You get what you pay for - caveat emptor!

[DroneDocPDX]

I've had my P4 std. a couple years now, but a job and working condition change have limited my flying time over the past year or so. I had originally been using my Moto Z-play with the GO app for control, which did a decent job. There were a few odd issues and glitches but nothing that seemed to affect control. A bigger screen looked like a good idea but I didn't want to sink $300-$400 into a premium tablet for this without testing a few other options first so I found the RCA Voyager 7" tablet at Wal-Mart for $35. Large display was nice but that was about it for positive results. The app took forever to load and run. Sometimes It wouldn't load/run at all, or it would crash in the middle of a flight. The video stream wouldn't work at all if the channel was set to "Auto". I had many issues with video display and control that I have seen other members here write about. I started to wonder if the device just wasn't up to the demands of the app/video streaming/controlling, so I started to look into other devices. I found a list of devices that were ranked by performance with DJI products, with the high-dollar ones (iPad, iPad mini) at the top. However, in second place was the Lenovo Tab 4, at less than half the cost ($150) of an Apple device. Santa was kind enough to sense my needs this year and I found a 10" Tab 4 under the tree. This is the largest display that the P4 controller mount can hold, BTW. The increase in performance and, so far, complete elimination of all those issues I mentioned is nothing short of amazing, and that includes issues that I was certain were NOT related to the tablet. The app loads and is running in less than 10 seconds from tapping the icon. The video stream is now flawless regardless of setting. The bird is much more stable in flight. I am excited to fly again! Please excuse the length of this diatribe but, lesson learned! If any of you are having issues, I would suggest begging/borrowing a premium device, if possible, to test your bird with. Solving all your issues may be as simple as a device change. Good luck and happy flying!

 

[MapMaker53]

Yep. Flying an advanced-level drone is not a cheap pass-time. Glad to hear you got your issues ironed out.

 

[MotorCycle-Man]

A great very interesting story of your success i sure enjoyed it... and glad that ole man Santa was so good to you !..Thanks for the share i'm sure others will sure benefit from the thread... and theirs a few tweaks that you can do to that tablet to even make it better. ! Thank you DroneDoc .

 

[PhantomFandom]

I've had my P4 std. a couple years now, but a job and working condition change have limited my flying time over the past year or so. I had originally been using my Moto Z-play with the GO app for control, which did a decent job. There were a few odd issues and glitches but nothing that seemed to affect control. A bigger screen looked like a good idea but I didn't want to sink $300-$400 into a premium tablet for this without testing a few other options first so I found the RCA Voyager 7" tablet at Wal-Mart for $35. Large display was nice but that was about it for positive results. The app took forever to load and run. Sometimes It wouldn't load/run at all, or it would crash in the middle of a flight. The video stream wouldn't work at all if the channel was set to "Auto". I had many issues with video display and control that I have seen other members here write about. I started to wonder if the device just wasn't up to the demands of the app/video streaming/controlling, so I started to look into other devices. I found a list of devices that were ranked by performance with DJI products, with the high-dollar ones (iPad, iPad mini) at the top. However, in second place was the Lenovo Tab 4, at less than half the cost ($150) of an Apple device. Santa was kind enough to sense my needs this year and I found a 10" Tab 4 under the tree. This is the largest display that the P4 controller mount can hold, BTW. The increase in performance and, so far, complete elimination of all those issues I mentioned is nothing short of amazing, and that includes issues that I was certain were NOT related to the tablet. The app loads and is running in less than 10 seconds from tapping the icon. The video stream is now flawless regardless of setting. The bird is much more stable in flight. I am excited to fly again! Please excuse the length of this diatribe but, lesson learned! If any of you are having issues, I would suggest begging/borrowing a premium device, if possible, to test your bird with. Solving all your issues may be as simple as a device change. Good luck and happy flying!

Fully agree with your findings. My Nexus phone works fine with the Go app but I wanted something bigger and dedicated to the drone. After searching through many possibilities, I went with the Lenovo Tab 4 8" and it worked wonderfully. Last month I saw the 10" Tab 4 and I picked up one of those too. Again a very solid performer. So now I switch between the two depending on which one I want to carry. I highly recommend both. Can't beat them for the price!

 

[DroneDocPDX]

A great very interesting story of your success i sure enjoyed it... and glad that ole man Santa was so good to you !..Thanks for the share i'm sure others will sure benefit from the thread... and theirs a few tweaks that you can do to that tablet to even make it better. ! Thank you DroneDoc .

Tweaks? Do tell!!

 

[MotorCycle-Man]

Tweeks : HOW TO: Optimize Apple device for the best DJI GO app performance

Please somebody correct me IF im wrong : These will also work for a Android tablet also !
They did on My SAMSUNG Tab A .

 

[biggles2b]

@MCM, I tried 2 Samsung Tablets with mine, couldn't get on with either, so got a 10" iPad mini and away we went. No probs, gave the Samsung tablets to my grand kids, little gits seem to be able to do anything with computers, tablets, phones, **** near anything electrical they're on it!!!.

 

[PhantomFandom]

Tweeks : HOW TO: Optimize Apple device for the best DJI GO app performance

Please somebody correct me IF im wrong : These will also work for a Android tablet also !
They did on My SAMSUNG Tab A .

Yes. Of course the settings are worded differently and located in different places. The idea is to make sure the tablet's processor is not wasting time doing any other unnecessary functions. That way most of its processing power can be used for the Go app. In Android make sure that WiFi is off (airplane mode even), stop auto updates of Android apps, etc... I use my flying tablets exclusively for that. I don't load any other apps and keep them very basic. Just enough to get the job done of flying the drone.

 

[DroneDocPDX]

Tweeks : HOW TO: Optimize Apple device for the best DJI GO app performance

Please somebody correct me IF im wrong : These will also work for a Android tablet also !
They did on My SAMSUNG Tab A .

Thanks MCM, a few of those I have set already but there's some good settings for the GO app too. I pretty much gutted my Voyager pad but it still couldn't handle the video processing.

 

[DroneDocPDX]

An update: I just flew the bird out to one mile for the first time, with no glitching, freezing, etc. on the factory antennas. It was exciting and a little scary at the same time but I had plenty of flight battery left when it arrived back. It's the first time I was confident enough to try that distance, thanks to the performance of the Tab 4.

 

[JeffreyS]

Good to hear. BTW, I bought two iPad Mini 3 devices for under a hundred each and they were perfect. Ebay..

 

[DroneDocPDX]

Flew out a mile again today, upriver from my house. Got a screenshot this time! Though I'd try posting it.. I'm loving the stability of the lenovo pad compared to my moto droid z.