Can't decide...P3S or P3P

[thatisandwas]

Hey guys! New member to the forum. Been flying quads for a couple years now..Mostly just cheap ones from Amazon. Have a total of 3. A friend let me borrow his 3dr solo for a few weeks...and now i can't bring myself to fly my old crappy drones anymore lol. I want to go with a DJI after much consideration.

So, help me decide! Here are my choices :

A refurb P3S for US $349
A new P3S for US $499
A refurb P3P for US $549

I would be purchasing the refurb from DJI's ebay store. They come with the same 1 year warranty as their new birds do, and you really can't beat that price. I can't afford to go near 1k.

The main concern i have about the standard is the obvious one, range. I watched a ton of videos over the last few days about mods to improve range..Seems like the best one is replacing the antennas all together for about 60 bucks and most people have pretty good results with that. But from what i'm seeing, it still doesn't come close to light bridge distances.

So if i went with the pro, i'd have to wait a bit to buy a second battery. If i go with the standard, ill buy another battery when i purchase.

What would you guys do? I've heard the standard is amazing for the price, but i'm worried i'll quickly outgrow the range limitations being that i already know how to fly. What would you do in my shoes? Pros/cons i may not be thinking about?

 

[msinger]

What would you do in my shoes?

I would get the P3P (or a P3A) since range is important to you. It also has a better remote controller. You can compare the other difference between those Phantom models here.

 

[GrammatonxXXxCleric]

If you get a standard, you'll miss out on the advantages of more range/function of a P3A or P3P. I'd greatly encourage the latter models.

 

[thatisandwas]

I would love to get the P3A as a middle price range, but they don't sell a refurb on the ebay site for that model unfortunately. Definitely leaning towards the P3P. I'm just wondering...how far can the p3s really go? beyond line of sight? or much shorter? i wonder if i'll truly need the extra range or not..

 

[GrammatonxXXxCleric]

Hindsight will say yes, range will be quickly noted, (with most fliers)..

 

[thatisandwas]

do you guys see any inherent disadvantages of the refurb? haven't seen any horror stories and it seems like they stand behind them the same as new

 

[msinger]

Most people that comment about refurbs here say they look brand new.

 

[JLgti]

I have both. Standard is good but as mentioned, range just isn't there. I bought the refurb phantom 3 pro and range is a lot better, doesn't run on wifi, hell of a lot better camera. Can't beat it for the price

 

[JLgti]

I have both. Standard is good but as mentioned, range just isn't there. I bought the refurb phantom 3 pro and range is a lot better, doesn't run on wifi, hell of a lot better camera. Can't beat it for the price

 

[thatisandwas]

Yeah and for 549 thats hard to beat...leaning towards just getting the pro for now then i can add more accessories as i go. those batteries aren't cheap! definitely not going for a 3rd party one after some of the nightmare stories i read

 

[Jesse_M]

You will quickly get frustrated with the poor range of the Standard. I know from experience. I just bought one of the P3P's for 550. Spend a little more now and get what was the best thing available just a short time ago.

 

[GrammatonxXXxCleric]

The features and the biggest advantage.. RANGE, not only distance, but signal retention will be what you need to enjoy the Phantom experience,

 

[thatisandwas]

Okay guys, you've convinced me! refurb P3P it is! I'll let you know how the buying process goes. Any ideas on batteries? Do they ever go on sale?

 

[Jesse_M]

Don't wait either. Just my .02. I waited last week and they raised the price to $700. Sure it was only for a few days but I was gutted thinking I had missed my chance.

 

[GrammatonxXXxCleric]

I bought the "last one".....

 

[thatisandwas]

Yeah i plan on buying today because i feel like that sale isn't going to last

 

[james1987]

I have the p3p and I love it it does everything I want to do and have had no problems with any firmwares seems to be a really good unit

 

[11290]

Just my personal FWIW:

Had planned all along for the P3S at $349. Then decided I wanted to do the range extender (mostly for the "better" wifi signals), that was going to be $66, then a tablet mount was going to be somewhere in the range of $20 to $30 for a good one which took the base total to right around $450. For $100 more, got Glonass satellite, LightBridge, better camera (although I probably won't use the 4k that much) and just in general a more function rich controller (don't have to be hunting for stuff on the app to facilitate some things). Turned out to be a bit of a no-brainer for me at least.

Ordered Tuesday morning and FedEx shows delivery for Thursday, same week, Miami to SouthWestern Indiana. Pretty good I's say.

 

[thatisandwas]

I'm super excited now. Yeah i mean for 549...thats an unreal price. So much drone for so little money.

 

[Matts175]

Looks like you've already made the right decision, but I'll just add this: I got the Standard for Christmas. I quickly outgrew the range capability. I bought and ARGtek, then a DBS, then the Alfa mod. I still wasn't happy and was about to buy amplifiers. I stopped myself because I was throwing so much money at the Standard, I could have just bought a Pro...... so that's exactly what I did. Sold the Standard and got the refurb Pro. I'm 100% happy now.