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DJI set to release new drone "Mavic" Tuesday 9.27.16 @ 11:30am est

I recommend that you install all of the available updates, if any, before the maiden voyage. I've seen a few videos and read about a few instances now where new owners/early adopters have had unexplained fly a ways.
 
Ronnie said:
I recommend that you install all of the available updates, if any, before the maiden voyage. I've seen a few videos and read about a few instances now where new owners/early adopters have had unexplained fly a ways.
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Good call Ronnie and I will. I'm halfway tempted to put it on eBay. Looks like they're going anywhere from $1,400 to $1,600 then ordering another one and wait for it. But I'm too anxious. Ha!

Ronnie, have you done the DJI care? Is it worth it? Usually, they advertise you break it we fix it no questions asked and it's never that easy. I know water damage is excluded.
 
I haven't purchased dji care but read about experiences of those who have. First it's better than nothing. Second, it is not a fast process. Third, and this is a deal killer for me, you may not get the same copter back that you send in. Rather than fix your broken copter they may replace it with another refurbished copter. Sometimes the replacement does not work as well as the copter it replaced, before it was broken that is. Also, some have complained that dji can be picky about what they cover, case in point, if you install a gimbal guard / bar between the skids and under the camera, it is sometimes picked up by the sensors and causes the copter to yo yo and crash. Send in your copter with the gimbal guard installed and dji may reject the claim or what you get back may not include the gimbal guard. Water damage not covered, that is the hardest damage to fix, you basically have to replace all the electronics, most Other damage is easy to fix.
 
At 369 it beats the Karma which I was going to try out as a newbie, but won't now with the massive recall. To the experts, is this DJI from Walmart a god one to try out for a first time? At 369 it's a drop in the bucket, but seems like a good buy for a first timer. Nice photos? Will it follow me? Will it return home? Thanks for the tips - this seems like a good first one for my kid especially at the cheap price....but am I buying obsolete already?
 
OCMD said:
At 369 it beats the Karma which I was going to try out as a newbie, but won't now with the massive recall. To the experts, is this DJI from Walmart a god one to try out for a first time? At 369 it's a drop in the bucket, but seems like a good buy for a first timer. Nice photos? Will it follow me? Will it return home? Thanks for the tips - this seems like a good first one for my kid especially at the cheap price....but am I buying obsolete already?
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Here is the official page for the standard. http://www.dji.com/phantom-3-standard. It would be a great quad for someone wanting to get into these. My only words of advice are;
1) buy one of these https://amzn.com/B00KXZC762 to practice on in the house and get used to how quadcopter controls work, I firmly believe that 99% of all "fly aways" are from people who don't understand how quadcopters work to begin with. It isn't unheard of for Phantom GPS to act up every now and then and you will be forced to fly manually without the assistance of GPS and having practiced on one of these cheapy quads will be invaluable if that happens. AND they're fun as hell.
2) the Standard is controlled by wifi, not lightbridge technology. Put plain and simple it will only fly about a 1/2 mile away at best. I have a feeling that a young person will quickly have the urge to fly farther. The Phantom 3 Advanced has the lightbridge technology and can fly around 3 miles away. Flying far away is really one of my favorite things to do, but I live in a rural area where I can do that easily without flying over other people or houses.
 
OCMD said:
At 369 it beats the Karma which I was going to try out as a newbie, but won't now with the massive recall. To the experts, is this DJI from Walmart a god one to try out for a first time? At 369 it's a drop in the bucket, but seems like a good buy for a first timer. Nice photos? Will it follow me? Will it return home? Thanks for the tips - this seems like a good first one for my kid especially at the cheap price....but am I buying obsolete already?
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This is a awesome drone I have one and love it. I have had mine almost a mile away and at that point you can no longer see it so it has more then enough range for me but if you feel you need to be further away you way want to look at the advance. This does have the follow me mode and it will return to home if signal is lost. Below is a video I shot on mine. I too flew many smaller cheaper copters first but this unit does have a learners mode that will restrict the height and range it can go which is great to learn in.

 
This Saturday only, the DJI Phantom 3 Standard will be onsale at Sams Club for $379, that's $100 off. And you don't have to wait in line, you can order it with free shipping. This is assuming spending the extra $10 will save you from being trampled at Walmart on Black Friday!

Good luck guys!
 
The standard is a good deal just limited by the wifi range but most people don't realize that flying 1/4th to 1/2 mile out can be difficult if not impossible to do by line of sight so you have to rely on the first person view supplied through the smart device. Herein lies my only issue with the standard, the wireless connection to the smart device does not connect as reliably as the wired connection of the advance or pro, at least it didn't for me on the p2 which uses the same wifi technology as the p3 standard.
 
@OCMD , I didn't hear about a karma recall. To answer your previous question, the p3 standard operates on wifi like the karma and most other drones do so from that perspective it is current not old technology. The p3 a, p and p4 are on dji's proprietary light bridge technology which provides a more reliable and longer range connection. The mavic is on something similar to lite bridge I think, all the latter are the latest and greatest out there but at a cost of several hundred dollars.
 
Ronnie said:
The standard is a good deal just limited by the wifi range but most people don't realize that flying 1/4th to 1/2 mile out can be difficult if not impossible to do by line of sight so you have to rely on the first person view supplied through the smart device. Herein lies my only issue with the standard, the wireless connection to the smart device does not connect as reliably as the wired connection of the advance or pro, at least it didn't for me on the p2 which uses the same wifi technology as the p3 standard.
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I have lost video signal once but when I did I still had gps signal so was able to follow the tracer on the gps screen back to me. You are very correct though at a 1/2 mile out if you lost both it would be very difficult to try and grab orientation you would hope the fail safe of the return to home would bring it back safely at that point but it is still not a feature I have tested. I would agree anyone who consistently wants to go over that half mile range I would look at the advanced. I have been 5000 ft out with this model and kept both gps and video so I imagine it depends on whats around you as to how far you can go before you lose signal. A 1/2 mile out doesn't seem that far when we discuss it but when your actually flying you realize how far away that is.
 
Got the Mavic last night. Man is this thing sweet!!! It's smaller than I expected! Haven't had the chance to fly yet but if you have the coin to spare I really think the Mavic is the way to go on so many levels.
 
I just bought the phantom standard at sams club Saturday. It really is fun. Now that I have the bug I'm thinking about ordering the mavic once I'm more comfortable with this one.
 
Exactly what happened to me! Portability was the deciding factor for me. Mavic is awesome and the follow me functions are MUCH improved.
 
I hiked 10 miles with the p4 in a backpack yesterday. The smart flight features, particularly the point of interest and follow me functions worked great but even stripped down (no chargers or fpv goggles), the system got heavy (after the first 5 miles) which is a Good argument for picking up something more portable like the Mavic. at the same time it's the first time I've used my p4 in two months and I only make this hiking trip every two years, so buying a more
Portable drone doesn't make much financial Sense. Besides, my Lily flying camera is supposed to ship next month and If it works as advertised it may be the last drone I buy (actually i may need two to make up for the short built in battery life).
 
I Absolutely love my phantom 3 pro and its ability for long range flights. I'd seriously consider stepping up to a model with Lightbridge for anyone buying the older models. I've been over 2 miles out flying with live video, love it.

Flew from my house over a mile down the road and hovered over a fireworks show on the 4th of july (family didn't feel like going). Then just hit return to home and it came back to my house. Amazing technology in these things.

The Mavic is on my wish list so my p3 pro may be for sale if santa orders me one.
 
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