Tomorrow's the day. My DVD is on it'S way.

Touch down - the beast has landed. No tanks for me this week.

First impression

All what the videos and pictures show and say, is true. The looks and visuals are AWESOME, and a benchmark.

The plane needs thorough tweaking and setup, even in the FSX-config. What the pics show cannot be acchieved in quality by a standard installation only, with the config file of FSX remaining untweaked.

For a system like mine, I can acchieve those externally locked 30 fps even on an addon airport of the German Airports series.

Sounds are great.

The installation includes SEVERAL THOUSAND PAGES of manuals. That is a benchmark record, I think.

The system depth simulated is second to none, it seems. They mentioned so many examples illustrating that, that it sounded insane. But it is there.

The DVD installs the so far latest version, SP1b.

While the plane reliably launches when selected in the menu, after finishing a flight the FSX does not correctly shut down, but needs manual shut-down via task manager. Maybe that is just on my system.

I have not yet made a flight, so cannot judge the stability when the whole sim gets under stress. With REX2 clouds, and when following their far-leading recommendations on option setups, frames were, as said, at 30 (locked). Standing at the gate, cold&dark, sent the used RAM indicator to around 3500 MB. I have 8 GB, whether the sim ever uses all that, or stops at 4, is something I am still not certain about.

So until here, i just adress the looks and visuals - and what the many great videos and pics reveal in incredible detail and laser-engraved sharpness (and I can tell from my very own eyes' experience): it really looks that way. It is the best looking sim module I have ever seen in any flight sim version.

The manuals are - intimidating, to put it friendly. :)

If it now all works reliable and without ctd, then this is a phantastic package, and you are unlikely to ever need any other airliner module after this one, I cannot image how any developer could reach beyond this on a PC. I will see in the coming days regarding reliabilitxy and stability. Unfortunately, FS9 and FSX have hickups with Vista and W7, and x64-OSs. What this means for this great module's fate, I still must find out.

Oberon, I know you asked for an Airbus, but you cannot afford to pass on this one. ;)

I've been running the 737NGX since release. It's great. It's the only payware I fly now except A2A and Katana 4X now.

Having done two flights now, all I can say is just "Wowh". From A to Z, from Alpha to Omega, this one just feels right and surpasses everything I ever expected to see in a PC-based airliner cockpit simulation.

It's unlikely I will ever use any other airliner module again, whether it be in FS9 or FSX.

But be warned, even when you "know" other 737 modules (I knew the FS9-version of the PMDG 737, the Dreamfleet 737 for FS8, and the - also nice! - iFly 737 for FS9), you better be prepared for the need to learn plenty of new stuff. Yes, you will recognise many procedures and handlings of the panels. And still, there is so much more details added and needs to handle things different, so that you will learn lots of new stuff. The FMC alone is a new world. What it is capable to calculate all by itself not only is outclassing other FMC simulations there have been, but seems to represent the capacity the real FMC is capable of indeed, including self-calculating of routes and taking into account restrictions thnat it knows by itself. Sound environment is - most impressive, by immersion and detail maybe even "bombastic". Visuals are stunning. Flying and operation in mid-air was a dream.

But again, be prepared for many details added, or being done slightly different than how you "knew" them before. "Relearning" is the slogan of this package.

If you want a very well-done and round package of a 737 that is not as demanding on hardware and your skill-levels, and is not as much detailed, but still a very competent simulation, maybe you want to prefer the iFly 737 (I know the FS9 version, and I like it also very much, it really is a very good module). But the visually superior and more detailed package, the "real deal", that almost ridicules other airliner modules regarding sound, then the PMDG 737 currently has no competitor in the genre.

It is the new benchmark in its territory, no doubt.

SP1c for the 737NGX is imminent. PMDG confirms that beta-testing is finished and that they will release it into the wild this weekend.