FS 2020 Setup

[ilc72]

Hi All

I am trying to put together a starter setup for an FS2020 system, PC is all sorted and I have purchased the Honeycomb Alpha and Bravo, I know the drama with Honeycomb Aeronautical but having researched and looked at many reviews, so please let's not make it a thread about that!

1. Has anyone got the the Next Level Racing Flight Sim Pro Seat and Pro stand, if so, would you recommend purchasing these items? I look longingly at VR in the future and it would seem a natural fit. The only other option would be to buy a separate desk, since it won't really work with my day-to-day setup.
   
   
2. I am looking at rudder pedals and am thinking of the new WinWing pedals, reviews seem very positive and are cheaper than the Thrustmaster TPR, I dont think the Honeycomb Charlie pedals will ever see an actual deliveries to customers.
   
   
3. Finally, I am looking for peoples opinion on the TV vs Monitor question? I can pickup an LG G3 OLED for around £1,250 or perhaps an LG 38" 38GN950P-B as this is on sale for £749.99 currently at OcUK. I currently use an Acer XR382CQK and been happy with that, but its getting on now and only has a 75Hz refresh rate, I figure while the G3 is more expensive I could use it as a TV if I went the VR route in the future.
   
   
4. Could anyone recommend a good 21" touchscreen panel, I would like to use it as a separate PFD/MFD, plan to start on GA then move up to learning to fly the A320?

I would appreciate any advice from people who have developed their setups, what purchases they regret, as it is all too easy to waste money as it is not a cheap hobby when taken seriously.

 

[Mr_Sukebe]

The NLR seat looks like a decent turnkey solution, ie already designed and probably very easy to setup. There’s a lot of positive users in the DCS community.
Another option worth considering is a decent 8020 Aluminium frame solution. Once you’ve got some confidence about using it, it’s VERY customisable, and probably more rigid than the NLR frame, as Aluminium is very inflexible. Additionally, buy it the right way and it’s a lot cheaper than the NLR frame. For a seat, I grabbed a s/h car seat for my own setup for all of £25 for a nice manual reclining leather unit. The only real hassle is that the design is basically down to you. In my case I bought one designed for Sim Racing, which has then required quite a bit of rejigging to optimise for flying. I’m confident that the end result is better and cheaper, but it did take some effort

In addition to the TPR and WinWing rudders, also consider the options from Virpil, MFG and VKB. They’re all good.

If you intend to go VR (which is the only way I fly) why the need for the expensive monitor? You’ll only be using to get ready for flight. Unless your budget is basically unlimited, probably makes more sense to spend the cash on a better VR headset or the GPU needed to run it

The same goes for the touchscreen. In VR it won’t be useable as you’ll need some tactile feedback to operate it. There’s a variety of panels available from VKB, WW, Virpil, Total Controls, Tek Creations etc. it’s worth taking a look at options. For that matter, there’s no reason for not using a cheaper button box, as made for sim racing

 

[ilc72]

The NLR seat looks like a decent turnkey solution, ie already designed and probably very easy to setup. There’s a lot of positive users in the DCS community.
Another option worth considering is a decent 8020 Aluminium frame solution. Once you’ve got some confidence about using it, it’s VERY customisable, and probably more rigid than the NLR frame, as Aluminium is very inflexible. Additionally, buy it the right way and it’s a lot cheaper than the NLR frame. For a seat, I grabbed a s/h car seat for my own setup for all of £25 for a nice manual reclining leather unit. The only real hassle is that the design is basically down to you. In my case I bought one designed for Sim Racing, which has then required quite a bit of rejigging to optimise for flying. I’m confident that the end result is better and cheaper, but it did take some effort

In addition to the TPR and WinWing rudders, also consider the options from Virpil, MFG and VKB. They’re all good.

If you intend to go VR (which is the only way I fly) why the need for the expensive monitor? You’ll only be using to get ready for flight. Unless your budget is basically unlimited, probably makes more sense to spend the cash on a better VR headset or the GPU needed to run it

The same goes for the touchscreen. In VR it won’t be useable as you’ll need some tactile feedback to operate it. There’s a variety of panels available from VKB, WW, Virpil, Total Controls, Tek Creations etc. it’s worth taking a look at options. For that matter, there’s no reason for not using a cheaper button box, as made for sim racing

Thanks for the reply, I understand your point about the VR making a monitor redundant. The next 12 months looks to bring a number of new VR options to market, been following VR Sim Guy on YouTube and he’s got a pre-production unit from a new entrant. Out of interest what VR headset are you using?

I will take a look at the suggestions for the rudder pedals and screens.

 

[Mr_Sukebe]

I currently use a Quest Pro, which when I bought it was a good solution as it was on sale and the specs are still pretty decent. The key benefits over the Quest 3 being the local dimming, better optimised lenses and eye tracking. The eye tracking being the most important, as we currently have dynamic foveated rendering (DFR) for both FS2020 and DCS.

Unfortunately, it’s harder to recommend now with not just the pricing of the Q3, but also the withdrawal of future support for DFR by the developer, who I get the impression was a VERY clever student and has now gone off to work in industry and has better things to do than support something he’s not getting paid for. Don’t get me wrong, it certainly NOT a criticism of the chap. I’d do the same if I were him and I’m in awe that he got it working in the first place.
Having said all that, I’ve not read of anyone either taking over his work or replicating it, which is not good.

Of the other options, the Varjo Aero looked like a good option, but has now been discontinued. Their replacement looks mega expensive.

The Pimax has apparently awesome visuals, but I’ve just read far too many examples of people struggling to get them to consistently work to really have faith in it as a genuine long term solution.

The Bigscreen and Som VR1, also look potentially interesting, but I’ve read some early feedback about visual anomalies on both.

Right now, if I were buying, I’d grab a Q3, and keep the savings for whatever product hits the market that really is good and solid. I just don’t believe there’s anything else that does that right now.

 

[ilc72]

The Pimax has apparently awesome visuals, but I’ve just read far too many examples of people struggling to get them to consistently work to really have faith in it as a genuine long term solution.

The Bigscreen and Som VR1, also look potentially interesting, but I’ve read some early feedback about visual anomalies on both.

I have been looking at both the Big Screen Beyond and the upcoming Som VR1 so glad you mentioned these. The Pimax Crystal seems to be either absolutely the best VR headset ever or a disappointment, based on my research so far.