which spinner to buy?

[bartre]

well, i'm new, i'll just come out and say it.
thankfully, no problems with my build yet, but i do have a question.
which spinner is the best?
if it matters, i'm looking to mostly play tempest with it, but i'll be using it for other games as well.
i was mostly looking at the spintrak from ultimarc, turbotwist 2 from GGG, and the tornado spinner off of happ's website

[ArtMAME]

I installed an Ultimarc spinner for a friend of mine.  Works great!!!

I have also installed a Blackhawk (DOT push/pull type) spinner for another friend.  That works great also.  Not cheap, but worth every penny if you want to play DOT and/or Tempest a lot.

Have not tried any of the GGG spinners, but I am sure they are great as well.

[mimic]

I bought TT2 for few reasons. I liked the fact that it has small footprint (it's pretty much the size of pushbutton underneath the cp. And 2nd it has a high resolution, which is required by few games, that supposedly other spinners can't deliver.

[erictrumpet]

I'm a big fan of the Apache Blackhawk push/pull - very well built and the optical board can run another device like a trackball or another spinner (if you get the primary). I have two of these bad boys and love 'em - one secondary unit can run off a primary so you can save a little too - if two spinners is your bag (Blasteroids, anyone?) The push pull buttons can be mapped for different functions in games other than DOT too. It makes rotary joystick games playable without rotary sticks, as just one example. Search for reviews and many posts on these boards.

Eric.

[bartre]

okay, looks like they're all pretty close.
my second question is are the knobs interchangeable between models?

[genesim]

I stand by the Ultimarc because of how smooth it spins and it is based on the original tornado spinner.

Though I am in no way an authority on this because I have never tried too many others that are currently made, compared to older spinners, I can tell you know it is smoother then it has ever been.

But I will say that Randy is the first to set the bar even higher, I myself just isn't in love with how it looks.

For me the best one may have not been made yet, which is the Spintrak made by Andy that is an up/down spinner.

I am waiting for the design to be perfected.   The new version of Spintrak is getting there.

[AcidArmitage]

i made mine with a ---smurfy--- big lots mouse and a dead hard drive... $5 baby