I'm planning on buying a MCP panel and would like some thoughts on whether I should buy a 747 version or 737 version. I own the PMDG747-400X and plan on buying the next PMDG 737 so I guess I'm asking which model panel would cover both planes better?

744 MCPB744-Glare-PRO-MX-11.jpg737NG MCPMCPPro_lg.gifThe 744 MCP should cover all functions of the 737, it just depends which one you think you'll be flying most. For me, there's no point paying for an addon aircraft if you're going to buy addon hardware for something else. I mean realistically, if you've got to the point of building a home cockpit for realism, it pretty much has to be aircraft specific, else you defeat the purpose. DISCLAIMER: This is only my opinion - I have not built a home cockpit. I do plan to eventually but like all plans it may or may not actually happen...I can say that the 737 suits my FS timeframes better than the 744. Adding in the better detailing & systems simulations, I intend to use the 737 exclusively once it's released. Once again, this is just my opinion. Your mileage may vary...EDIT: I have no idea if the photos are copyrighted or not, that's why I used links instead of inserting them directly...

Hi YMMB,Maybe you are not looking this kind of reply, but I decided still to give my thoughts on this:-)I was struggling with the same question 6 months ago, whether to buy the real panel for 737 or 747. I gave it a lot of thought and came to conclusion that I'm a heavy user for all type of planes, PMDG747, MD-11, Level D 767 and hopefully soon the PMDG 737NGX. I was not happy with the thought that if I buy a panel for 747, im stuck with it more or less. Therefore I came into a conclusion to by a mcp combo panel (google "mcp combo"), which works with most of the add-ons and I can say that I have been very happy with it. It is not like the real panel, but it gives you the ability to use most of the important switches and is quite flexible to be reprogrammed to suit your needs. And most important, it works well with many of the add ons, at least the ones I mentioned above.Just my 2 centsCheersSeme

I own a 747 MCP by CPFlight, which I intended to use with PMDG's 747X.The MCP itself is just fantastic. Really great piece of hardware. However, as you may know, the PMDG 747 requires a specific driver to be used with external hardware. These drivers are made by FsLabs and all we can say is :1) they're unbelievably expensive (the driver costs MORE than the PMDG 747 !!!)2) they don't function properly (have a look here, and on FsLabs' forums) and cause awful stutters, which is funny considering the price they sell it3) FsLabs doesn't care the least about customers of these drivers so you're stuck with your problem and they have your moneyHowever, as I said, the MCP is really great. I have therefore ended up starting earlier than I had planned my home cockpit with PM.

Thanks for all your replies. I have read several negative posts on the FsLabs software needed to interface some of the "MCP's" with the PMDG aircraft and this is one reason why I didn't buy many months ago. Actually waiting longer has been a financial gain as the $Aust has been appreciating all year, lol.To Seme, any reply with insight is very relevant I would say, so thank you for posting. I've read up only briefly on the VRInsight panel which I assume is the combo panel you have referred to. I believe it requires the "SerialFP2 software". Have you found any problems using this with PMDG aircraft as experienced by others using the FSLabs interface? To be honest it was the PMDG 747-400X which got me back into FSX after letting it sit idle for nearly a year. I had been waiting for the Aerowinx PSX sim to be released as up unitl the PMDG product this was the best 747 simulator I had ever come across although it is really DOS based and need some fiddling to work in a Windows environment.Albert Sahely.

Thanks for all your replies. I have read several negative posts on the FsLabs software needed to interface some of the "MCP's" with the PMDG aircraft and this is one reason why I didn't buy many months ago. Actually waiting longer has been a financial gain as the $Aust has been appreciating all year, lol.To Seme, any reply with insight is very relevant I would say, so thank you for posting. I've read up only briefly on the VRInsight panel which I assume is the combo panel you have referred to. I believe it requires the "SerialFP2 software". Have you found any problems using this with PMDG aircraft as experienced by others using the FSLabs interface? To be honest it was the PMDG 747-400X which got me back into FSX after letting it sit idle for nearly a year. I had been waiting for the Aerowinx PSX sim to be released as up unitl the PMDG product this was the best 747 simulator I had ever come across although it is really DOS based and need some fiddling to work in a Windows environment.Albert Sahely.

Hi Albert,Good to hear you found it relevant:-)As far as I recall, all the necessary software comes with the Combo panel (you might need to downloand an update from their webpage) and yes, it is the VRInsight panel, I was just not sure whether it is OK to post the actual name here in the forum:-) The "SerialFP2 software" works fine, and if I do recall, there is (or at least you can download) profiles for PMDG 747. I have used that profile myself, so I did not need to change any key assignments, just load the profile and you are ready to fly. I would like to add though, that there probably can be differences between the setup of your FSX and mine... What Im saying is that if I have not encountered any problems, might be different in your system... who knows... :-) So, that would be my answer as well, I have not encountered any problems with the PMDG 747.I also have the PMDG MD-11 (which is amazing bird) and with that A/C, I had to program all the buttons and switches from the beginning, I could not make the profile (which can be downloaded from the internet) work, no matter what I tried. This was a bit of pain, to record all the macros via fsuipc, but once done, it works like charm:-) Then again, it might be that you dont encounter this problem and the profile works in your system... as said, who knows...Hope you get something out of my reply, the information might be "all over the place" :-)If you need any more advice/info, let me know. CheersSeme