HELP BUY or BUILD

[Rhameen]

Hey guys i am new to the drone world. I am pretty much sold on building a drone but found a phantom 2 for $300! so now I am at a loss.
Building Pros is that I can customize and as tech changes I can upgrade or replace broken parts inexpensively.

I do not know how much can be customized or upgraded on the phantom 2. Building means I can get cheap batteries etc. But the phantom 2 is clean and has so many features! help

 

[cheebs]

I've built a lot of rigs, and NOT ONE of them matches the stability, video quality and battery life of a Phantom (3 Pro in my case) without a ton of tuning and fiddling. If you're going to get a P2, then you need a gimbal ($300 for the Zenmuse), fpv setup (at least another $100, can be 3x more) and telemetry ($60 for the iosd mini). That equals or surpasses the price of a P3 Standard, with 2.7k camera fpv, and 3-axis gimbal included!

 

[Jeff48920]

If you want the satisfaction component, then build. For all the idiosyncrasies you read about, DJI has worked out all the complex integration better than its competitors.

 

[kenjancef]

i have a Phantom 2 Non-Vision, and added all of the FPV stuff, flies effortlessly... but I loved it so much I decided to build my own. Yea, I'm sure it won't fly as well as a Phantom, and at this point I invested a small fortune in parts for it, but as Jeff said, it's the satisfaction component... I picked all of the parts I wanted (went overboard a bit actually), and the bonus is that I'm learning how all of the parts go together and work together. Might sound funny, but it's giving me a better appreciation for my Phantom as I learn how the stuff works. And it helps that I have access to 3D Printers through my job, so I am able to print what I need, I just bought my own filament.

 

[Rkkkkkk]

Thanks guys! So for best performance/value verdict seems to be phantom 3. Now I found one with no remote for 280. Can I use an aftermarket transmitter if I change the receiver as well or does dji have that stuff locked up?

 

[RoyVa]

If it's a P3 with Lightbridge the controller can be expensive. Check it out first.