Newbie Question re: tablet(s)

[Roaddogg]

I been flying my P3P for about 2 weeks now with my iPhone 6 Plus. I was thinking about getting an iPad mini or other recommended tablet to run the app. If I get one of these do I
A) need to get one with cellular capabilities?
B) If so, do I need to purchase a cellular plan?

Right now I have used my iPhone 6+ in both normal and airplane mode. I'm a bit confused of the pros and cons of both modes, except that will not get distracted with calls or texts while flying with airplane mode turned on (but what am I giving up?). I think in any case I would like something dedicated for the bird. Thanks for any advice.


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[Oso]

I been flying my P3P for about 2 weeks now with my iPhone 6 Plus. I was thinking about getting an iPad mini or other recommended tablet to run the app. If I get one of these do I
A) need to get one with cellular capabilities?
B) If so, do I need to purchase a cellular plan?

Right now I have used my iPhone 6+ in both normal and airplane mode. I'm a bit confused of the pros and cons of both modes, except that will not get distracted with calls or texts while flying with airplane mode turned on (but what am I giving up?). I think in any case I would like something dedicated for the bird. Thanks for any advice.


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Hi there. This single post should give you some good info to consider:
Tablets and phones that work well with DJI GO

 

[msinger]

Right now I have used my iPhone 6+ in both normal and airplane mode. I'm a bit confused of the pros and cons of both modes, except that will not get distracted with calls or texts while flying with airplane mode turned on (but what am I giving up?).

Other than limiting distractions, using airplane mode will help ensure your phone has more resources available to run the DJI GO app. It's a beast!

I think in any case I would like something dedicated for the bird. Thanks for any advice

I like the iPad Mini 4, Google Nexus 7 (2013), and Nvidia Shield K1. You can find other recommended and commonly used devices here.

 

[Roaddogg]

Great info... Thanks!


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[Meta4]

I been flying my P3P for about 2 weeks now with my iPhone 6 Plus. I was thinking about getting an iPad mini or other recommended tablet to run the app. If I get one of these do I
A) need to get one with cellular capabilities?
B) If so, do I need to purchase a cellular plan?

You don't need cellular anything to fly the Phantom.
Confusion arises because Apple, in their wisdom only fit a GPS to their cellular capable iPads.
Having a GPS in your tablet is only useful for:

1. Follow-me flying
2. Resetting homepoint to the location of the controller​

These aren't important for most flying for most people and if they aren't necessary for you and you went that way you'd still be flying just fine.

 

[Roaddogg]

Msinger - just to confirm... If I have iPhone 6+ in airplane mode... GPS is still enabled for app/flight? Do you know if anything in the App is disabled when in this mode (I thought I read something about the editor)? Thanks for your input.


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[msinger]

These aren't important for most flying for most people

Agreed. And, if you do purchase a Wi-Fi only device and you find you need these features later, you could either fly with your phone during those times or get an external Bluetooth GPS receiver.

 

[msinger]

MIf I have iPhone 6+ in airplane mode... GPS is still enabled for app/flight?

Correct.

Do you know if anything in the App is disabled when in this mode

Airplane mode turns off cellular (voice and data), Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. If you need any of those, you can turn them on individually.

 

[Roaddogg]

Thanks Meta... I thought GPS was needed for compass calibration and map location functions...I guess I'm still a bit confused.


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[Roaddogg]

Ahh... The light is turning on now for me regarding this issue!!! Thanks guys for explaining!


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[CafeRacer]

You don't need to buy a cellular plan. However, you do need a cellular iPad so you can use the GPS, this will allow the Return to home function to work as well as follow me mode.


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[Meta4]

Thanks Meta... I thought GPS was needed for compass calibration and map location functions...I guess I'm still a bit confused.

You don't need to buy a cellular plan. However, you do need a cellular iPad so you can use the GPS, this will allow the Return to home function to work as well as

Your Phantom has a fine GPS unit of its own and doesn't need another one in the tablet to be able to RTH.
The only benefit of a GPS in the tablet is to be able to reset home to the location of the controller or to Follow-me.
Everything else works perfectly without GPS in the tablet.
GPS is not related to the compass.
Maps aren't related to GPS.
GPS only provides location and speed data.
But the GPS inside your Phantom is the one the Phantom uses for all flight functions apart from the two special cases mentioned above.