I highly recommend the ORBX sceneries. They are without a doubt, well worth it. 

http://fullterrain.com/about.html


jime

In short..........YES!
Default FSX scenery/land class/terrain mesh....frankly, sucks
There is some good freeware scenery like,

Kauai

by Rich Sorochak.......and

Grand Canyon, Death Valley

by OzX


As far as payware.......

Like jime59 said.......OrbX scenery is top notch
I also like to fly photo real scenery by

Mega Scenery Earth

Great scenery combined with REX will change your whole experience


Chuck

You should also look at GEX and UTX for Europe. It is not on a par with good photo real or ORBX, but it is a very noticeable improvement.

As I cast my mind back into the very distant past, (FS '98 onwards), the only flight sim payware I have ever purchased are:

FS Navigator. (FS 2002 + 2004).
LAGO FSSE and FSE. (FS 2002 + 2004).
GE Pro. (FS 2004).
REX. (FS 2004).
FS Panel Studio. (FS 2004).
FS Repaint (FS 2004).

That's about the lot!
All my other aircraft and scenery are both default and freeware.... ...!

..as most of my daily flight simming occurs over the continental USA, I am presently considering this for FS 2004:

Ultimate Terrain USA (FS 2004).
http://www.flight1.com/products.asp?product=utusa

...and hoping that it works with the default/add-on FS 2004 "Autogen" scenery at ground level....
I like the diverse USA scenery, it is very well represented in the sim, and I am very familiar with all the locations!

Recommended for a (very) low flying Cessna 150/Microlight pilot?...What do you reckon?

..I DONT want flat; "photographic" scenery!...(been there, had it, (free+payware), don't like it, binned it!).

Paul... ...!

P.S...can anyone who has UT USA confirm the the scenery is just a more accurate representation of the default MS "Autogen" scenery....and NOT just new, flat; "photographic" (Google Map) scenery?

As far as UK and European sceneries...

I use UK2000 airports and VFR airports sceneries. Also VFR London X by Aerosoft (better have a powerful computer for that one...), and the best ones I have are by Earth Simulations and they are Alderney, Scilly Isles and Guernsey... They are jewels in my opinion.

As far as the rest of Europe, I use France VFR (for France, duh...  ), Aerosoft for the rest mostly, and you can get great Alps freeware, just google Frank Dainese  you will not be disappointed by those mountains, I promise.

Personally I think that payware added a ton to my flying experience. Like some others above me said, the default FSX mesh and scene are really lacking. Once you use payware, it's hard to go back. It does cost a pretty penny... but at the same time you reward someone who has spent A LOT of time trying to make things right for tbe enjoyment of your hobby... A matter of opinion I guess. Some people value aircraft, other scenery, and others like me like a package of both  All I can see is:
- Read reviews
- Look at screenshots
- Check out youtube for the scenery/aircraft you're interested in

To me though, FSX was created by Microsoft which makes a ton of money on other things... When you look at payware, stuff that's made by small studios can't really sell products for $5... I wish they did but I understand that they are trying to make a few dollars for their trouble. Right now I love Earth Simulations, it seems like a 2-3 person company and it really feels like whatever they release is a labor of love. They released only a few products, but all the ones I own from them I love! And so they have enriched my flying experience with their product and I feel okay paying to hopefully support some future great work and help keep them in business. I don't know, it's just my 2 cents so please don't shoot me  and btw I only used one company's name. That was just an example, but if you want I can give you quite a few other names to add to that list 

I started this topic to see if I could make up my mind about getting some payware. So here are my thoughts not a few days on.

From what I've read, watched and researched I've decided against any huge mesh adapting addon. Plus I already have REX which will do fine. I'm not that bothered if a road in Northern Spain is out of place because I'm normally whipping over it at 30,000ft flying 'an always on time' Ryan Air flight to Barcelona or one of the other Mediterranean holiday destinations.

As for individual airports I have the free version of UK2000s EGCC which is very good and I tried the demo of the payware one and that was incredible (It even had the place I work at across the road from the airport which was pretty cool), so I may buy that at some point because it's my main hub. 

I have the UK2000 free versions of EGGP and EGLL but EGLL is abit frame rate heavy on my system. I'm running FSx on a laptop albeit a decent one (it has an i3 and some sort of graphics card that I've been told is good.) it can't handle something as complex as EGLL!

That is another reason I've been weary of pay ware, especially aircraft. I'd love a payware 767 or 737 but I'm worried it will grind my system to a halt particularly if it's a PMDG or Captain Sim addon.

I think the UK2000 VFR scenery for the UK would be a good purchase BUT I normally fly from Barton (EGCB) down to the south of England or up north to Scotland so that means to get any real benefit I'd have to buy pretty much all of their VRF packs and the biggest downer is the loss of autogen, which is a big deal to me. I do think I've heard of on addon that sorts that out and adds accurately placed Autogen, though I my be wrong?


I definatly agree with jon157uk in that I think payware companies would make more money if they sold their product cheap and aimed for mass sales. Although scenery seems reasonable most are around £15 for a decent addon like UK2000 EGCC or the Megascenery X Las Vegas. But when it comes to aircraft that prices are insane! £35 for a Flight1 Citation Mustang...I think not..and £44 for a PMDG 737 just isn't going to happen. Although to even use the PMDG 737 you need to be packing some serious computational heat so if you can afford to spend that much on a PC then you can probably spend that much on a addon a/c to!

So all in all I think I will stick with REX and the freeware UK2000 airports. I may buy EGCC but only because I feel I owe it to UK2000 considering how much I use their free stuff.  As for payware aircraft the only real benefit I can see is added nav systems particularly those that include SIDS and STARS however with enough Google digging you can normally find free IFR and Approach Plates anyway, it's just more effort to follow them as you have to input data rather than relying on a FMC. When it comes to super realistic flight dynamics I think it's flogging a dead horse because it's not real and it wont really handle like the real thing unless you have a home cockpit with a yoke with feedback and such.