Upgrade to which a/c. P4 or Flamewheel?

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Reading elsewhere, Li-Po batteries need renewing every one to two years as they degrade naturally plus the fact that flight times are sorely reduced after one year from what I have read.

My FC40 batteries are £21 ($30) and the P3 & P4 batteries are £108 ($156). Renewing the intelligent family of batteries annually is thus going to become expensive – far too expensive to consider upgrading to the P3 or P4. I have read that P3 owners are only getting 60 - 100 flights out of the intelligent batteries. Therefore, it makes sense financially to have something like the F550 where the batteries don’t cost as much.

What are your thoughts guys?
 
It would be like a step backwards into the dark ages........... and by the time you have a F550 fully built up and running for FPV.. its not really cost effective..... and somewhat bulky to lug about.... and I'm not even going to mention the crap flying time achieved with 5000 mah 4s lipos

That's my opinion.. having one in the loft collecting dust.........
 
Hi Mikee,

Thanks for your reply.

I think it all depends on why people fly a quad as to what use they apply it to. I am not interested in FPV but just photography with a Go Pro with a Wi Fi link to a tablet.

You mentioned the flying time - can you elaborate please. I would be happy with ten minutes of flight time.
 
Hi Mikee,

Thanks for your reply.

I think it all depends on why people fly a quad as to what use they apply it to. I am not interested in FPV but just photography with a Go Pro with a Wi Fi link to a tablet.

You mentioned the flying time - can you elaborate please. I would be happy with ten minutes of flight time.


If you fly with a camera and a video downlink to a tablet.. that's almost a fpv setup.. I had the DJI video downlink set up DJI 5.8GHz Videolink Wireless Video Downlink inc Cloverleaf Antennas - Quadcopters Uk Official DJI Dealer and could barely get 500 yards out before signal lost and that was with the best antenna set up that I could afford

Flying time on 5000mah 4s was 6-7 mins...

Trust me it's a major leap backwards... and there no gimmicks of flight modes really to speak of
 
I think it all depends on why people fly a quad as to what use they apply it to. I am not interested in FPV but just photography with a Go Pro with a Wi Fi link to a tablet.
You mentioned the flying time - can you elaborate please. I would be happy with ten minutes of flight time.
You need to find someone with a P3 (Adv or Pro) or a P4 and go flying with them to see how much the technology has advanced since your machine was released.
Lightbridge gives crystal clear view and control at distance, flight times of 20+ mins and a very polished product.
The P3 is a superb flying camera for photographers.
 
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+1 I just got back from a flight with my P4 2 miles out to sea and crystal clear video link all the way... not everybody has issues with the latest DJI quads.. I love both my P3P and P4 and look back on the early days as a learning curve that was very expensive and frustrating
 
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Thank you Mikee and Meta.

Useful advice. Time for a rethink.

The battery situation still niggles me though. Is it possible to change the battery for say, a Turnigy by un-soldering the old battery from the holder and fitting a new one on P3 and avoid the outrageous price or how about an F450 instead of the F550?
 
Reading elsewhere, Li-Po batteries need renewing every one to two years as they degrade naturally plus the fact that flight times are sorely reduced after one year from what I have read.

My FC40 batteries are £21 ($30) and the P3 & P4 batteries are £108 ($156). Renewing the intelligent family of batteries annually is thus going to become expensive – far too expensive to consider upgrading to the P3 or P4. I have read that P3 owners are only getting 60 - 100 flights out of the intelligent batteries. Therefore, it makes sense financially to have something like the F550 where the batteries don’t cost as much.

What are your thoughts guys?

If you are worried about battery cost the initial cost will at least be half off for batteries and by the time you need more batteries they will most likely be cheaper as they will be old tech. When I say you can get the Phantom 4 batteries at half off I am talking about the current bundles and / or the buy one get one free promotion for Apple customers. If you buy a P4 and need some codes for the Buy one get one free promo let me know and I can send you one or two if I have any left. Also if P3 owners are only getting 60-100 flights per battery it is because they are flying them too low or charging them while warm. I try to land at 35% and have only went as low as 25% before landing and my batteries are still going strong. Also I know the P3 and P4 charger won't charge the batteries if they are above a certain temp (hot) but I wait until my batteries are completely cooled before I charge them. Also it should be noted that DJI warranties the batteries for 6 months as long as they have less than 200 charge cycles on them so I would be willing to bet that DJI puts the life expectancy of the batteries around 200 charge cycles. If you pay $84.5 (USD) per Phantom 4 battery (during the half off promo), then that means you are paying $0.42 (USD) per flight which is not bad at all. Even if you buy the batteries full price and pay $0.85 per flight then that is not bad either. @LuvMyTJ posted his experience using Nitro fuel back in the day and how expensive that was, and he expressed how cheap these LiPo batteries actually are and I agree. Although comparing Nitro to Lipo is like Apples and Oranges my son has an XK Detect X 380 quadcopter and the spare lipo batteries for that run $50. He has less than 30 charge cycles on that battery and it is already bad so...
 
I think you need to spend some quality time with a note pad, calculator and a internet connection.... and research yourself what it is you want and need to fulfil your needs.......... I call it Justification.......... that's what I do and if it's worth it.... go for it

I don't see the price of a battery being a issue for what it does in the case of a P3 or a P4.. when what it achieves in satisfaction of s good video.. I drive sometimes a 100 miles to video a subject.. and think nothing of it

Quality down time from work is essential at what ever the cost
 
Thanks you Mikee and Sinisalo for your input. It is great to have a forum like this to get the views and opinions of others. How did we survive in the days before the internet?

I don’t know if there are any folks in the USA similar to the Scots, whereas the Scots have a reputation of being good engineers but more to the point, they are frugal so far as the folding green stuff is concerned. That, I think, is my main battery problem. However, you both present excellent points to help drag me into the twenty first century

Sinisalo, thank you for your kind offer for the promo. Very kind of you, however, I believe the promotion is not available in the UK and buying from the US incurs heavy duty.

I tend to agree with you that perhaps some owners of P3 & P4 could look after their batteries more carefully but more to the point, you have justified and put the cost aspect into perspective.

Mikee, I have to agree with you that the end product of obtaining a good video is total satisfaction and if I need theequipment to do that, so be it.

It rather looks as though you two have presented the verbal crowbar to prise open my wallet to buy the P3 A or P.

Now, where did I put my wallet and will it open? :mad::blush:
 
I HAVE both. Since I got my phantom 4 I've only flown the flame wheel once. I love my flame wheel but I must say I love my phantom more, it does way more. The only things really better about the flame wheel to me is it doesn't look like a toy and if the need arises it will fly if a motor dies on me (never happened to me in 3 years). I get twice as much flight time with the phantom(I almost get bored lol ) and the technology is way ahead. I just wish the Phantom looked more like a piece of equipment than toy. I LOVE my new phantom though.
 

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