Is the PMDG 737NG for me?

[Joseph29 225]

I have been thinking about buying the PMDG 737NG and I was wondering if it is the right plane for me? I am a pretty good FS pilot, but seeing the features of the PMDG plane has me wondering if this plane is to big of a learning curve for me. In the features it says it has complete FMC and EFIS controls and most switches, knobs and systems are operable. Now the only payware planes I have are the Eaglesoft planes, and the panels in those planes are not that complicated. All of the other panels I have are either default ones or downloaded ones. I don't even know what the FMC and EFIS are and do. So beafore I pay $39.95 do you think this plane may be to much plane for me?

[michal 44]

>do you think this plane may be to much>plane for me?I think it may. Only you can answer how many pages of manual you can put up with, how much learning you can face, how much realism you crave for.Michael J.

[Guest Toni Rauch]

Although the systems are quite complicated to learn, it's not really necessary to understand them all to enjoy this plane. It's actually quite easy to fly manually once you're used to handling civilian jets (as opposed to small light aircraft).However, what makes the PMDG stand out from the rest is the high degree of realism put into the cockpit and avionics, but as long as you understand the basics of flight and navigation 'terms', you don't need to 'do' the manual to fly using the FMC. There are tutorials available to 'hold your hand' through the flight, for example one by Fred Clausen which is easy to follow and will teach you more than enough for you to setup a flight and enjoy the plane.Finally, one look at the PMDG support forum here at Avsim will tell you how much help and genuine enthusiasm there is for this package.Hope this helps.Toni.

[Guest dpc]

The systems in this plane are pretty complicated and do have a learning curve. You will spend alot of time running systems instead of flying if you intend to become proficient on these systems. You can "just fly" the plane however. It looks great however, it takes a pretty good machine to run it well. And last but not least, be sure you don't mind spending the 40 regardless of the result. They will not refund.DaveMy Specs:AMD Athlon 2700+Eppox 8RDA+ mobo512meg PC3200 dual channel memATI Radeon 9700 ProSB Audigy GamerWinXP Pro

[Guest Ray CYYZ]

Download the new tutorial that just got posted, if you can't deal with it, you will know right off.Take a look at the posts by Ranger in the PMDG forums as he is like you, just having made the jump into real planes. He is quite happy.You get what you are willing to put into it when it comes to flying the big boys. If you want to make the dive, you will never go back to flying the little toys again.While it may seem complicated, it is really about simple logic and procedures. Pilots are not rocket scientists, they just do the same thing over and over again until it becomes reflex. If you put in the effort, you too will become a heavy driver.Ray (PS, PIC, PMDG owner)

[Joseph29 225]

Thanks for the opinions guys :-) I think I will be holding off on getting this plane. I really love the look and outside details of the plane, I don't think I will be able to keep up with all the systems of the plane. I do fly the bigger type planes (A320, B737, A330, B757, B767) but none of them are heavly involved with the systems of the cockpit.Is there anything avalible that has the high outside detail of PMDG's 737NG but with less cockpit detail?

[Vulcan 14]

You have a ranges of replies here Joseph and really only you can decide. You know how you like to fly and what a/c you like to fly so maybe the PMDG737 is not for you.However if you like to fly airliners and do like a bit more involvement then maybe the PMDG737 would suit. You don't say if you have any other payware 'liners either in FS2002 or FS9, if you do chances are you are familiar with most of the systems.If you have/had the DreamFleet 737 the PMDG can be flown almost as easily until you want to go deeper.Have a look at Fred's tutorial and the advanced tutorial recently uploaded here and also down load the manuals from PMDG's site and see if you can follow them and understand them, then make your decision.It is a shame that PMDG could not make the a/c 'try before you buy', say 5 hours flight or 3-5 days use until you have to register it.PMDG 737NG owner.

[crvm 0]

I think this applies to any advanced aircraft simulation but I feel that the learning is half the fun! I ask, why desire to fly the the advanced types if you don't wish to learn just how to fly them correctly? Stick to the default aircraft, at least you will have saved 40 dollars for beer and chips on your trips ;) [h4]Best Wishes,Randy J. Smithhttp://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/196432/winglets_lg.jpg [h3] AMD XP 2200 |MUNCHKIN 512 DDR RAM |ECS[/b ][i] K7S5A MB[/i] |GF2 MX 32 MEG and still runs GOOD!|WIN XP PRO |MITSUBISHI DIAMOND PLUS 91 19"[/h3]

[Guest OneTinSoldier]

> Is there anything avalible that has the high outside detail of PMDG's 737NG but with less cockpit detail?I doubt it. The closest I can think of is the FFX 737. If you have a high end computer system and can afford to buy this plane, I highly recommend getting it. You won't regret it if you have a good computer system. Like Toni said, you don't need to learn all the systems on it to fly it. Heck, all I did for a while was just kick the tires and light the fires and fly VFR. Then when they got a couple patches out, I started learning my way around and how to use the various instruments, such as the FMC. And I'm still learning, slowly. Just kind of taking it easy. That way I get a lot of enjoyment out of the plane while still learning as time goes by. The support forum is great. Just ask questions there if you are lost. There was a more recent tutorial put out my Tim Metzinger that should help a lot if you are interested in learning in depth. If not, it flys by hand as a VFR flyer just fine. Or going VOR to VOR, ect. But you'd be missing out in doing only that and it really just takes a little time and effort to learn how to use the more complex systems on the plane. And learning them gives you a good feeling. You can always take it at your own pace. I'm telling you, you won't regret owning this plane if you have a good system. Otherwise, take a look at the various FFX 737 models.Cheers,Jim

[Guest sbdwag]

If you want to land this plane in VC mode at a large airport say LAS or JFK with ai around you and clouds and weather forget about it. Right now there is not a desktop computer available that has the horsepower to do it unless you are into slide shows. And you need more that 512 megs of memory unless you dont mind swapping to hard drive.Dennis Waggoner

[Guest OneTinSoldier]

My fps drops some, but certainly not to an unreasonable/slide show level, and I am talking about being in the VC and landing at a complex airport, real weather/clouds(lots of 'em), and I have MyTraffic installed and at 100%. Of course, I have finely tuned my system and FS2004 into a mean lean simming machine.Thank You Very Much,JimSettings:All checkboxes checked and all sliders up except the following...Scenery Terrain Mesh Complexity - 85%Water Detail slider - halfway markAutogen - Very Dense (also using fs9xml.zip available on avsim)Scenery Complexity - Very DenseMip-Map slider - 4Visibility - 100 mi (on Weather Tab. all other sliders there at full right)Since I have 1 GB of RAM I have my AGP Aperture setting at 256.

[Guest Ray_CYYZ]

Umm, I have a AMD 1.4C with a GeForce 3 (original) and 512 Megs on Windows 2000 Server (don't ask) and am running FS9 with this aircraft and managing quite nicely.Only the people who have slider-phobia and can't have a single setting not at 100% maximum are having problems with performance. 17-20 fps is enough to have a smooth controllable flight, and thats exactly what I get right now.AI's only running 10 aircraft around me, but really, the AI sucks and I don't feel like waiting in a lineup for 20 minutes just to get off the taxiway, not to mention the stupid cessnas cutting the corner on a taxiway and driving right into me.

[Joseph29 225]

>If you have a high end computer systemMy system is not a high end system (P4 1.9GHz, 256MB RAM, Geforce 2 MX 400 graphic card, and Win98) I do plan on upgrading my whole system soon, so maybe then I will get the PMDG plane, but until then I will look at the mentioned tutorial and learn about the systems of the plane.And I already have the FFX 737-300, 400, 500, and 800 planes :-)

[Guest nramsey]

Humm, I have an Athlon XP 2000+, 512mb PC2100 DDR RAM, Geforce 4 Ti4200 128mb video card. Running XP SP1. The sim performs great as is now with the default plans, only time I've had it degerate into a slideshow was when I was flying into Newark in the default 737 VC with AI cranked and there were a fair number of clouds.Think I'd be able to run the PMDG bird well flying out of the non-stressful airports (I like flying west coast routes, Seattle, Portland, Reno, Vegas, San Francisco etc) with decent rates in the VC?

[clayton4115 56]

hi nramsey,the quick answer to your question is NO, look at my specks, it brings my sim to its knees.