Best Desktop or Laptop Flight Sim?

mkosmo said:
You should also be able to pair it up with fsx and p3d. You can also have them drive Android devices with mock locations for Android efb consumption.
Click to expand...

X-Plane 10 was free and easy.

I paid $20 for FSXFlight on Win7 to pair the two (P3D). Things may have changed since then, but I still won't go back.
 
Last edited:
I downloaded FSXFlight and am now using FSX with my ipad and foreflight. It outputs GPS and AHRS data to foreflight on my ipad wia my wifi network... Pretty damn cool I must say!!!!
 
Pilawt said:
Agree. Among the light singles for X-Plane, Carenado's Skyhawk II, Saratoga SP and Mooney 201 are excellent. The Bonanzas are OK; the Archer II and C-152 not so hot.
Click to expand...

The 185 is pretty epic.
 
I'm still using an older version of FSX but would like to try out X-Plane 10. I'm not a big gamer, what computer should I buy? It would be strictly for X-Plane. Basically the cheapest computer that runs X-Plane at 100% (I know it won't be cheap). Any recommendations much appreciated.

Also, anyone know if X-Plane has a decent SportCruiser aka Piper Sport?
 
TexDeuce said:
I'm still using an older version of FSX but would like to try out X-Plane 10. I'm not a big gamer, what computer should I buy? It would be strictly for X-Plane. Basically the cheapest computer that runs X-Plane at 100% (I know it won't be cheap). Any recommendations much appreciated.

Also, anyone know if X-Plane has a decent SportCruiser aka Piper Sport?
Click to expand...

I don't recommend Best Buy necessarily (personally, I build my own 'puters), but here is a sampling from their website that would generally fit most of the "recommended specs":

Best Buy: At least 3 Ghz processor and 16 GB RAM

Any one of those should get the job done easily. Reduce the RAM for a reduced price, at your peril. They do call for a minimum of 1 GB aboard your graphics card. Recommended is 4 GB. I have 2 GB. Runs fine, but I also have 16 GB RAM and 3.4 GHz processor, along with a Solid State drive.

The GA planes that come with stock X-Plane are:
Baron, C172, Cirrus Jet, C400, King Air, P180 and Stinson L5

I have MSFX, and the flight characteristics in X-Plane are MUCH better. However, I do like the missions in MSFX ... those can be kind of fun to play with.
 
Side question for anybody in the know: on MSFX, I use a second monitor for instruments, map, GPS or whatever. I can't find an option to use multiple monitors in X-Plane, and google searches didn't come up with anything. Any ideas?
 
Badger said:
(X-Plane)
I'm fine with flying at lass than max graphics, realistic flight controls are more important to me.
Click to expand...

Go with whichever one has the addons you want. People say Xplane has better flight dynamics but I couldn't tell a difference between Xplane, P3D or FSX in that department. I stuck with P3D because its prettier!
 
It's probably me but, with controls centered and trimmed, there is always a loss of control in XPlane and not in MSFS. That's been true every time I have tried XPlane over the past 10 years.

BTW, has anyone used FlightGear?
 
woodchucker said:
Side question for anybody in the know: on MSFX, I use a second monitor for instruments, map, GPS or whatever. I can't find an option to use multiple monitors in X-Plane, and google searches didn't come up with anything. Any ideas?
Click to expand...

I was able to accomplish this in a backhanded way a few years ago with xplane 9. I plugged my tv into my laptop via hdmi and arranged the desktops such that the tv was on top and the laptop was on the bottom. Careful sizing of xplane put the panel on the laptop and the outside view on the tv, which was good enough for me.

Doing it "for real" requires (or at least used to require) multiple computers. I don't know if xplane 10 has native support for machines that can drive multiple displays.
 
midlifeflyer said:
It's probably me but, with controls centered and trimmed, there is always a loss of control in XPlane and not in MSFS. That's been true every time I have tried XPlane over the past 10 years.

BTW, has anyone used FlightGear?
Click to expand...

It's me too! I would love to like X plane as much as folks here do but it's just too squirrelly for me. I assume I'm doing something wrong but the configuration page looks like something out of Houston Control.
 
OkieAviator said:
Go with whichever one has the addons you want. People say Xplane has better flight dynamics but I couldn't tell a difference between Xplane, P3D or FSX in that department. I stuck with P3D because its prettier!
Click to expand...

With a few free plugins, XP-10 becomes much prettier.
 
I don't find the flight dynamics that realistic in an $80,000 Redbird... so I don't expect my home set up to do any better. I went with P3D a few years ago because it gets updated vs FSX, and it had support for more addons that I wanted to use. Xplane seemed as much as a video game as the rest of them.
 
The $80k Redbird is running P3D with flight models that haven't received much love. They were using the A2A 172 for the Challenge Cup but that ship sailed once the competition was over.

X-Plane works great when you take some time to tweak the controls. The controls will never feel exactly like the real plane unless you spend a ton of money on a dynamic control loading configuration, but it really isn't necessary. Once you get your head around how to manipulate the flight controls, it really does fly very well.

It's all about adjusting the pitch and roll response curves and verifying the null zone for your hardware.
 
coma24 said:
It's all about adjusting the pitch and roll response curves and verifying the null zone for your hardware.
Click to expand...

I use FSUIPC with P3D to do the same thing. It helps out quite a bit but being really awesome at hand flying my Milviz E55 only makes me good at handflying a simulator plane.

However I did two months of your PilotEdge service when getting my instrument addon and that helped a ton getting comfortable doing IFR flights talking to real people. At some point during my training I just took over the radio and never had any issue.
 
coma24 said:
The $80k Redbird is running P3D with flight models that haven't received much love. They were using the A2A 172 for the Challenge Cup but that ship sailed once the competition was over.

X-Plane works great when you take some time to tweak the controls. The controls will never feel exactly like the real plane unless you spend a ton of money on a dynamic control loading configuration, but it really isn't necessary. Once you get your head around how to manipulate the flight controls, it really does fly very well.

It's all about adjusting the pitch and roll response curves and verifying the null zone for your hardware.
Click to expand...

This. If you can run it Xplane is the best home sim.
 
oregonboy109 said:
This. If you can run it Xplane is the best home sim.
Click to expand...

Downloaded the demo again since it had been a few years since I played it. Was able to set up controls and TrackIR easy enough. The graphics are a tad bit clunky but as other said there's probably addons you can get to improve those or maybe they're meant for a lower end computer. Anyhow I didn't see any real difference in the 'flight dynamics' between it or P3D or FSX. I was still doing loops and barrel rolls quite easily in a 172 as well as essentially landing to full stop in about 40 feet.

So it probably doesn't matter which one you get, pick one for the addons you want and the hardware you have.
 
OkieAviator said:
Downloaded the demo again since it had been a few years since I played it. Was able to set up controls and TrackIR easy enough. The graphics are a tad bit clunky but as other said there's probably addons you can get to improve those or maybe they're meant for a lower end computer. Anyhow I didn't see any real difference in the 'flight dynamics' between it or P3D or FSX. I was still doing loops and barrel rolls quite easily in a 172 as well as essentially landing to full stop in about 40 feet.

So it probably doesn't matter which one you get, pick one for the addons you want and the hardware you have.
Click to expand...
The antisotropic filtering is key to making it look great. Crank it all of the way up if your machine can handle the load.

You base your experience with flight dynamics off loops in a 172?... I can see why you can't perceive any difference.
 
Cpt_Kirk said:
The antisotropic filtering is key to making it look great. Crank it all of the way up if your machine can handle the load.

You base your experience with flight dynamics off loops in a 172?... I can see why you can't perceive any difference.
Click to expand...

Had it set to extreme, with filtering at 16... It looks fine, just doesn't compare well to my P3D setup with REX4, Orbx and Payware planes in the graphic department. For me it's about the addons especially the Flight1 GTN 650 sim since it matches my real plane.

As for flight dynamics maybe you can help me understand the differences. Because I also did stalls, spins, ect.. and they all react in the same manner. In short the planes fly like a video game.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top