Hello.. new to this forum and very new to the drone community.. I am seeking a first drone and asking for advice on which brand or type would yield the best bang for the dollar spent.. I have considered getting one that is cheap to learn on and crash without a great loss of money.. Also thought to find a sophisticated one and learn on it very carefully.. SO, here I am asking for advice.. what I want would be one with the latest tech, FPV, GPS, autopilot and so forth.. my primary desire right now is a drone (quad or hex rotor) with camera for surveillance in my wooded area.. other uses will present themselves I suspect.. so, which brands (DJI, etc.) produce the best product.. I an handy with basic electronics and the like and computer tech.. thanks, Bill
I think our basic advice is here: https://www.droneflyers.com/2014/11/beginners-only-the-best-first-quadcopter/ It's best to buy a toy first and learn how they work. Fly one - maybe you will crash it. Buy another. Continue until you are confident of your piloting skills. At that point you will have enough experience to choose what you want or need for your particular future use. In terms of mid-level camera quadcopters, DJI owns the market. You cannot build or buy anything close to a Phantom 3 for anywhere near that price. BUT, that doesn't mean it's the machine that you want. Instead of looking at "what quad to buy?", you need to look at training yourself to be a pilot and taking the time to understand the products on the market. Then the answers will come naturally. Welcome!
Not true anymore.. Have you seen the 3DR Solo? Just released recently, but it is similar in price to the phantom 3 and has all the same features.. I've been planning on getting a phantom 3, but am probably going to go with the solo instead. To the OP - First think about how much you want to spend and how much you are potentially willing to lose if you have a fatal crash.. they are easy to fly, its not like flying an R/C airplane. Flying any in an open space will give you plenty of time to learn, but I'd still consider what you are going to spend knowing that if you do destroy it, you are out that money.
Solo is not ready. Lots of problems. Not simple problems - problems which make it not a valid consumer quadcopter at this time. Gimbal was just delayed until at least mid-August. So no one has seen one - complete and ready-to-fly - operate. If you want to be a pioneer buy a Solo. I'm gonna wait until October to even review it, but based on experiences I am seeing from actual experienced pilots who know what they are talking about, it's not an option for most.
Hi, I'm also new to the forums. I'm still a beginner, but I'll relate my experiences to maybe help. My first venture in quads was a udi nanoquad. They can be had for 20.00 if you watch for the sales. That little booger is indestructible. I almost got discouraged and gave up learning until I tried it in a gym. The large open area without breezes gave me the time I needed to mellow out my joystick actions. After that I moved up to a mini Pathfinder hexacopter. It was on sale for 54.99 from Gearbest. However don't think about buying from them. They advertised free shipping but tacked on 20.00 s&h. Secondly 2 weeks later I'm still waiting for my toy so I email and they reply they are out of stock and for me to pick another item. After another week of haggling to just get my money back they send me a tracking # and told me it was shipped. 2 weeks later it arrives. To get back on subject the Pathfinder was a little more temperamental that the nano, so I moved on to the learning curve for it. It has a camera so that was new and fun for me. Beware though it was not near as tough as the nano and has several reminders of my mishaps, but at least it's still flyable. Then I bit the bullet and bought a used DJI450 off eBay. Now that is when my interest really took off. I was lucky in my purchase. The DJI450 was built from the parts off a DJI550. So I also received 2 extra arms, motors, and esc's along with a handful of props. Being impatient to fly this thing I took it out in my yard for it's first flight. I couldn't get it to rev up in attitude or gps mode. Very disappointing but I did fly it briefly in manual mode. It was a bit scary. This thing was big and fast next to my Pathfinder And my yard is really too small. That's when I started researching and downloaded the proper tools and manuals. Needless to say the next time I took it out I calibrated the gps and it was love after that. That thing flew like a dream in gps mode. It is also a very tough machine. I learned the hard way twice before I found out you can't let big trees get between the quad and the satellites. This is a very tough machine. My first crash broke an arm but no other damage. My second crash was into the top of an 80 ft. pine tree. That crash broke a few pieces of the brand new landing gear I had bought, during it's tumble to lower tree tops where it still took me 2 hours to shake it out. Anyways that might give you a hint at the durability of the DJI450. Maybe some of the regulars on here can give you heads up on other brands. Just don't get discouraged and give up when you destroy your first mini. Adding gps and attitude modes make it so easy.
You are so correct if you know you are serious about the hobby. Not everyone, myself included, knew if they had what it takes. I do kind of regret buying the mini because it was the absolute hardest to fly. But I chalked it up to experience and it was only an additional 80.00. Still that money would have bought a couple of batteries for my DJI450. The Phantoms are great rtf drones, but I'm loving the ease of replacing parts on the DJI450, not to mention the unlimited selection of batteries. My next battery will be a 10,000 mAh just to see what kind of flight time I get. The old saying to each their own. For most an rtf is best, but for me a kit is better because I have the patience and ability to repair and customize. Your input is perfect for most. The Phantoms and other models with GPS mode sure make learning easy. I've gotten lazy with mine and am sloppy with the mini now.
