Opinions on These

[georgetyrrell 7]

Hello all,Newish flight simmer, very limited add on selection in my local stores so I did manage to find a few in one particular outlet yesterday and I'm looking to see if they are any use before I buy them all!. Flight Environment add on and a VC-10 add on, I couldnt see who made the aircraft, also Concorde add on. Opinions would be very welcome.Also when I was starting out a friend of mine gave me a big speech on flight sim and informed me that add ons that you buy on CD are better than downloaded ones. The more and more I look around I see tons of great downloads of aircraft, so surely he meant just the freeware ones? Is it better to purchase from the net or CD or are they exactly the same?Also also for utilities like night enviroment, terrain, weather utilities are they better on hard copy or are the freeware ones of a good standard.Lots of wonderment I know, so any feedback greatly appreciated,George TyrrellEIDW

[mgh 89]

I don't know if there's any different in quality between downloaded addons and those on CD.The few commercial addons I have are all on CD, mainly because I don't have broadband and downloading via a dialup is slow and can be unreliable. Also, by buying from UK suppliers I feel I'd have some redress if anything goes wrong. I still hesitate about sending money electronically to I don't know where.Using CDs also avoids the problems of electronic registration before I can use what I've paid for. Other threads have reported thedifficulties some people have with this.

[n4gix 4,947]

Part of the "problem" with a CD version of any package is that by the time the CD is available, the inevitable updates have been made, and are rolled into the downloaded package, but the CD is "frozen in time" and will be obsolete...

[yellow5 0]

I have purchased addons from many different suppliers, all reputable. Flight 1, Aeroworx, FSD, PMDG, Flight Scenery - Rohde Island, Lago, CaptainSim (always got the product, not the topic for flamers), Aerosim, MAAM, and the list goes on. All of my purchases have been via downloads and exchange of credit card information. The only one I got by CD was from MAAM (B-25). All updates are available via download. I have yet to have a problem with the products, services or the exchange of funds over the internet. My suggestion is do your research before you buy. If you are not sure about a business and/or a product, just post a question on the forum either here or at the business one and see what kind of responses you get. I know I am always upfront and honest about items I have bought, as most everyone is... :DKevin

[Dark Moment 0]

Save your money until you know what you like, George. There is so much freeware out there you will be quite astonished once you start hunting. You have to pick and choose, yes, but you'll soon get to know what is good and what's bad. There isn't much of the latter, there's some great work about. Many of the freeware offerings are of payware quality and, in many cases, better than some payware offerings.Good luck and welcome to the addiction ... sorry, hobby!MarkMark "Dark Moment" BeaumontVP Fleet, DC-3 AirwaysTeam Member, MAAM-SIM[a href=http://www.swiremariners.com/cathayhk.html" target="_blank]http://www.paxship.com/maamlogo2.jpg[/a]

[Bert Pieke 7,585]

Download add-ons are in every way as good as CD add-ons IMHO and in many ways better, because they can easily be updated over time.If you are looking for quality add-ons, start by looking at the following sites and go from there:1. The Avsim library... and it is free!2. www.flight1.com3. www.realairsimulations.com4. www.precisionmanuals.comAlso read the reviews available at Avsim... they cover a lot of models!

[georgetyrrell 7]

In response to Mark Beaumont, I know, its ridiculous I was always into flying but lately since I got broadband and also upgraded ram and graphics card its been silly the amount of time I've been spending on this, this week I took an extra day off work aswell as my two days off just so I could give myself time to pass the Instrument Rating Checkride, and I didn't!!, my private pilot cert is currently displayed on the refridgerator and I've been making sly excuses to stay at home, I think I'd rather another woman, they're far less complicated!!

[Guest Jaguar XJ6]

I tend to agree with "Dark Moment".Assuming you are starting with FS 2004 or FS 2002, the base products are pretty good. (Actually, FS 2000 and FS 98 are rather good too.)Nothing on your list strikes me as being worthwhile unless you are comfortable with the 'Boeing' models in MSFS.I expect your friend meant that 'commercial' add-ins or add-ons are better than freeware ones. Broadly speaking, this is correct. But many commercial products are now available as downloads (and usually earlier than on CD). But the CD versions are generally mature products, with most of the early kinks ironed out. Michael

[Guest allcott]

Welcome George, Don't be in any hurry to buy off shelves. There's some real dross in shops. The quality end of the market LOOKS exactly the same in a box as the rubbish, so it can be really hard to tell. I would recommend Flight Environment as one that you should add as soon as you are comfortable with addons as it adds so much to the WHOLE Flight sim world that it's universal. Plus there's an update due next month that isn't a patch fix, but an actual ENHANCEMENT and the developer is also working on Ground textures for release soon that will complete a `package` within the Flight Environment menu system that will really take your sim to the next level.Having said that, the most important purchase for Flight Sim is - Broadband!With that you have easy access to all the freeware - and the payware you'll ever need. The only advantage to a boxed product is that you keep it on the shelf. You can always burn a downloaded product - and all the patches, upgrades or additional files - to a CD and label it yourself! But freeware will meet most, if not quite all, your needs in the simming department, especially as a newbie simmer, for quite some time!Flight Sim is a journey that never ends!Allcott