is it me?

J

jeansy

No longer active
Is it me or are Carenado prices are on the rise again?

previously I bought them without much notice, but looking at the premier today and seeing the price, its no PMDG or high detailed developer and the asking price is some what high

they have gone from a fair price to getting quite expensive, im scared to think what they will ask for the Fokker 50

or am i day dreaming?
 
It's not you. They are way over priced for what you get compared to the likes of Milviz, VRS, A2A, PMDG and what was Real Air, with advanced system modeling and effects. I stopped buying theirs and Alabeo, when prices went North of $34. To me they are a $25 tops, addon maker. They look great but are actually very incorrect when it comes to the shape of wings, dihedral, and thickness in many of the models. That coupled with the G1000 that rivals the old Norton antivirus for resources high King, I simply can't get into them. After I bought the phenom 100 and was told my system wasnt good enough as reason for fps hit... Which I don't understand why since there's nothing running system wise in that jet.... So it must be the g1000 code...I've never bought again from them. I would very much like to break that trend with the recent announced turbine commander but if it has g1000 it's a no go.
 
The last lot of aircraft that I have purchased over the last couple of years have all been around the $US34.95 mark. I find the biggest cost impost for me is the fluctuating Aussie dollar. Depending on the value of the $A I can pay anything between $A43 and $A48. I purchased the C-206 Stationair this morning and it cost me $A47.95. Of late I have been buying my aircraft through the FSS but this morning while I was downloading the upgrades for the aircraft I have in a moment of madness I got the C-206.
 
000rick000 said:
It's not you. They are way over priced for what you get compared to the likes of Milviz, VRS, A2A, PMDG and what was Real Air, with advanced system modeling and effects. I stopped buying theirs and Alabeo, when prices went North of $34. To me they are a $25 tops, addon maker. They look great but are actually very incorrect when it comes to the shape of wings, dihedral, and thickness in many of the models. That coupled with the G1000 that rivals the old Norton antivirus for resources high King, I simply can't get into them. After I bought the phenom 100 and was told my system wasnt good enough as reason for fps hit... Which I don't understand why since there's nothing running system wise in that jet.... So it must be the g1000 code...I've never bought again from them. I would very much like to break that trend with the recent announced turbine commander but if it has g1000 it's a no go.
Click to expand...

I could not have said it better, Rick. They make nice looking basic models that sorta work. There is a fellow over at AVSIM named Bert Parks who fixes a lot of their avionics that sorta work to something more closely resembling the real world counterpart. Bret Stole use to fix their flight dynamics.

I usually wait until the end of the year when they have a big sale. I then buy what looks interesting.

I will say that their PC-12 is one of my favorite GA aircraft. I will also fly the Cessna 210 and 206. They are basic aircraft that seem to be mostly correct.
 
Funny thing. Since I began the process of learning to build airplanes, I don't buy airplanes as frequently as I used to.

If and when I do buy, I look at the price point and do the cost benefit. The money goes to the best bang for the buck. This puts Carenado at a distinct disadvantage at their current price point.

I might as well make this point, as long as we are on the subject. I understand the efficiency of the Carenado marketing plan i.e. utilizing a library of instrumentation and other complex components in a series of GA aircraft. That makes sense.

I get a bit lost when I see multiples of the same model, re-packaged with various additions and improvements as in the case of the 390 Premier. I already own two other versions of the Embraer, and when I look at spending US $39.95 on a pay ware airplane, I'm more inclined to look in another direction.

I'm not bashing Carenado, I have their entire line and I love the airplanes for what they are. Their marketing model works too, so more power to them. I suppose that I, and others, are now kind of hitting the wall with this price point.

IMO
 
gman5250 said:
Funny thing. Since I began the process of learning to build airplanes, I don't buy airplanes as frequently as I used to.

If and when I do buy, I look at the price point and do the cost benefit. The money goes to the best bang for the buck. This puts Carenado at a distinct disadvantage at their current price point.

I might as well make this point, as long as we are on the subject. I understand the efficiency of the Carenado marketing plan i.e. utilizing a library of instrumentation and other complex components in a series of GA aircraft. That makes sense.

I get a bit lost when I see multiples of the same model, re-packaged with various additions and improvements as in the case of the 390 Premier. I already own two other versions of the Embraer, and when I look at spending US $39.95 on a pay ware airplane, I'm more inclined to look in another direction.

I'm not bashing Carenado, I have their entire line and I love the airplanes for what they are. Their marketing model works too, so more power to them. I suppose that I, and others, are now kind of hitting the wall with this price point.

IMO
Click to expand...

Totally concur, i do like their products, they quick and fun for short flights and exploring, i guess i was just naive until i took a closer look to at the premier and saw the price in Australian dollars which is around $53 then the old light glob lit up, a2a, MV, PMDG , cera just to name a few are within or less of that price range and have a lot more to offer

I must admit I stuck behind PMDG price for the 747, however After comparing Ifly and PMDG, there is a significant difference but I wanted the quailty, but I just cant see that with the preimer, its like several years ago when then called alpahsim released the H-60 at around $60 Australian, it was a bit of a shock but non the less I jumped at it as I wanted a blackhawk.

I dont know, im just amazed i really never noticed the prices before I used to compare it something as simple as its the same price as a packet of cigarettes here and that never really bothered me so I bought them

noting they are now looking at making bigger aircraft like fokker 50 and something else ive heard behind the scenes im afraid that these bigger models are going to be near triple figure prices

im guessing into days world bang for buck is widening for the worse or have we been blessed by some high quality developers who have relativity cheap prices, it was funny only 5mths ago I never even thought like this, however with little jeans now sucking my wage dry while the wife is off work my selection method has changed

i guess its a bit of everything highlighted

one thing for sure its not helping the anti piracy campaign with increasing prices, bring back the old fs5 or fs98 days where 98% of addons where free and we flew in a world not much different from the movie tron
 
Right on Gordon, those are my sentiments exactly. Despite my critiques, on the standard gauge airplanes I do own from them, I still enjoy them quite a bit. The main reason I don't buy is the price point. For the reasons you listed. And I agree, their business model works for them, so good for them! Until it stops working there's really no change needed from their perspective.
 
I have been fortunate, over the years, to have been a beta tester for several developers. It has been interesting to see the differences between different developers in how they bring a product to fruition and market. Some, like Milviz, really sweat the details. There is currently going on at Milviz a three quarters of a forum page discussion on the throttle response of an aircraft. Now, this is an aircraft that was released years ago and is being upgraded to V4. Milviz is still trying to improve the airplane and is spending programmer's time and Milviz money to do so.

Then there is a company that will remain unnamed who once when told, by several beta testers, that the model was wrong, insisted on going to market with it as is. He reasoning to us was, "I need to get some money from this."

I think there is a market for companies like Carenado who make a simplified model. Sometimes, I want to just "kick the tires and light the fire." I am not interested in a C&D startup and taxi. Just put me at the end of the runway with engine(s) running. I want to go sight seeing. However, should I pay $40-50 for a sight-seeing aircraft? I guess it depends on just how badly I want the airplane.
 
Great post jmig. Speaking of that MV beta testing, jmig and I are testers and have been for years, and I can only speak to my own testing experiences, but if you have any doubt about the quality or level of detail that Milviz goes to, to get out a product as close to reality. We've been upgrading some products to v4 lately... And literally are tearing down to the throttle movement distance of my hard ware as it coincides with the nozzle position, RPM indication, and fuel flow, and the spool time across the range of available RPM position. As in between, 60-70, 70-80,80-90,90-MIL, MiL-AB. This kind of testing is on going at Milviz on every product. So when bugs get through, it a matter of pride and devotion to quality that they are squashed as fast as possible.
 
This is a bit of an outside perspective, but I think the two major features that sell slight sim titles are novelty and immersion. Immersion is the choice of big names like A2A, MilViz, and PMDG; fewer products with higher immersion and longer use. Others choose novelty (paired with simplicity) and fit well within that implementation (Aeroplane Heaven comes to mind as one of the better developers). The last decade has brought incredible changes in terms of fidelity, which feeds into the novelty factor. I.e. From the perspective of systems and flight mechanics, I'm not sure how much better the AVSIM refined Carenado PC-12 is compared to the stock Flight1 PC-12 (I flew them years apart), but dammit all if it's not the finest looking rendition out there...and that's the novelty. Therein lies the trap, because you can only make so many aircraft skin deep before they all start to feel about the same. I would imagine Carenado's prices are on the rise because they're seeing fewer purchase, in part because they've saturated the market and in part FS-Steam, Dovetail, and P3Dv4 have not yet brought in enough new blood who just want to grab the latest/greatest as they get started. Could be completely wrong though, and they may just be turning up the price dial to maximize profits.
 
Yeah it's not just Carenado. I think a lot of aircraft devs/publishers just look at the market trends and if they think people will spend more then they will raise their prices. For example, look at the price of the PMDG new releases. Those prices may well be justified for those products (and they may not be), but every other aircraft developer will look at what price an aircraft CAN sell for and adjust their prices accordingly. Not all will overly inflate their prices, but some will because they can.

You just really need to do a lot of research before you buy any addons these days (or anything for that matter) as price is no indicator of quality.
 
scotth6 said:
Yeah it's not just Carenado. I think a lot of aircraft devs/publishers just look at the market trends and if they think people will spend more then they will raise their prices....
You just really need to do a lot of research before you buy any addons these days (or anything for that matter) as price is no indicator of quality.
Click to expand...

That is called, "What the market will bare." It is a fundamental principle of capitalism. I think John Cagle made a very pertinent point in his post when he use the term "novelty." I can recall when the old Alphasim use to sell aircraft add-ons for $5.00. I bought many of them just because they were so cheap and a novelty. I would fly them once or twice to see what it might have been like to fly the real airplane, then they would just sit there like, my sons' last year's Nintendo game.

I am fortunate in that I can afford to buy any add-on I wish. However, at $40-50 an add-on I think, do I really want this? Many times, such as in the case of Alabeo's C-207, I decided that since I already have Carenado's C-206, I didn't need to spend the extra money. That is only one example. I have Flysimware's excellent lear 35A. I have considered buying one or more of Carenado's business jets, but why? Why spend another $40-50 for something that is pretty much what I already have?

If I, who can afford to buy these products on a whim, am holding off on purchases because, I don't see the value meeting or exceeding the cost, what about other potential purchasers who feel they need to budget their sim purchases? Will companies like Carenado and Alabeo price themselves out of the market? I hope not, because I fear, we the flight sim consumer will be the biggest loser.
 
I have bought vitualCol planes in the past. Not the greatest quality but fun to fly and when you catch them on sale, less than $15. Their new CRJ series is $24 and is a decent addon. I also used to buy Lionheart aircraft. They are pretty nifty for the price and often on sale (like right now). A good price point and I'd buy more of them if I didn't have most.
 
Well said gentlemen! One thing I've been thinking about and I tried to highlight in the FSW forum early on regarding the then (and still?) Unsettled 3rd party developer requirement to have a license to use the aircraft in question from the original manufacturer, could do one of 2 things, cause a meltdown in our hobby when multitudes of developers all try contacting the same manufacturers for permissions over and over again. Currently PMDG is the only one I know if that had Boeing license to use their name and source data. But their product is now over $134!!!! Which brings me to the next point...if the Pandora's box is opened and manufacturers are friendly to the digital development, then we could see these prices as the new Norm....if that's the case I'm out...I can afford to buy whatever addon but I won't spend that kind of money on a single add on. I can go fly a real plane for an hour for that price!

Granted do I think that will happen? Ummm.... Likely not... But not improbable. Lol....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top