Excuse me: OT about joystick/gamepad

Hi everybody,

Like I already said, excuse me for posting an off-topic message like this,
but I thought the people in this group to be the best suitable for helping
me out with my question. First because questions are answered thoroughly in
at least 99% of the cases, second because people who like fast videocards
are usually people who like to play games with them.
I like to play games as well (between much longer periods of serious work on
my PC off course ;-)) and am considering buying a specialized game
controller. I have an Asus 9280S, that is a Ti4200 which I like very much
and which enables me to play 3D games very well.
I recentely bought "prisoner of war", I think it'll be a very exciting game,
but it'll have to wait till next week when my vacation starts. I would
however like to hear from You what controller You use for Your games.
Joystick or gamepad? Which brand? How do You like it / would You recommend
it to me? Is force feedback or "rumbling" nice or is it just something You
use once and then disable it?
Also I would like to know, even though I expect the answer to be "Yes" (I
just like to be sure before spending my money) whether I could freely choose
which controller to use with for example Prisoner of War. Or does one
specific type of game (e.g. FPS or trainsim) require it's own type of
controller (I am not mentioning steering wheels or very specialized
equipment for flight sim or so, I know they exist but do not intend to buy
one of them, the choice is merely between joystick or gamepad).

Thank You very much in advance for Your efforts!!!

Greetings,
René

P.S. I prefer as much opinions as I can get, so if someone else has already
given his or hers, please do not hesitate to add Yours...