BOYCOTT DJI!

[Bill_Burkert]

I know most us enjoy the technology but we are insane because we continue to expect a turnaround from DJI that wont happen. We waited a long time for P2 firmware for Ground Station, we swallowed decreased performance with newer firmware, batteries are expensive and simply will not last 300 charges, older batteries won't get the firmware updates, older speed controller can't get a firmware update for the newer improved motors, the batteries are expensive and fail, the gimbals are fragile, the USB ribbon cable is crap AND customer support is worse than Verizon or Time Warner and that is hard to do.

Post a slightly negative comment on Facebook, it gets removed and you get banned from posting further comments. DJI Facebook is sanitized so everything looks great.

Inspire is not shipping, it has all kinds of issues, that DJI won't discuss.

Solution - boycott DJI. Wait for the competition unless you have $2k - $3k of disposalable money to play. I, for one, will wait to play another day.

Too bad the GOP hackers don't focus on DJI and expose them and their problems. I wonder how much the mythbuster team is being compensated to promote these products. It is a shame that they bought into DJI, their credibility is gone, they sold out. Come on GoPro, somebody build a better drone because there is much money to be had.

Everyone enjoy the holidays, best wishes.

 

[msinger]

Wait for the competition

And, here lies the big problem. There is no need to race to improve when there are no worthy competitors.

 

[IrishSights]

I regard this as emerging technology with all that that contains. I for one am happy with my P2. There is from my perspective not a whole lot of competition for the Phantoms when I looked around and the products and service experience would probably evolve more rapidly if there was more competition. With all the list you made being true its still the only quad out there that fits my needs. They have been active in various forums especially 2 beta testers on RCgroups who are taking questions, feeding back to posters and DJI. They have direct access to the project manager for the Inspire. It is maturing and not all bad including customer service. I have had good experience when dealing with warranty issues.

I for one will not be boycotting them. When the Inspire has matured a little more I will most likely be going down that route.

 

[Prylar Bek]

I know that misery loves company. Human nature. And what you say has merit. I personally have had NO issues with my V3 and thus far no contact with DJI to judge. One would think their communication skills would be better. Maybe in time. I want to like the Inspire. Time will tell

 

[Pmcdn]

I know most us enjoy the technology but we are insane because we continue to expect a turnaround from DJI that wont happen. We waited a long time for P2 firmware for Ground Station, we swallowed decreased performance with newer firmware, batteries are expensive and simply will not last 300 charges, older batteries won't get the firmware updates, older speed controller can't get a firmware update for the newer improved motors, the batteries are expensive and fail, the gimbals are fragile, the USB ribbon cable is crap AND customer support is worse than Verizon or Time Warner and that is hard to do.

Post a slightly negative comment on Facebook, it gets removed and you get banned from posting further comments. DJI Facebook is sanitized so everything looks great.

Inspire is not shipping, it has all kinds of issues, that DJI won't discuss.

Solution - boycott DJI. Wait for the competition unless you have $2k - $3k of disposalable money to play. I, for one, will wait to play another day.

Too bad the GOP hackers don't focus on DJI and expose them and their problems. I wonder how much the mythbuster team is being compensated to promote these products. It is a shame that they bought into DJI, their credibility is gone, they sold out. Come on GoPro, somebody build a better drone because there is much money to be had.

Everyone enjoy the holidays, best wishes.

All valid points. However just like Apple and the people who gripe about them (not accusing you of griping), as long as people are lining up to throw their money at them for any/all new products released, why would they jump through hoops for anyone?

If the DJI sales began trending down sharply, they would have no choice but to listen to their customers demands and improve on their customer service. I haven't had to deal with their CS myself, but I have heard NOTHING but horrid things about it. Shameful.

My DJI product experience has been positive, but I'd be lying if I said that I am not eager to see what the new GoPro quad will be like. I hope it exceeds customer expectations and causes many DJI customers to make the switch. DJI needs a strong competitor. When they (or any company) feel a strong need to fight for our business, all of us consumers win ;-)

 

[garrock]

I regard this as emerging technology with all that that contains.

Exactly.

This is a rapid growth "Pull Market" (not a pusher market). Once it does grow up and becomes a pusher market, then that is a more valid time to fuss with your pusher to get a better deal (or fix).

There are other Emerging UAS Products to choose from. They being emergent too; will also have short comings.

 

[msinger]

I haven't had to deal with their CS myself, but I have heard NOTHING but horrid things about it. Shameful.

And, let's keep in mind that people who are having a good/great experience are not often posting their experience online.

I've only contacted DJI support on one occasion. They were slow to respond (I had to follow up a few times). But, in the end, they were able to help me with my request.

 

[simonthk]

For 1136 dollar, you can i Denmark including the 25% tax get a phantom 2 with H3D3.

This stuff is practically for free.

The gimbal is the lightest version out there, it has 3 axis. Practically any idiot can now film.
The batteries are superior to other drone batteries, expensive, but you can buy the Phantom 1 instead if you didnt liked the price that you knew beforehand.
All these things you demand, was they written in a contract before you bought the cheapest most versatile drone out there?

Go build your own drone with arduino, work endlessly hours on it, grow some balls.

 

[Jesse_M]

DJI needs a strong competitor. When they (or any company) feel a strong need to fight for our business, all of us consumers win ;-)

+1

 

[simonthk]

It has only been 1 year, 1 year and few month since I got my phantom 1.
At this point, there was no phantom 2, there was no great battery options like phantom 2, there was no gimbal that was just plug and play, and the few there was, costet a fortune.
Flytimes was quite low.
Propellers has been improved, for some say to the same quality of carbon fiber, but still is made by plastic, so it doesnt break like carbon does. You dont have to buy CF propellers from china or tools to stabilise them.
They made models with:
-Build in camera (vision).
-Readybuild for gopro.
-Wifi nub models.
-The gimbal is plug and ply for FPV use.

This company did so much for the customers in 1 year, the prices are crazy low. Oh the time I didnt use on my first gimbal cause one costet 1000 dollar alone, and it wasnt nearly as good as the h3d3, practically it sucks in comparison. I had to buy a china model, turn some motors around, read pages on arduino **** 2 axis controller, and the electronics is placed in with hot glue in the open..... and they werent build for phantom, so you got to see the landing gear on the recorded videos. Until you used more money on bad landing gear from ebay, and again used more money on good landing from a guy in germany that 3d printet landing gear.
1 year and few month ago this was.

I fly and earn money with my drone. I can fly for 5 minutes at a time before I need to land. I still use sucky gimbal, cause it is ok. All this stuff I worked so hard to get working in the beginning, is completely plug and play and much better now.

All this you get and got so quickly, and you act like such kids.

 

[Pmcdn]

I haven't had to deal with their CS myself, but I have heard NOTHING but horrid things about it. Shameful.

And, let's keep in mind that people who are having a good/great experience are not often posting their experience online.

I've only contacted DJI support on one occasion. They were slow to respond (I had to follow up a few times). But, in the end, they were able to help me with my request.

Good to know. No one is all bad or all good.

 

[nwillitts]

i already jumped ship-american made 3DR IRIS+ is superior to dji.
i love my p1-but when dji went to proprietary-that was it for me.
i never was an ios guy-always droid for me.

 

[msinger]

i already jumped ship-american made 3DR IRIS+ is superior to dji.

So... you're just here hanging out in a DJI related forum for fun?

 

[kitari]

Never had to deal with their customer service or anything, but just from owning a phantom for about 6-7 months now, I really have no complaints about it. It flies better than anything I've flown before, everything's easy to put together and you don't have to spend any time trying to get the right setting to fly like my heli, great stability, and has been a very durable little quad. Also for the price they sell for and what you get, I haven't really seen anything else out there that gives you the same quality and features for the same price. I wouldn't be surprised to see more competition in the near future, but for now we'll just have to wait a little longer, but just look at how fast these things changed in such a short time already.

 

[N017RW]

i already jumped ship-american made 3DR IRIS+ is superior to dji.
i love my p1-but when dji went to proprietary-that was it for me.
i never was an ios guy-always droid for me.

Manufactured in Mexico BTW.

 

[WPSPETE]

No thanks, Had my P2 since July and have had a great time with it. The ribbon cable tore on my 6th flight but the spare has made 40+. Broke one prop on my first landing. Other than that zero issues and I am very impressed with it. I have never wished I spent the same money on a competitors product. I also bought from a good dealer so hopefully I could deal with them first rather than DJI directly.

 

[IflyinWY]

Very cool discussion, hope it stays on topic.

With the OP on one end and simonthk on the other, IMHO, there seem to be very valid points mentioned.

I like my FC40 but wish it had been on the market for years. The bugs would probably be gone and the mods would be there. I'm a bit impatient too. Because of my limited exposure to the drone world, about 95% being this forum, I do agree with the gripe that DJI doesn't address customer service issues fast enough.

I've not dealt with DJI and if I do contact them they will probably tell me I've crashed too many times and should buy a new one.

I bought a bulletproof Phantom, lucky me. That being said, I don't think I'll jump ship today.

 

[N017RW]

The Phantom is my first and last DJI RTF.

To be fair I have never had any workmanship problems with my P2.

Too many more possibilities likely in the future.

May use a DJI component(s) but no more RTFs.

 

[nwillitts]

i already jumped ship-american made 3DR IRIS+ is superior to dji.
i love my p1-but when dji went to proprietary-that was it for me.
i never was an ios guy-always droid for me.

Manufactured in Mexico BTW.

not quite.
"assembled" is the word your looking for.

 

[nwillitts]

i already jumped ship-american made 3DR IRIS+ is superior to dji.

So... you're just here hanging out in a DJI related forum for fun?

no-i have a p1.
?