Best Buy Black Friday

droneshop · Nov 14, 2015

nparker13 said:
I emailed DJI and they said they are authorized even though not listed on their list. I hope that email will be sufficient if I have a warranty issue.

Pay full price and you keep your warranty.

johnp44 · Nov 14, 2015

msinger said:
Maybe they are not authorized DJI dealers? I don't see any of those companies listed on DJI's website.

They must be now because I got an email from BB saying they were.

KeyToNewHome · Nov 15, 2015

I bought mine from BB on 10/31/15. Called them yesterday when I read about the Black Friday special pricing. Being a BB Elite Plus member, I have extended return periods. I will go into the store with my 10/31 receipt on 11/26, and they will return the item and resale it at the promotional price and provide me with a free battery.[emoji16]

Built Drones · Nov 15, 2015

Sam's Club is not being supplied DJI products till 12.31.2015 due to breaking MAP and as for Black Friday, the P3S will be with a spare battery for $599 which IMO is better than the SC offer yesterday.. Best Buy is advertising the Black Friday deal that ALL DJI dealers will be promoting on Black Friday weekend..

Waternut13134 · Nov 15, 2015

KeyToNewHome said:
I bought mine from BB on 10/31/15. Called them yesterday when I read about the Black Friday special pricing. Being a BB Elite Plus member, I have extended return periods. I will go into the store with my 10/31 receipt on 11/26, and they will return the item and resale it at the promotional price and provide me with a free battery.[emoji16]

Make sure you check with the store the day before and see if they have batteries. If the store doesn't have any they will not be able to honor the sale and bestbuy is giving out no rain checks.

John N Kronyak · Nov 15, 2015

sdtrojan said:
It sucks for the small retailer like me...plus they are only guaranteeing 6 units per store.

Feel for ya' guy. Always go for the bottom dollar no matter who it affects. That's the nations mentality. Bring back the small retailers, I say.

Sunfox · Nov 17, 2015

Built Drones said:
Sam's Club is not being supplied DJI products till 12.31.2015 due to breaking MAP and as for Black Friday, the P3S will be with a spare battery for $599 which IMO is better than the SC offer yesterday.. Best Buy is advertising the Black Friday deal that ALL DJI dealers will be promoting on Black Friday weekend..

Okay, so P3S with free battery for $599 (that does seem rather good)... and P3P with free battery for $1159... any deals on the Advanced to look forward to? I'm so indecisive on going with the Standard or the Adv/Pro... I feel like I really want Lightbridge over WiFi, but that black Friday price is looking mighty tempting for a guy like me who currently has no FPV quad whatsoever...

Sinisalo · Nov 17, 2015

Sunfox said:
Okay, so P3S with free battery for $599 (that does seem rather good)... and P3P with free battery for $1159... any deals on the Advanced to look forward to? I'm so indecisive on going with the Standard or the Adv/Pro... I feel like I really want Lightbridge over WiFi, but that black Friday price is looking mighty tempting for a guy like me who currently has no FPV quad whatsoever...

I would not buy the P3 Standard. I bought one at Sam's on Saturday during their sale and once I got it in the air I was super disappointed. The quad handles superb, has a great camera and gimbal but the range in a wide open field with no radio interference was very poor. I was only able to get 300 feet before the video transmission cut out to an unusable quality and I was only able to get 1000 feet away before I lost control signal. Also the transmitter is very minimal, the gimbal does not have the ability to flip all the way up or all the way down quickly, and I have no idea where the rth button is on the transmitter. Basically if you want a quadcopter to take video or pictures of your house, this would be a good option, otherwise I would advise you do as I did and cough up the extra $ for the P3 Advanced or Pro.

Also I ordered from Bestbuy because I have heard stories of people exchanging their 3dr solo (bestbuy just started carrying the phantom 3) during the warranty period for the same product or a bestbuy giftcard. That way if I get cracks in the frame or a TX that won't stay paired or a gimbal problem I won't have to ship it to China and wait weeks/months for the repair or exchange.

One last thing, I used a Capital One credit card to make the purchase because they do warranty doubling (up to 1 year extra) and price matching up to 3 months from the date of purchse. If your manufacturer warranty is up and you submit a claim for their warranty service it is much easier and faster turn around then dealing with DJI directly. Many card issuers have these benefits but the only ones I know of for sure is Capital One and AMEX (just make sure you don't carry a balance or you aren't saving any money)

Sunfox · Nov 17, 2015

Ugh... that's kind of what I was worrying about. And now I read on the DJI forums that there's a difference in the Lightbridge capabilities between the Advanced and Pro; namely the Advanced tops out at a 2mbit feed datarate, while the Pro can go up to 10?

John Locke · Nov 17, 2015

Sunfox said:
Ugh... that's kind of what I was worrying about. And now I read on the DJI forums that there's a difference in the Lightbridge capabilities between the Advanced and Pro; namely the Advanced tops out at a 2mbit feed datarate, while the Pro can go up to 10?

Correct, the Advanced has it's issues unfortunately. I use to recommend it, but since all the disappointment in the HDMI optional connector performing poorly, due to the slower data rate, I no longer recommend P3A. The Headplay HD goggles are the bomb, and you've gotta have the Pro for those to work right. I never record in 4K, I use only 1080, but I'm super glad I bought the Pro. If you're serious about this hobby, go with the P3P for sure, you won't be sorry later, trying to return something you're disappointed with, like so many others. Go with the PRO, and the 3D printed windsurfer ($25). Then you'll be good for a couple miles distance, easy.

Sunfox · Nov 17, 2015

Well, this has been most helpful... while the 2mbit data rate is probably fine for non-goggle FPV, and is likely required for longer range flights, I still like the option of having a higher quality feed for closer flights.

Any Canadian dealers reading this? Will there be similar deals to the US?

Waternut13134 · Nov 17, 2015

Sinisalo said:
I would not buy the P3 Standard. I bought one at Sam's on Saturday during their sale and once I got it in the air I was super disappointed. The quad handles superb, has a great camera and gimbal but the range in a wide open field with no radio interference was very poor. I was only able to get 300 feet before the video transmission cut out to an unusable quality and I was only able to get 1000 feet away before I lost control signal. Also the transmitter is very minimal, the gimbal does not have the ability to flip all the way up or all the way down quickly, and I have no idea where the rth button is on the transmitter. Basically if you want a quadcopter to take video or pictures of your house, this would be a good option, otherwise I would advise you do as I did and cough up the extra $ for the P3 Advanced or Pro.

Also I ordered from Bestbuy because I have heard stories of people exchanging their 3dr solo (bestbuy just started carrying the phantom 3) during the warranty period for the same product or a bestbuy giftcard. That way if I get cracks in the frame or a TX that won't stay paired or a gimbal problem I won't have to ship it to China and wait weeks/months for the repair or exchange.

One last thing, I used a Capital One credit card to make the purchase because they do warranty doubling (up to 1 year extra) and price matching up to 3 months from the date of purchse. If your manufacturer warranty is up and you submit a claim for their warranty service it is much easier and faster turn around then dealing with DJI directly. Many card issuers have these benefits but the only ones I know of for sure is Capital One and AMEX (just make sure you don't carry a balance or you aren't saving any money)

This is no longer allowed,after your return period is over you must go through the manufactor for any work.

Illina · Nov 17, 2015

Built Drones said:
Sam's Club is not being supplied DJI products till 12.31.2015 due to breaking MAP

Sam's had the P3S in store for the Nov. 14th sale. I couldn't turn away from the price and bought one to go with my P2v+ and P3P.

Sinisalo · Nov 18, 2015

Waternut13134 said:
This is no longer allowed,after your return period is over you must go through the manufactor for any work.

Dang, that sucks. Well for now the return period is extended for the holiday season until sometime in January.

JoBe · Nov 18, 2015

LuvMyTJ said:
SAMs is selling the P3S for $550. How do they get around it? Apple does it too and typically stores like Walmart will offer gift cards to offset the price due to pricing rules. But SAMs is $150 bones off the price.

My buddy is looking at getting a Phantom Standard. Do you know if that price is only for Black Friday?

Orion55 · Nov 18, 2015

JoBe said:
My buddy is looking at getting a Phantom Standard. Do you know if that price is only for Black Friday?

The deal at Sams for $549 was on November 14th only. I am unaware of other sams deals, but best buy is selling the p3p with extra battery for $1159 and I saw there was a p3s deal but I have seen it advertised.

JoBe · Nov 18, 2015

Orion55 said:
The deal at Sams for $549 was on November 14th only. I am unaware of other sams deals, but best buy is selling the p3p with extra battery for $1159 and I saw there was a p3s deal but I have seen it advertised.

Thank you. I didn't notice it was Nov 14 only. My buddy wants a Phantom Standard.

Sinisalo · Nov 18, 2015

JoBe said:
Thank you. I didn't notice it was Nov 14 only. My buddy wants a Phantom Standard.

I would strongly advise against P3S, check my previous post. Your buddy will be left with regret. I bought the Sam's club P3S on their sale date and took it back the same day. Not even worth $550

Orion55 · Nov 18, 2015

Sinisalo said:
I would strongly advise against P3S, check my previous post. Your buddy will be left with regret. I bought the Sam's club P3S on their sale date and took it back the same day. Not even worth $550

I would say it is definitely worth the $550 for those looking in that price range, but the lack of lightbridge is where you notice the major difference. The standard is like a controller with p2 technology and a bird that flies like a p3. I have both and the range of the p3p is amazing and I cant wait til my fat shark v3 goggles show up.

Sinisalo · Nov 19, 2015

Orion55 said:
I would say it is definitely worth the $550 for those looking in that price range, but the lack of lightbridge is where you notice the major difference. The standard is like a controller with p2 technology and a bird that flies like a p3. I have both and the range of the p3p is amazing and I cant wait til my fat shark v3 goggles show up.

Ok you are right, if the $550 price was still available it would be worth it for a beginner who doesn't want to fly with much range, I guess I should have said that the bells and whistles you get with the advanced make it more worth it to pony up the extra $. Lightbridge, More buttons/functions on the transmitter, more comfortable to hold the transmitter, better phone/tablet connection to transmitter through cable, better phone/tablet mount to transmitter, ability to charge transmitter with the phantom 3 charging cord rather than with a usb cable, better fpv image on screen, the ability to have hdmi out (if you buy and install the HDMI output module), Vision Positioning System, GPS+GLONASS Dual Positioning Module (standard only has GPS), removable filter ring (to install camera filters).

I bought the P3 Standard during the Sam's Club event and I knew I would be regretting it if I settled for that.