I'd wait for the Aerosoft Airbus Pro that I believe is aiming for Q1/Q2 2018 release; the FSLabs A320 is technically amazing but very heavy on the system and incredibly expensive, and for the most part you are paying extra for features that you'd use a couple of times for the novelty value and then never look at again (abnormals etc).

The Aerosoft Pro seems a reasonable step up from their existing bus and as you own the current version you'd get an upgrade discount. I don't get much time to fly now so can't justify spending FSL prices and they've no upgrade path from FSX to P3D (same as PMDG), so for existing owners it could be prohibitively expensive.

Don't get me wrong the FSL is an amazing bit of kit and the level of detail is stunning, possibly the most detailed and authentic feeling airliner for desktop simulation, but it's much more than the most people will regularly use. If cost isn't a consideration or you're going to do lots of abnormal procedures the FSL is the one to go for. Even if you just do route flights it does have some nice features you will get to experience every flight that you won't get elsewhere, but I wouldn't say those alone are worth paying twice the price.

47 minutes ago, Nyxx said:

Con's

Communication to customers is appalling frankly, if it was not so damm good I would walk away from them. They are working on performance and its said to be now the same as the PMDG NG. But it's been close to 4 months since one of the devs took 10 mins of there time to give us an update. Norman etc are great on the forums but the real info that as a customers I would like to be keep in the picture about is appalling. 

 

Aerosofts yet to be released A320 (318-319 will come first)

Pro's

Looks like that have made huge progress over there last A320 that was ..well lets not go there. The work and progress is frantastic to see.

If you want to just fly from A to B and not want to get into the depth of a real A320 then dont buy the FSL one.

Always bare this in mind as I feel I will be quoting this a lot when there Bus comes out. This is a quote from a realy nice guy called Frank over at Aerosoft, This is a perfect sum up as to how people should see them both.

“Feel free to buy the FSL Bus. It is very nice, but also for a different market at a different price. The two products will never be the same or comparable for that matter.”

Also they give weekly updates on whats happening and keep everyone in the picture to were there at. I have the utmost respect for that. Because Frankly PMDG and FSL should be ashamed of themselves in comparison.

I hope that gives you food for thought?

Good post. FSLabs began as an offshoot from PMDG and it shows...both in arrogance towards the customer and the superb quality of the product. I had problems getting my FSL A320 to work at all, and it took 5 weeks from purchase to first successful load. My experience of their customer service was definitely  not a good one and I was looking into getting my money back, but I don't blame the techs themselves: as far as I'm aware they're volunteers doing it their own time. Maybe that's part of the problem. I don't know.  In the end I got the problem fixed myself and provided them with information about the cause so they could include in in their FAQ. I still haven't heard anything back. 

But...and it's a great big BUT...their A320 is amazing. As far as I can see it's a match for PMDG in terms of depth of modelling and pointy-headed obsession with detail. The next step up from this must surely be a full motion A320 simulator. At €300+ per hour for that, the price you pay for years of on-demand access to your own personal digital A320 sim isn't a bad deal. I've never been a virtual tubeliner-driver, but this A320 is turning me into one. It's very, very immersive. It performs better than I expected, too.

Regarding the comparison between the FSL and Airbus A320, a direct comparison is indeed pointless. They're aimed at different markets. The difference between Aerosoft and FSL is like the difference between Quality Wings and PMDG. But the Aerosoft effort isn't bad. I got back into my Aerosoft bus after flying the A320 and to my surprise I didn't hate it. There's still a lot to like about the AS offering. You just need to be mindful of what you're getting.

So, OP, if you want the PMDG NGX equivalent of the Airbus, then this is definitely the aircraft for you. Based on my experience, though, I wouldn't expect customer service to match the price tag. I'm still glad I bought it, though, and I might again, for P3D v4...eventually. 

I was also considering to buy FSL A320. But reading about their support ... I decided against.

For me certainly.  I fly it more than anything else.  I’ve always been a “squarebus” fan and this rendition is so well done.

13 minutes ago, Nemo said:

I was also considering to buy FSL A320. But reading about their support ... I decided against.

Dont be to hard on them , they really do work hard in the back of the office .

 

Thanks

Michael Moe

Lots of potential but too many bugs and performance issues at the moment. Wait and see what next version will be...

Fantastic addon,  but its the most demanding addon that you can put on your system.  Like Rudi says you cannot put the sliders to the right and you cannot put your ai on and fly into a big airport. It will be a stutter fest. 

The only thing to note is the dynamic lighting,  the taxi way lights for example are dynamic so trying to taxi round some airports at night unless you have it turned on is a nightmare Limc and lfmn for example. 

 

1 hour ago, Nemo said:

I was also considering to buy FSL A320. But reading about their support ... I decided against.

It's not there support. The guys on the forums are very helpful. 

Communication to customers with updates and information on status is terrible.

They should give a job to someone to keep customers informed and make them feel in the loop. But Frankly Developers totally miss the point. That's why there developers and why they need a customers relations guy/girl. 

9 minutes ago, tooting said:

Fantastic addon,  but its the most demanding addon that you can put on your system.  Like Rudi says you cannot put the sliders to the right and you cannot put your ai on and fly into a big airport. It will be a stutter fest. 

The only thing to note is the dynamic lighting,  the taxi way lights for example are dynamic so trying to taxi round some airports at night unless you have it turned on is a nightmare Limc and lfmn for example. 

 

LIMC is for me the only airport I deleted with v4 its a black hole even in daylight.

4 minutes ago, Nyxx said:

LIMC is for me the only airport I deleted with v4 its a black hole even in daylight.

Try taxing round palermo, nice or marseilles at night without dynamic lighting 

I love the look and feel of the bird, but performance is TERRIBLE.  It's also buggy.  I've had all kinds of little problems since I purchased it a few days ago.  Sound distortions, terrible panel graphics, Chaseplane keeps crashing, and even with settings on the low end and DL off, performance slows to a CRAWL at big airports or in cloudy skies (which i have set to the lowest possible resolution).  I have a good system, and this shouldn't be happening.  The 717 is also a performance hog, but the airbus is BY FAR THE WORST.  I would suggest reading through the forums over at FSlabs to see all of the performance problems users are experiencing just to see what you're getting yourself into.  If I knew about them before purchasing, I would have saved my money.  Even after changing video and audio drivers, this is still a terrible performance hog.  Not at all happy.

Good luck

John

1 minute ago, tooting said:

Try taxing round palermo, nice or marseilles at night without dynamic lighting 

Lucky I only do day Pete. 

Just now, tooting said:

Try taxing round palermo, nice or marseilles at night without dynamic lighting 

I agree that night lighting is an issue, but it has been said that this is more of a LM issue than an FSlabs.  I find majority of my payware airports with AI in the US work fine with DL turned on after pushing from the gate.  That might just be me though.

1 hour ago, roi1862 said:

Lots of potential but too many bugs and performance issues at the moment. Wait and see what next version will be...

What bugs are you referring to?  I have logged many flights and have yet to come across any bugs that I am aware of.  Are these more system bugs or performance?  Certainly it can't be anything that keeps you from using the product.

2 minutes ago, dal330200 said:

I love the look and feel of the bird, but performance is TERRIBLE.  It's also buggy.  I've had all kinds of little problems since I purchased it a few days ago.  Sound distortions, terrible panel graphics, Chaseplane keeps crashing, and even with settings on the low end and DL off, performance slows to a CRAWL at big airports or in cloudy skies (which i have set to the lowest possible resolution).  I have a good system, and this shouldn't be happening.  The 717 is also a performance hog, but the airbus is BY FAR THE WORST.  I would suggest reading through the forums over at FSlabs to see all of the performance problems users are experiencing just to see what you're getting yourself into.  If I knew about them before purchasing, I would have saved my money.  Even after changing video and audio drivers, this is still a terrible performance hog.  Not at all happy.

Good luck

John

 

Just now, Zimmerbz said:

I agree that night lighting is an issue, but it has been said that this is more of a LM issue than an FSlabs.  I find majority of my payware airports with AI in the US work fine with DL turned on after pushing from the gate.  That might just be me though.

What bugs are you referring to?  I have logged many flights and have yet to come across any bugs that I am aware of.  Are these more system bugs or performance?  Certainly it can't be anything that keeps you from using the product.

I stand corrected, the sound bug is there so that is one that I am aware of.   My panel graphics are crystal clear at ultra resolution and use chaseplane without ever having an issue.  Again, I completely understand that every system is different so what I experience will be totally different than others and vice versa. 

13 minutes ago, Nyxx said: