Discovery Pro

[popwebz]

How does the Team Black Sheep Discovery Pro compare to the Phantom? Since the Discovery Pro comes with an integrated gimbal the price is about the same as the Phantom. If anyone has any experience with TBS products or their gimbal please tell me about it. Both of these quads interest me but there seems to be little information on how they compare in the real world.
http://team-blacksheep.com/products/prod:discopro

 

[rilot]

I'm not sure why you think the price of TBS Discovery is similar to the Phantom.

Phantom Ready to Fly: $680
Decent brushless Gimbal: $350

Total: $1020

TBS Discovery Pro kit: $600
DJI Naza Lite + GPS: $220
Motors and ESCs: $280
Propellors: $30
Battery: $80
Arms: $25
LiPo charger: $80
Transmitter + reciever (DX8): $450

Total: $1845

OK, you will have a more capable quad but they aren't price comparable at all.
The TBS Discovery is a superb bit of kit for FPV. If I could convince the Mrs to let me buy a 3rd multicopter, the TBS Discovery would be it.

 

[popwebz]

OK. I didn't factor in the Transmitter or battery charger or props. Anyways when I calculated it it was $1200 for the Discovery Pro. So $200 more.
I'm curious though What your two multicopters are. I don't have any quads yet so in what ways would the TBS be a "more capable one"?

 

[rilot]

I have a Phantom and an F550 Hex.
The Phantom is great as it's very portable. Easy to find a carry case for it and then just chuck it in the back of the car ready to fly anywhere. It has it's limits though as it's a small frame and doesn't have much lifting capacity. Once you add the gimbal you'll be down to 5 mins flight time. The Discovery has much more lifting capacity and should be able to push 10 mins+ all-up with a 4500mah lipo.

 

[popwebz]

I do like the small portability factor of the Phantom. I never thought that a gimbal would have such a drastic effect on flight time for the Phantom. I've now added the QAV540G to my list and am having a hard time deciding between the Discovery Pro and the QAV.

The QAV540G frame is cheaper than the Disco Pro ($350 vs $700) but it doesn't have TBS core, switching between FPV and GoPro or the gimbal control board built in.

There is also such a huge price gap between the original Discovery ($80) and the Pro ($700) that I'm not sure it is worth it. I mean the gimbal part is worth maybe $250.

QAV claims it is so good at vibration reduction that it says you don't even need a gimbal. So like to know if anyone with experience can confirm that for jello the QAV is better.

Gosh there are so many good options now that it is hard to make a decision! In the long run I'll probably by a secondhand Phantom if the larger quad becomes too restricting.