I’m looking to purchase the FSC 737NG FMC and have a few questions:

• How is compatibility with PMDG 737 in MSFS 2024?
• How well does it work with LevelUp 737 with Zibomod in XP12?
• How well is the backlighting done on the keys and selector buttons?
• Quality of unit, is display clear and bright without too much backlight bleed (assume it’s not OLED)?
• How do the buttons feel, clear pressure or mushy and vague?
• How is support, their website looks pretty bad and their forum is barely there?

Key reasons for looking at this unit are the following:

• Support Ethernet connectivity.
• Has it’s own display (doesn’t require HDMI from GPU to display).

Thanks, Rob.

Edited February 9Feb 9 by SayAgain

Hmmm ... that popular huh ;) 

At nearly €2,000... No way.

It doesn’t require any resources from the flight sim PC … has it’s on processor and display.  Most of the other FMC I’ve looked at all require USB and an another HDMI out from the PC to drive the display adding load and more complexity to the flight sim.

Not too concerned about the cost, but if you have any alternatives that don’t require USB and don’t need my GPU to drive their display, I’d be very interested.  

Apparently the FSC unit has dedicated drivers specifically for the PMDG 737NG series … but not sure if that includes the “FS Action” (or other flight sim only functions)?

EDIT: Hard to explain, I’m just a tactile button/knobs/switches kinda guy … don’t ask me why because I really don’t know … perhaps my iPad and iPhone are just so annoying and don’t seem to like the lack of moisture content in my fingers?  And I hate to reach for the mouse during flight, drives me batty (eerrr … more batty).

Edited February 11Feb 11 by SayAgain

I'm curious why you are adamant about no USB connection. I use this unit that is USB and requires no separate video (HDMI) connection. Works great and you could by 15 of these for the cost of the FSC. On my meager system it requires virtually no overhead and as far as sim performance  there is no difference in performance flying with or without it.

https://ea.winctrl.com/view/goods-details.html?id=965

46 minutes ago, somiller said:

I'm curious why you are adamant about no USB connection.

Data stability along with power delivery.  But reading the PDF for the winctrl their unit does have two dedicated USB ports, one for power and one for data which is a good thing.  BUT, $147 seems almost too cheap.  Questions:

1. Do the buttons feel solid?
2. How good is the backlight (lots of light bleed or is it clean)?
3. Does it support PMDG 737 out of the box without any additional programming?
4. Indicates "plug and play" but I don't see how that would know how to control a PMDG FMC in MSFS 2024 without some sort of programming?
5. How does the display took off axis view angle?  (does it get washed out)?

 

 

3 hours ago, somiller said:

Works great and you could by 15 of these for the cost of the FSC.

Attempted to place and order on website that frankly seem broken or fake or hacked ... created account, added my US address, add to cart, refused to accept my address even when it was "checked and verified".

So came back a little later to try again, and the Login screen kept telling me my password was not valid?!?  And yet, it logged me in?  Huh?

So I click the support/chat icon and get some Chinese writing and a text box to enter my issue.  Type my issue and hit space bar and it clear the textbox?  The site is hopelessly broken and I honestly think this is just a scam.

Edited February 13Feb 13 by SayAgain

8 hours ago, SayAgain said:

Data stability along with power delivery.  But reading the PDF for the winctrl their unit does have two dedicated USB ports, one for power and one for data which is a good thing.  BUT, $147 seems almost too cheap.  Questions:

1. Do the buttons feel solid?
2. How good is the backlight (lots of light bleed or is it clean)?
3. Does it support PMDG 737 out of the box without any additional programming?
4. Indicates "plug and play" but I don't see how that would know how to control a PMDG FMC in MSFS 2024 without some sort of programming?
5. How does the display took off axis view angle?  (does it get washed out)?

 

 

Many here own these devices and there are very few if any detractors. Before I bought it I was mildly concerned about quality, but I read all the comments here of satisfied users and thought what the heck for $147 - after receiving and using it I told my (uninterested) wife that I couldn't believe they could build this good a product and sell it and make $$ for $147. It is the highest value hardware I have ever bought for flightsimming, including the thousands I've spent on computers and it works more reliably than all of them.

1.) yes, maybe a bit rubbery for some - and maybe that's how the FSC feels, I have no idea. In any case I wouldn't pay $20 more for better buttons, let alone thousands more

2.) perfect, no light bleed around the buttons and they are coal black when the backlight is turned as high as it goes (it has a brightness control on the device).

3.) yes and now already supports the PMDG 737-900 in MSFS2024 which I would about guarantee the FSC does not support...in fact it looks like the supported aircraft is very narrow for the FSC.

4.) the device is controlled by SimAppPro, a Winwing app that you start before MSFS, plug the device into USB - SimAppPro communicates with MSFS. The software includes all settings preconfigured for each supported aircraft type/model so when you start it, start MSFS, and plug the device into USB it works automatically - no manual configuration required.

5.) I don't see any off axis change in display brightness, clarity, contrast. No light borders on dark backgrounds like most IPS monitors - including my ASUS PG279Q, however minimal.

One final comment about function: any interaction with the Winwing FMC is instantaneously reflected in MSFS, no lag.

I can tell you as someone who owns and uses the Winwing FMC on EVERY boeing flight that there is nothing the FSC unit could possibly give me that I would consider spending even $200 on it, knowing how well made and how well the Winwing works. They are even mountable in a home flightdeck.

5 hours ago, SayAgain said:

Attempted to place and order on website that frankly seem broken or fake or hacked ... created account, added my US address, add to cart, refused to accept my address even when it was "checked and verified".

So came back a little later to try again, and the Login screen kept telling me my password was not valid?!?  And yet, it logged me in?  Huh?

So I click the support/chat icon and get some Chinese writing and a text box to enter my issue.  Type my issue and hit space bar and it clear the textbox?  The site is hopelessly broken and I honestly think this is just a scam.

Hmm, I'm on the website right now, logged into my account and trying to decide whether to pull the trigger on two items in my cart, URSA MINOR 32 Throttle and desk mount. The throttle looks so useful, but I fly Boeing.

You loaded the site from the link I included above?

2 hours ago, somiller said:

You loaded the site from the link I included above?

Yes.  Also tried loading it other ways.  No matter what I do on checkout, it says my address is invalid.  Are you located in the US?

So I tried again just now and the website login just keeps coming back with “Invalid” password, which I know is NOT the case.

So I tried the “Forgot Password” entered email, got a email to reset my password but no link?  Just a verification code … nothing else.  What the heck am I supposed to do with a verification code?

So I click on the link in my email to create a support ticket and I get redirected to a page with no support just a blurb about US markets must use this URL:

https://wwsimstore.com 

So manually enter the above URL and it redirects me to the original URL I was at: 

https://ea.winctrl.com/

Sorry, but this is insane … I’ll gladly drop $2500 to avoid this sort of rubbish.

When I inquired about the FSC unit, I got 3 email responses within an hour.  They answered my questions and they do support the latest PMDG 737-900 and 800 and 600 in MSFS 2024.  But most important, they seem to have very active quality support group.  

I agree $2500 shipped is not cheap for this type of device, but it comes with support and so far WinWing now WinCTRL doesn’t have a US support system and I can’t even order their products.  I’m certainly willing to give them a try at $147 … nothing to lose.

But $147 does seem too good to be true, almost makes me wonder if they include spyware 😉 and government funded … I honestly don’t see how their products could be made that cheap and make any profit at all on them.

Maybe I’ll try a VPN and see if that works for WinCTRL.

EDIT: I tried WinCTRL in 3 different browsers, Chrome, Edge, and Safari … didn’t work in any of them.

Edited February 14Feb 14 by SayAgain

Another vote for Winctrl. I’ve got a load of their panels including the 737 and a320 Fmc/mcdu’s. Work perfectly out of the box, multiple mounting options and feel great to me.

Also ordering etc via both the local uk website and the global shipping website was flawless too. Really hope you get sorted as they are excellent products for the price point.

cheers

Steve

Yes I am in the US.

I'll agree that Winwing don't seem to be expert web designers/programmers as their site tends to be a bit clunky. I too have had issues with certain websites where no matter which browser I used, clearing cookies, cache, reinstall browser, etc. etc. they still don't work. My usual response is exactly the same as yours, it's not worth the effort and I move on - it's very frustrating.

Winwing site has worked successfully for lots and lots of us who own their products. Shame you can't get it to work as I am 100% convinced you would be very happy with the product.

As far as support, most of us have never needed support because it works out-of-the-box every time and all the time. In almost a year I have never had a need for direct support from Winwing.

I hope that the FSC unit is everything you expect it to be! I know that I would be VERY picky if I bought a peripheral that cost more than my pc.

Would have loved to try one at $147 (provided it doesn't contain spyware) ... but I've worked with electronics and components (built my own components) and I have some idea of costs, there is no way these units could be built/assembled and then create software to support them for $147 (doesn't matter which country of origin) and make any profit at all ... just doesn't smell right.

Anyway, it appears their website has been blacklisted (actual term is blocklist) by two of my email providers which could be one source of the issue ... their support suggested I use different emails accounts, which I did and both didn't work.  They also suggested I get my provider to "whitelist" them (no such thing as a whitelist but I guess they mean remove them from the blocklist) which is impossible for me to accomplish, I don't have any control over my provider.

MX Toolbox doesn't list them as blocklist.

Google Postmaster Tool.

Tracert resolves to the two IPs being reported so no block there.

Who Is show registrar info as Xin Net Technology Corporation (which seems like a standard service provider for country of origin).

I'll have my company's security person dig deep into ea.WinCTRL.com, he has much better investigative tools and security knowledge than I.

Either way, I've exhausted all my means to try to purchase their products and their support frankly just didn't care.  So not really much choice.  FSC is my only option to avoid having HDMI port driven.

I do appreciate the suggestion to use WinCTRL so hope I'm not coming across wrong, just unable to purchase.

I gave it ONE last attempt ... was getting the same invalid address errors as before.  However, I tried a few different things and notice in the upper right it was having issues with identification of my location:

I redacted my zip (red box) ... so entered my zip and it did something to be "happy" with my order.  I then was successful at paying with PayPal.  Got a PayPal confirmation of payment and email from wwsimstore.com ... no idea when I'll get it, so fingers crossed it does arrive.

I've seen and fixed/updated a LOT of bad websites in my time, but this one is something "special" 😉 

Rob.

https://ea.winctrl.com/view/index.html
 

Works for me. I have ordered the Airbus FCU a left EFIS and the Orion rudder pedals. So far no issues with them. As far a the software side I always make me think if there is a possibility of it having spyware.