Joe_Legander

Not to pick nits, but he asked about Windows 8.1, not Windows 8. There have been some reports of FSX problems with Windows 8.1. Anyone have data specifically on this new release? Joe Legander

Wow, that's interesting! I stupidly assumed that since 777 was a higher number than 737, and came out later, it meant newer or more advanced. But obviously, thinking it through, the 737 has had many upgrades, including the NG, and hence it might make sense that some of it's capacities (HUD, etc.) would be more advanced as well. Thanks! Joe Legander

Sure, I knew that almost never would anyone just let the aircraft be guided all the way down to landing that way. It just seemed an odd change. Even with the old system, intervention was always possible, and just as easy. Why take away an option? Also, after the 777 went down at KSFO, perhaps due to some variation in speed controlled by auto-throttle, I couldn't help but think how it seemed a bit confusing and different as I first approached it. Joe Legander

The subject line might be worded poorly. I simply meant that on the 737, the aircraft would follow the speeds set into the FMC on approach. Now, in the 777, it puts in that purely "placeholder" speed of 170 knots over the threshold, and requires the pilot to intervene via the MCP to set speeds as the plane slows for landing. The old system seemed much more automated; this seems kind of a step backward. I'm sure PMDG modeled it perfectly, but does anyone know why Boeing chose to do it that way? Joe Legander

The subject line might be worded poorly. I simply meant that on the 737, the aircraft would follow the speeds set into the FMC on approach. Now, in the 777, it puts in that purely "placeholder" speed of 170 knots over the threshold, and requires the pilot to intervene via the MCP to set speeds as the plane slows for landing. The old system seemed much more automated; this seems kind of a step backward. I'm sure PMDG modeled it perfectly, but does anyone know why Boeing chose to do it that way? Joe Legander

I too feel the similarities to NGX. Although the manual explicitly states otherwise, it does feel like the NGX on steroids, with a 2.0 upgrade to software or something. The MD-11, on the other hand, feels like a completely different animal. That's not to say that they're not all fabulous...the 777 is an amazing accomplishment on PMDG's part, and I'm glad to own it. But the very nature of the manner that Boeing builds their planes to make transitioning from one to the next as painless as possible creates the reality that once you learn one, the others might lack the "Wow" of that first one. I'm looking forward to the DC-6. That's going to have "Wow" in spades! Joe Legander

If that's the case, I'd rather have had a PMDG version of them. Honestly, producing a product with manuals that run hundreds of pages long, and then refusing to allow you to print them for personal use, instead charging you hundreds of dollars to do it for you, seems like a pretty raw deal. Game companies used to provide you the manuals FOR FREE with the game. Then they began only giving you PDFs, and asking you to print them yourself, at your own expense. Asking you to have THEM print them at great expense for you just seems too much. I'm very disappointed with that kind of decision. Joe Legander

Might sound really stupid, but are both engines running? Joe Legander

I'm sure the same was true of the manuals for the 737, MD-11, and Jetstream. All of them were printable. I've never seen PMDG release manuals that you couldn't print. The idea of having to read 1,000 pages on an iPad or something seems ridiculous. If this is their official policy, it would be nice to hear it. But it's certainly a big change from the past, and one I think would have been fair to notify customers of before their purchase. I'm hoping it's just an error. Joe Legander

You can only print the Introduction and the Tutorial. The other manuals are locked files which can't be printed. Surely this is a mistake? You're not intending to make us buy the printed manuals, or use them only on alternate screens? Joe Legander

Well, PMDG needs to release less aircraft then. If I own twenty of their products in 2020, the reinstall will be a nightmare! :) Joe Legander

Loyal customer that I am, I own 747-400X, MD-11, JS-41, and the NGX. I have all of them currently installed except for the 747. I'd like to reinstall it, but I'm worried about overwriting AIRAC or something else that has been updated with 737NGX or one of the other latest releases. Do I need to uninstall them all, and then reinstall in release date order, or can I just slap this on top and be done with it? Thanks! Joe Legander

Launceston airport in Tasmania (YMLT) is listed as having an ILT, not an ILS. It seems to work in all regards the same. Frequency, glide slope, yada, yada. I can't find any reference to it though. What does ILT mean? Does it differ from ILS, or is it just Australian for ILS? Also, don't try to auto-land using it if you're using the ORBX Launceston airport scenery. Brings you down neatly into some trees just at the runway threshold. Which is bad, it turns out. Joe Legander

I actually just reinstalled the old sound and video cards, and everything is fixed. Basically, diagnostics demonstrate that the GTX 460 generates DPC latency all over the bus, which causes the audio to fall out, at least in FSX. I'm back to no great thrills in the frame rate realm, but fine sound. The difference was only 5-10 FPS anyway, since the app is so processor-bound, so not a huge loss. But thanks for all your efforts. I'm good to go, at least until I get a new motherboard or something, and try again. Joe LeganderOne note though: at least for me, 737NGX performance is significantly worse than that of MD-11, and also worse than J-41. I had expected it to be the same or better than MD-11, so that's a disappointment. And oddly, no amount of reducing scenery really does much. The difference between every slide to the right and every slider to the left is maybe 10 FPS. It's as if something in the app is actually creating limits. Don't know. It's playable, depending on the airports I pick, and how much jerkiness I can tolerate, but MD-11 and J-41 are superior by about 10 FPS. Joe Legander

Thanks. I'm using some older, Analog input LCD's, so I doubt I've got such a port, and certainly no built-in speakers. But perhaps a monitor upgrade is in order, particularly since they aren't supporting 4/3 with this one at present in 2D. Thanks for the input. The key seems to be you can't use a separate sound card with this video card, at least with this MB combo, without running into problems. Thanks! Joe Legander