DJI for a newbie?

[MetroTx]

Hey fellas, new guy from Texas here. I have never flow a quadcopter but I am considering buying one which is why I signed up here. I looked for a begginers section but the only thing I found was a thread on tips for safe flying etc. and you can't even post in it.

My question is would a Phantom be good for a beginer? In my research ie. googleing "best drone for beginners" a bunch of smaller beginner units selling anywhere from under a hundred bucks up 2-300 come up. As with any hobby I have gotten into, I know once you get proficient the beginner unit is not enough and you start warming up the debit card for the next best model.

Also in my research it appears the DJI/Phantoms are the best of the best and with the technology these days (auto hover, return to base, obstical avoidance) it seems to me a Phantom 3 is beginner friendly without sacrificing features such as camera quality, range, flight time etc.

To sum it all up, why spend 150-200 bucks only to spend another 5 or 600 two months later. Buy once cry once, or until a year or two.

Any and all opinions are welcome, THANKS!

 

[msinger]

A Phantom is a great choice for a beginner if it fits within your budget. DJI makes the best quadcopters on the market today.

 

[Tomg_03]

as of today, dji sid on their website that the phantom 3 rang from the 4k to the pro is being discontinued and are no longer manufactured. The phantom 3 standard is the only one left and is a great beginner drone if it is in your budget. The mavic pro also looks pretty good but that is more expensive. I would strongly suggest the P3s. (phantom three standard)

 

[msinger]

as of today, dji sid on their website that the phantom 3 rang from the 4k to the pro is being discontinued and are no longer manufactured

There are still many of these Phantoms available via Amazon/eBay here.

 

[ROD PAINTER]

The Phantom 3 standard and Phantom 3 Pro are available on Best Buys website.

 

[ob1415]

The P3S is a great quad for a beginner. Although I would highly suggest buying/flying a cheaper toy quad first until you get the hang of it. If you can learn to fly the unstable, toy-grade drones proficiently, you will be great behind the controls of a P3S.

 

[ob1415]

I'd go the the refurbished P3S for $359 (no tax, free shipping) on DJI's website. They go for $499 new, but at that price, you can step up the the P3P for only a couple hundred more.

 

[renegadecj]

I'm an official noobie for the full size drones, and the P4 is a fantastic machine. Only flown it 3 times so far, but went off beginner mode after the first flight. It just works. I have flown the little toy spheres and a toy helicopter for a couple years though, so that may have helped. The P4 has great controls and seems very intuitive. DJI makes a great unit!

 

[eatpasta]

@MetroTx I highly recommend that you spend $40 on a micro quad first and get comfortable with it before getting a Phantom. Yes phantoms are awesome but flying a crappy micro will prepare you well for a big heavy Phantom

 

[eatpasta]

Actually, yesterday morning I launched my phantom which was in P mode with a calibrated compass and all ready to go. Something had changed and when I got it into the air it was drifting in the wind (atti mode) and if I hadn't ruined 3 or 4 micros before getting a phantom, I would have crashed it into the crane I was standing next to and the phantom would have gone in the water.

Instead, I stayed cool and was able to fight the winds, avoid the crane and hand catch the phantom. I re-calibrated the compass and hand launched in P mode and was able to get this shot...

@MetroTx plus the micro's a really good fun. Get one or get a couple and get comfortable zipping around!

 

[renegadecj]

@MetroTx plus the micro's a really good fun. Get one or get a couple and get comfortable zipping around!

I want to get one of those microquads for my daughter...what brand is good? Seems like there are a lot of them out there, but lots of bad reviews.

 

[eatpasta]

I want to get one of those microquads for my daughter...what brand is good? Seems like there are a lot of them out there, but lots of bad reviews.

there is a list on here somewhere. lemme see if I can find it

 

[eatpasta]

@renegadecj check out this thread.

It contains this list which is a great list of Micros. Oh and I like your screen name....

 

[MetroTx]

I want to get one of those microquads for my daughter...what brand is good? Seems like there are a lot of them out there, but lots of bad reviews.

I was seeing the Syma X5 pop up a few times. For 40-50 bucks I guess you can't go wrong and looks to be fun to fly even after you move up to the PS3.

 

[Pirate63]

I tried a $30 quad very briefly and then went with a P4, which has been very easy to pick up on. Of course I have also been very conservative in my flights so far but I would think you would be fine with a Phantom.

 

[DrgRcr]

My son and I just got the Syma X5C-1 last week. It's easy to get up and fly once you get the trim set up pretty good. We took it in our yard and I flew it around a bit. I will say that you need to fly when there is no wind. I took it up a little(70-80' I'd guess) and realized that a light breeze was starting to take it over, so I quickly brought it down.

 

[Omokjoe]

Hi metrotx. Great thing about learning on a basic Syma x5c is they are light and if crashed onto grass =no damage. Also cheap. A P3S was our next step up actually easier to fly but I personally feel the $50 was well spent as no crashes with the P3S in 12 months.

 

[MetroTx]

So it's looking like the Syma X5C and a couple extra batteries is a sound investment.

 

[ftttu]

Howdy, fellow Texan! The learning curve with the latest DJI GPS/multi-sensor drones is so steep, I don't recommend anything lesser due to a waste of time and money. These drones have the capability of taking off and landing with the slightest of input, which requires no controller stick inputs. You can take off simply by swiping a switch on your viewing device, and you can land with the push of a button.

When you to take off, the drone will hover in place until controlled to move somewhere else. If you are moving and you don't want to move anymore, you just let off the controller sticks where it will then stop and hover. With those facts and the fact there is a trainer in the app, you have to be a bonehead, reckless or a reckless bonehead to crash if you use good sense and care. Soon, you will be using the sportier modes and exploring other features.

 

[KCadby]

I started with a Syma X8C ($157 w/two extra batteries) and as said above, DON'T try learning to fly if it's windy!!!
Start with as little wind as possible because they do "nothing on it's own" to correct for wind OR Altitude...
Also keep it up-wind of you because I LOST my first X8C when I let it get too far down-wind of me (15+mph wind) to the point where I couldn't tell which way I was flying it = bye-bye
With that said...
The P3s (I have Std.) is un-real EASY to fly IMO simply because, any time you take your hands off of the controls it STOPS where it is and Hovers there until you move the controls again... You simply push the right stick forward and watch what direction it goes and if it isn't going the direction you want then Stop (thumbs off of controls), rotate it some then push forward again until you get used to rotate it while going forward to fly where you want to go...