or input targeting data and take their eyes off the sky in front of them! It could honestly be as popular as the Warthog stick! And offering these one's without the MFD's would allow Sim enthusiasts to experience them for a decent price-range which would (at least for me) allow them to ineract with the MFD's without display, which would allow them to use the MFD's while enticing them to upgrade or purchase the full or expanded edition of these MFD's.In Closing these are a great product and they have way more functionality than you would originally think they do! And equally exciting is you can make them into FULLY FUNCTIONING DISPLAYS with a little bit of elbow-grease and some parts you can buy right here on Amazon!

IN PACKAGE:-2 MFD USB Controllers with approx. 81 inches of USB cable from base to plug-in per MFD-2 Base sets with parts for adjusting the degrees at which they sit-Instruction manual-CD Software-Multiple back plate images (some which are blank so you can write what you want)-2 clear front plates to protect the back plate images or LED/LCD screens (Not included - but if you wanted to add them)PROS:+Good solid build and feels durable+Plug-n-play+Very long USB cord+Simple/easy software+Adjustable back-lit green light that can get VERY bright+Heavy base if you intend to use them standing up+Parts included to adjustable the degrees at which they stand+Price is very reasonable for what you getCON- The buttons feel "squishy" instead of feeling like solid clicks when pressed. It takes away from the aesthetic feel a bit, but I easily get over this given the immersion these give. Although, I am a bit concerned given how soft they feel if they might get stuck or sticky later on down the road, I've had them for about 2 months now and no issues - so I can't ditch a star for that...yet. But if it does happen, I'll update my review so potential future purchasers will know.------NOTE:-These DO NOT come with LCD/LED screens. It is not advertised and at their price point, I don't expect them to be included either; thus, expect to spend extra to buy LCD/LED screens if you want to put them behind these. It just amazes me at some of the reviews/comments I see of people upset as they don't come with screens included. If they did, these things would be in the $300-$700 range. I appreciate the fact they do not come with it so average working Joe's like me can buy them :) Later down the road if you want to buy and add screens, you can.GAMES:-DCS A-10 - If you are buying them for this, it's simply plug-n-play. DCS World recognizes these and automatically sets ALL buttons for you. Even the brightness, contrast, and gain buttons in the corner work!-FALCON BMS - Falcon recognizes these as gaming controllers but, you'll have to manually set each OSB in Falcon's button settings to the corresponding button on the controllerOSB 1-5: Top row buttons (from left to right)OSB 6-10: Right row buttons (top to bottom)OSB 11-15: Bottom row buttons (from right to left)OSB 16-20: Left row buttons (from bottom to top)You can also assign the brightness up/down function in the settings menu to Brightness button as well.This just took all but 5 mins. and everything worked great!OVERALL AND FINAL THOUGHTS:While I definitely do not think you should get these before you have a good solid HOTAS system and IR Tracker, it comes in solid 3rd for me - even before rudder pedals - which are stupidly expensive :)If you or your friends are asking "What's the point if there's no screen behind it?" It's an easy answer...it keeps your hands off the mouse! You can change your MFD screens in game with the click of a button and faster than you can with your mouse, especially if you mount them. Again, not to mention the immersion that you're sitting in the cockpit.So far I love them. Definitely a must if you enjoy flight sims.