Well, thank you all, this information is making me optimistic.
Phantom flying is a new world to me, I've spent a $1000 on RC planes at a time but it was 5-6 identical planes with intention of flying full contact combat and them being reduced to spares parts in the graveyard in 6 months by the time the next batch was ordered.
I'm taking a backseat to my son as he peruses Youtube fame bashing RC cars, I'm flying RC filming his adventures but as soon as I'm needed to retrieve his truck from the ditch, the Phantom just waits. This is actually priceless to me.
I justify hobby expenses by $/hr I'd like to see $20/hr out of the Phantom 4 and it looks like that's achievable, next question is the P4 standard being discontinued? If I end up having to replace my std with a pro or adv, are the power systems at least the same for parts compatibility? Should I expect the PRO and ADV to come down in price, $2000 for the PRO would be no problem in my head but the wife seems to see some magic "too expensive" line in there somewhere?