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September Review PMDG Beechcraft 1900D Express (Read 1874 times)
Sep 5th, 2004 at 11:50pm

SaVas   Offline
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SIMviation members voted on September's review, so here it is Smiley

Precision Manuals Development Group B1900D Express

The system I use to test all my aircraft is a Dell XPS with a Pentium 4 processor, 3.0 Ghz, 800fsb, 200GB, 1.5 Gigs Ram, Radeon 9800 Pro, also with a Viewsonic VX900 Flat panel 19" monitor, and a Logitech 560 Watt Peak Power 5.1 Z5300 THX Surround Sound Speaker System.


A little history first…

When one hears Precision Manuals Development Group, or affectionately known by the acronym PMDG, more often than not, those in the flight simulation world will think the PMDG Boeing 737NG (Next Generation), which anyone that owns it will tell you is one of the world’s best simulation aircraft, payware, or freeware. It comes with a price, however, if you want as close to perfection as you can get. That  desire for the 737-600 through 900, weighs in at a wallet crunching $67.90 USD – $39.95 for the standard 737-600/700 and $27.95 for the 737-800/900 add-on. Not exactly pocket change for most people, but for those who are armchair pilot hobbyists, anyone who owns it will tell you it’s a must have, me included. So a company that charges that much for a payware aircraft must be good. And they are. You can read a number of reviews here and there in the sim world and they are all consistently raving about the level of detail and the steep learning curve associated with it. I should know. I have both and have over 200 pages printed out on how to get it off the ground, keep it in the air, and land it safely. It’s a daunting task for someone who is no real life pilot. I have spent hours reading, flying, and occasionally getting frustrated figuring out all the bells and whistles.

So with that, you would expect anything they deliver to be top notch, above the rest, instead of the normal aircraft where you give it full throttle and take off, set your GPS navigation, letting the computer take over, prep for landing, get the ILS frequency, and set the approach after contacting the tower.

That’s where the Beechcraft B1900D Express comes in. It’s a bargain at $14.95 USD. You can buy a fleet of four and a half B1900D’s instead of a 737. OK, bad joke, but seriously, the cost is very inexpensive, even as most payware is concerned.

Overall the appearance is pretty much what you would expect from PMDG. The exterior is very well rendered, as is the interior, which I will get more into later, but before I forget, I recommend downloading the service pack which gives the cockpit a much better appearance at night, as well as fixes a couple of issues.  

Exterior – Rating 9 out of 10

The default livery is none other than a PMDG livery. Good to go on when you first learn the aircraft, but I prefer some commercial liveries.

Continental Connection Livery
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United Express Livery
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One thing I really like about the PMDG website is the many free liveries you can install. All you have to do is download them, then lt the PMDG installer do its magic. No more editing the aircraft.cfg file, and adding textures, or copying textures from the main folders….just click and install, and you’re done. If you are on cable or DSL, you can have 20 liveries to choose from in a matter of minutes, and that is one aspect I enjoy, is picking out liveries and starting up the flight sim and going up up and away, admiring the new paints. If I wanted to take the time to install new liveries I would paint my own. I want to fly!

Details such as exhaust/oil dirtying up the wings is a nice touch, being that the inner exhaust outlet is pointed upwards, there isnt as much buildup on the wings as there is on the other side of the engine.

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as well as details on the exterior like the opened ladder and cargo bay, and exemplary detail to the landing gear.

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There is a good reflective sheen on the aircraft, but not so much that it looks overdone and the lighting is quite good at night (thanks to the service pack updating the lighting)

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So with that, I would say the exterior is pretty much perfect, but the props just don’t look as well rendered in flight. I think they could have done a better job with this. Other than that I have no complaints and even that isn’t a complaint really. Just a casual observation.

Part two to follow - Interior, night lighting,  flight characteristics, and final impressions

 

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Reply #1 - Sep 6th, 2004 at 12:22am

SaVas   Offline
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Part 2
Interior 9 out of 10
This is another area where Precision Manuals Development Group shines. They know their stuff. OK, honestly before I installed the service pack 1.1, I was not terribly impressed with the cockpit as the autopilot did not seem to function correctly, and PMDG apparently knew about this and corrected the issues. Kudos to them. My hard earned money for their well made product. Now, I have no complaints at all. The gauges are all crystal clear in the 2-D cockpit

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and equally impressive is the virtual cockpit, where you can pretty much clearly read everything, at least the important things.
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Landing at Seattle-Tacoma
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You can also choose from your aircraft files, the B1900D with 2-D cockpit only, for those with slower systems, 2-D and VC cockpit, or the one with both of those as well as a virtual cabin if you have a faster running machine.
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The virtual cabin is crisp and detailed, with the creases in the leather, the design in the carpeting, an exit sign over the door, etc. Its great for those who want to be a passenger instead of a pilot, or copilot. Of course, like any sim aircraft, in order to get to the back of the cabin you need Active Camera (highly recommended utility add-on), which also allows you to feel the turbulence and the banks, take offs and landings, and any other style of realism. There are a couple minor glitches with Active Camera, which I will get into when I write a review of it at a later date.
Night lighting is exceptionally well done as will inside and out, an has a sense of realism to add to the experience. One side note, I recommend downloading and installing Frederic Nadot’s landing lights enhancement (try Google search), which makes the landing lights a lot more realistic, instead of the default lights which are way too bright.

Continental Connection at night
Sorry for the haze. I only fly in real weather and in St. Louis it is hot and humid, hence the haze.
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As you can see Frederic Nadot’s enhancement is much better than the original out-of-the-box FS9 lighting, a least in my opinion anyway.
Approaching Runway 12R, Lambert International, St. Louis, Missouri
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Engines off, props feathered, systems shut down, and passengers have left the aircraft
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Interior VC lighting is really, one of a kind. It’s as if you see the reflective glow of the various gauges. It’s a colorful experience I must admit.
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Coming in for a landing on 12R, Lambert International, St. Louis, Missouri
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So, overall the pictures, give you some idea of the level of detail that PMDG puts into their payware. It really makes it a worthy investment, for those who sit before their computer, flying to who knows where, escaping the reality called life.

Flight Characteristics 7 out of 10

This is where I might be a little picky.  I would say there is a reason for the low cost. Maybe I am talking out of the wrong side here, but not being a pilot I would think that it take a little more work to fly the B1900D. The controls are simple enough to use, and like any other freeware, or payware, it doesn’t take a lot of know-how. If you know the basics of flying the other aircraft you might have at your disposal, then I would gather you can fly this one with ease. It boils down to a click and point, very little start up, and set your GPS in your flight program and you are off. Don’t get me wrong, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but call me spoiled on their 737. I am still reading  on how to fly that one.
I guess looking at the two offers from PMDG, you get what you pay for. You can spend either $39.95 for the basic, albeit as close to perfect 737-600/700, or $14.95 for the easy to fly, good looking, and accurate sounding Beech B1900D, and compared to a lot out there, I do definitely recommend getting the B1900D. The cost is not a bad deal at all

Final Impressions

This part is easy.  All I have to do is give this bird a final rating, and add a few misc. snippets, but first once again, for $14.95, you cant go wrong if you are looking for a decent commuter aircraft to puddle jump you here and there. You get PMDG’s quality at an affordable cost, numerous liveries to choose from on their website, a great sound file (9 out of 10), easy to fly plane,  that looks impressive. You will easily get many many hours of flight enjoyment from this aircraft.
I averaged 20 to 25 FPS (I set my FPS lock at 30), and I have all the bars set to maximum, including clouds, and its been hazy and cloudy around here.
Final rating 8 out of 10 (8 because I half way expected the intricacies PMDG is known for. Had I never gotten the 737NG, I would have scored the B1900D a 9)
One other note is the PMDG 1900B is compatible with FS2002 Pro and FS9 (CoF) and Windows XP only


---Stephen
SIMviation’s resident payware addict.
« Last Edit: Sep 14th, 2004 at 10:05pm by SaVas »  

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Reply #2 - Sep 6th, 2004 at 8:04am

Fly2e   Offline
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Stephen, hats off to a job well done!! Really, I am impressed and am happy to see a review here at SimV so well written, planned out, explained and over all, mature!
I think your time and energy spent on producing an excellent review this month proves you are up for the task and you are also the man for the job!!

It was chock full of info, ups, downs, in outs, etc... etc...

It was written just the way a payware review should be, leaving the buyer with the knowledge he or she would want to know before dipping into their wallet and spending their hard earned money!

I am off to download a few liveries and best of all, I wasn't even aware of the service pack and I have been flying the Beechcraft B1900D Express for months now!

Once again, thanks for your review this month and am happy to see another positive contribution to this site!!

Dave
 

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Fire & SLI Supported, Mushkin Redline 6GB (3X2GB) Memory, eVGA NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285, Vista 64.

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Reply #3 - Sep 6th, 2004 at 10:02am

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Great review cant wait for the nex one...whenever OCtober comes...anyways nice job
 
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Reply #4 - Sep 7th, 2004 at 2:13pm

SaVas   Offline
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Thank you for the comments. its people like you that make reviewing a joy to do Grin
 

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Reply #5 - Sep 10th, 2004 at 1:24pm

codered   Offline
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Very nice and honest review.  I agree with your rating.  I own the B1900D and find it to be a terrific addon, especially for the cost.  Plus after learning how to fly the Aeroworx B200, I have been able to apply my knowledge of turbo props and add to the realism.  Even though you don't have to be as maticulous with the PMDG B1900D. Grin

Thank you for the review.  I am looking forward to others. Grin
 

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Reply #6 - Sep 14th, 2004 at 9:39pm

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Does the PMDG site mean what I think it does?  I have FS2002, but their website says the 1900D is available only for FS2004 and FS2002 Professional.  Am I to assume I can't use it then?
 
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Reply #7 - Sep 14th, 2004 at 10:06pm

SaVas   Offline
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Quote:
Does the PMDG site mean what I think it does?  I have FS2002, but their website says the 1900D is available only for FS2004 and FS2002 Professional.  Am I to assume I can't use it then?


Thats correct Ditto. It will not run properly if at all in FS2002  Sad
 

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Reply #8 - Sep 15th, 2004 at 1:33pm

ditto58   Offline
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Is there a big difference between the regular and professional versions?  i.e., is it worth the extra $$ to go out and upgrade?
 
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Reply #9 - Sep 16th, 2004 at 10:46am

SaVas   Offline
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Quote:
Is there a big difference between the regular and professional versions?  i.e., is it worth the extra $$ to go out and upgrade?


Not sure Ditto. I came into the standard flight sim 2004 having flown the CFS and CFS2, and the Janes combat sims.

FS9 is my first traditional non combat sim Wink
 

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