u dun need a joystick to land.. hahaha
IMHO
for landing
erm.. jus as long u r on the glidescope.. jus use throttle to control ur vertical speed.. dun need use ur controls.. use throttle oni..
in the end, idle throttle n pitch up abit.. land d.. also.. make sure ur vertical speed dun soo fast.. i alwiz go ard 800fpm..

lol.. erm.. using controls n throttle?? if when descending rite.. u wan to keep the nose pointing at the same pitch, u can control ur speed of drop(vertical speed) by adjusting ur throttle.. usually ard 40 to 50% N1 will be able to maintain ur speed n drop level of 1800 feet per minute(estimate)

oh..the N1 is on the primary flight display.. the engine there wan.. the throttle amount u apply is shown on the N1.. u adjust ur throttle so it is ard the N1 u want.. get it(i sux at explaining)

fs2004 less laggy but fsX certainly more extras than fs2004.. even the missions in fsX are more addictive than fs2004.. have anyone tried the landing on a bus mission on fsX.. lol.. tat is one challenging wan witout a joystick..

fsX has more failure options to choose too.. lol.. like engine fire etc.. tat makes flying bit more challenging than fs2004..

if ur pc not high end enuf, stick to fs2004.. fsX, the lagginess will spoil the fun of the game.. hhaha