Buying Advice Needed: New Quad? Used Quad? Repair?

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Excuse me if I ramble...

Need help deciding whether to buy a new drone (or a used drone), or repair mine or ???

I use my drone for real estate photography. I would also like to start using it for stock footage or other video-oriented business uses.

So I crashed my P3A a few months back and it has been losing connection intermittently. Sometimes it flies perfectly. Sometimes (about 20% of the time) I can't launch because I can't get the RC to connect to the AC in the first place. Sometimes it flies anywhere from 30 seconds to five minutes and THEN disconnects.

Today was a close call. Lost connection about 7 minutes in to a flight. It initiated RTH. it landed about 20 feet away from exactly where I took off and almost clipped a Eucalyptus tree on the way down.

I can't have my drone disconnecting in front of clients like that...

So what should I do for replacing my P3A???

1) Buy a used P3A off ebay / craigslist. Cheapest solution, but I am weary of buying someone else problems. Plus the P3A image and video quality is "just ok" but not what I would call good. Also it seems like newer drones have more flight modes that can be dialed in.

2) Try to repair it: Least appealing because it might take a while to get it back and the repair costs might be so high that it isn't really worth it.

3) Buy a newer / other drone? The P4 Pro lines appeal to me primarily for the bigger sensor and the fact you can stop down the aperture. But I have heard the 4K footage isn't as good as that of the Mavic air due to the low bit rate.

What would you do?

I guess my priorities would be along the lines of image quality first, then robustness of connectivity, then capability, durability.

BUDGET: My budget would depend primarily on "life expectancy" of the drone. That doesn't mean just how many hours I can put on it before it explodes, but also means how long before it becomes "obsolete" or superseded by a new drone release.

Thanks in advance.
 
Excuse me if I ramble...

Need help deciding whether to buy a new drone (or a used drone), or repair mine or ???

I use my drone for real estate photography. I would also like to start using it for stock footage or other video-oriented business uses.

So I crashed my P3A a few months back and it has been losing connection intermittently. Sometimes it flies perfectly. Sometimes (about 20% of the time) I can't launch because I can't get the RC to connect to the AC in the first place. Sometimes it flies anywhere from 30 seconds to five minutes and THEN disconnects.

Today was a close call. Lost connection about 7 minutes in to a flight. It initiated RTH. it landed about 20 feet away from exactly where I took off and almost clipped a Eucalyptus tree on the way down.

I can't have my drone disconnecting in front of clients like that...

So what should I do for replacing my P3A???

1) Buy a used P3A off ebay / craigslist. Cheapest solution, but I am weary of buying someone else problems. Plus the P3A image and video quality is "just ok" but not what I would call good. Also it seems like newer drones have more flight modes that can be dialed in.

2) Try to repair it: Least appealing because it might take a while to get it back and the repair costs might be so high that it isn't really worth it.

3) Buy a newer / other drone? The P4 Pro lines appeal to me primarily for the bigger sensor and the fact you can stop down the aperture. But I have heard the 4K footage isn't as good as that of the Mavic air due to the low bit rate.

What would you do?

I guess my priorities would be along the lines of image quality first, then robustness of connectivity, then capability, durability.

BUDGET: My budget would depend primarily on "life expectancy" of the drone. That doesn't mean just how many hours I can put on it before it explodes, but also means how long before it becomes "obsolete" or superseded by a new drone release.

Thanks in advance.
 
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My advice would be to purchase new. I have heard very good things about DJI REFURB products but you just never know. if you are spending money it is best to buy the latest and greatest. It is rumored that a new PHANTOM is about to be released.
 
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I’d go for the P4pro - new or 2nd hand they are fantastic AC. I’ve bought 2nd hand carefully, recognising there is risk, and always been happy with the savings off new - it’s entirely up to you, but there are lots of genuine sellers out there. The info you indicate on P4P vs Mavic is incorrect - P4P is superior, google it. As to life expectancy before next model comes out, nobody can answer that unless we had a time travel machine - forget chasing the next best model, it’s just not worth it. Good luck
 
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Thanks so much for everyone who answered and provided their opinions.

In the end - for now, at least - I ended up buying a used P3A off craigslist because 1) I needed a replacement drone right away for a gig, and 2) I was already familiar with it, and 3) I was hoping that I could use it to "diagnose" my other P3A that keeps disconnecting. (i.e., figuring out if it is my old drone or my old radio that is having problems with the connection).

I will probably still upgrade to a new model (at least new to me) in a few months down the road once things have sorted out.

Thanks again.
 
I’d go for the P4pro - new or 2nd hand they are fantastic AC. I’ve bought 2nd hand carefully, recognising there is risk, and always been happy with the savings off new - it’s entirely up to you, but there are lots of genuine sellers out there. The info you indicate on P4P vs Mavic is incorrect - P4P is superior, google it. As to life expectancy before next model comes out, nobody can answer that unless we had a time travel machine - forget chasing the next best model, it’s just not worth it. Good luck

Thanks for your input.

As for the difference between P4P and the Mavic Air, my understanding is that the CAMERA on the P4P is better than that of the Mavic Air (or Mavic Pro) but that the 4K CODEC of the Mavic Air (100Mbps) is better than the 4K codec of the P4P (60Mbps).
 
Thanks for your input.

As for the difference between P4P and the Mavic Air, my understanding is that the CAMERA on the P4P is better than that of the Mavic Air (or Mavic Pro) but that the 4K CODEC of the Mavic Air (100Mbps) is better than the 4K codec of the P4P (60Mbps).

Sorry my delay in replying, I believe your conclusion is incorrect, the P4P Camera is superior in every way inc 100Mbps bit rate - this review may assist with greater details DJI Mavic Pro vs Phantom 4 Pro: A Must-Read comparison
 

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