Best MS flight sim for your old laptop is $4.99

[bofhlusr 453]

Don't get rid of your old laptop.  It's still useful, If nothing else, for the memories and for all those add-ons you bought.  
(76) Top 10 Reasons that FSX Steam Edition is better than Old FSX - YouTube

Kinda hard to believe FSX Steam can be had for only $4.99:

[Luis Hernandez 570]

Thanks for the heads up!

I purchased FSX-SE shortly after launch in 2014, and I got it for $5. For default planes (or the CLS birds available as DLC), a laptop will be OK... but if you want something heavier (either the Wilco or Aerosoft buses offered there, or reinstalling any PMDG bird), you'll need something better. But well, for someone wanting to start, you only have $5 to lose.

[WestEnd 33]

I don't have FSX - SE on my PC anymore, and due to Covid etc I havn't been away on holiday for a good few years.

I did wonder what sim I would put on my laptop if I was going away for a few weeks.

FSX wouldn't ba a bad shout, as I have the PMDG aircraft, and Orbx scenery. Also, you can pop out the PFD which helps on a small laptop screen.

[k5083 1]

Lots of life in FSX SE yet.  With FlyInside, it is even a pretty good VR experience.

August

[pgde 571]

Make sure your OS is Win10 or above. Steam will stop supporting lesser versions next year -- https://www.pcworld.com/article/1674070/steam-will-drop-windows-7-support-in-2024.html

 

[stans 703]

FSX Steam Edition runs smoother than the boxed versions and I have experience with both.  With this new computer, I bought and installed the Steam version and it is an improvement, well worth the few dollars I paid for FSX Steam Edition.

[joby33y 152]

On 3/28/2023 at 6:27 PM, k5083 said:

With FlyInside, it is even a pretty good VR experience.

Yes indeed !  Discovering FlyInside a few ago changed everything in simming for me.  Used it with the Oculus CV1.  I still remember 1st time ‘getting in’ to the default KingAir.  Breathtaking.  

[Fielder 3,676]

Some of the major addon builders have put their catalogue of FSX planes up for free. 

A great stick, throttle for a laptop is the TM T.flight. The two large metal ears on the back of the throttle grip, there's one on each side, can be programmed to act as left and right toe brakes. The twist on the stick can be made the rudder. 

Just one USB port on the laptop runs both stick and throttle.

https://www.amazon.com/Thrustmaster-T-Flight-Hotas-One-xbox/dp/B07643TW2V

[Matt Sdeel 46]

FSX Steam is on sale again on Steam for their Summer Sale at 80% off or U$4.99.

I bought one and running it on a lightweight laptop. Has anyone tried using FSX Steam with Intel's integrated IRIS XE graphics? I'm getting shimmering which is surprising considering the specs of the laptop which has the 11th generation Intel chip.

The laptop specs are pretty good but I can't figure out how to fix the shimmering on the radio stack instrument panel on the default Cessna 172. I don't know if running a 32-bit app on a 64-bit OS is the problem...

Amazon.com: Acer Swift 3 Intel Evo Thin & Light Laptop 14.0" Full HD IPS Intel Core i7-1165G7 Intel Iris Xe Graphics 16GB LPDDR4X 512GB NVMe SSD WiFi 6 Back-lit KB Windows 11 Home SF314-511-753K : Electronics

[Luis Hernandez 570]

4 hours ago, Matt Sdeel said:

Has anyone tried using FSX Steam with Intel's integrated IRIS XE graphics? I'm getting shimmering which is surprising considering the specs of the laptop which has the 11th generation Intel chip.

Not Iris XE, but Radeon Vega (which is as bad as yours, no offense). I can keep 20 steady FPS locked in FlyTampa St.Maarten with the Carenado 182 RG and some AI. My CPU can't manage to get 30 FPS there without frying itself.

Regarding shimmering, I don't remember having them. Two things you need to ensure:
1) All your textures have mipmaps
2) Anisotropic filtering is enabled in FSX settings.

[Matt Sdeel 46]

34 minutes ago, Luis Hernandez said:

1) All your textures have mipmaps

How do I do this in FSX Steam? (I'm not at my laptop now)

 

[Luis Hernandez 570]

I use this utility:

Optimizer Textures (Ordenador)

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/12801

 

I only apply it to addon sceneries and aircraft.

[Matt Sdeel 46]

18 hours ago, Luis Hernandez said:

I use this utility:

Optimizer Textures (Ordenador)

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/12801

 

I only apply it to addon sceneries and aircraft.

I was able to download the file. Thank you.