Quadcopter recommendation

[AKcharger]

Howdy

I want to get a Quad copter as a toy. Looking for something I can learn on and use for a few years to take pictures/video and stuff. noting professional but don't want anything cheep and disposable.

Budget is around $700-800 and was looking at the Phantom 3...any suggestions appreciated 

[skip68]

The phantom lll is awesome.  That's the one to get hands down. 

[Troy]

My step brother is big into POV, quads, six rotors, etc. and he laughs at anyone with a Phantom because they have "more money than skill". He claims you can get better models for a lot less money - but I haven't bugged him about setting me up with one. Mainly because I have a million other things to do/spend money on and I really don't want another hobby.

Troy

[John_Kunkel]

he laughs at anyone with a Phantom because they have "more money than skill".

That's the Phantom selling point...the alternative is to buy a cheaper model, crash it a dozen times while learning and wind up with even more money invested.

[Troy]

he laughs at anyone with a Phantom because they have "more money than skill".

That's the Phantom selling point...the alternative is to buy a cheaper model, crash it a dozen times while learning and wind up with even more money invested.

Almost all of them have the ability to halt and hover when you let off the controls and the ability to "follow" or "return home". They're sort of hard to crash. And I am a master at crashing pretty much anything...

Troy

[AKcharger]

Troy tell your step brother to stop laughing and give me some advice...

[John_Kunkel]

Almost all of them have the ability to halt and hover when you let off the controls and the ability to "follow" or "return home".

Oh? Wasn't aware of that; when I went shopping last year that seemed like a unique feature of the Phantom, requires GPS capability to return home.

[JR]

I know you said you dont want anything cheap, but If you've never flown one before, I'd start with baby steps first and pick up a 30 something dollar Hubsan X4 or similar model and get a feel for it from there. The X4 is only 4 channel and it is small, but it will give you some feel for basic controls before you start spending hundreds. The controls scale up to the bigger models, and the X4 actually is well respected as a quality quad for as small as it is.

Plus, you WILL crash as you're learning, you could buy a handful of x4s for what the parts cost of the bigger models are.

http://m.ebay.com/itm/Hubsan-X4-H107L-Quadcopter-White-Black-w-Blade-Guard-Spare-props-/131602729191?nav=SEARCH


After that, I'd recommend the site www.hobbyking.com  alot of Chinese stuff, but good quality.

I'm holding out for one of the quadcopters that follow a wireless tracker for action shots. I like the idea of that.

[70 sublime]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vGcH0Bk3hg

[Troy]

Almost all of them have the ability to halt and hover when you let off the controls and the ability to "follow" or "return home".

Oh? Wasn't aware of that; when I went shopping last year that seemed like a unique feature of the Phantom, requires GPS capability to return home.

Maybe I should clarify... anything I'd find worth buying will do all that. I've never tried one that didn't. Since my step brother is into POV they've all had GPS except the first mini he ever bought.

Troy tell your step brother to stop laughing and give me some advice...

I will ask. I know he like that Hobby King site above - but he also builds nearly everything.

Troy

[AKcharger]

Copy all guys thanks... And Jr. I think I'll take that advice and start small. Plus Seems I need to get smart on Fl. privacy laws against quadcopters 

[Nacho-RT74]

what about:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1i7gB3VhEI

LOL

[b5blue]

  Go to Tower Hobbies and sign up for emails. You'll get a 10.00 off coupon and possibly free shipping soon after. Get a tiny Estes quad to learn with. (30.00) You can fly it anywhere, even a small room. The trick is to learn orientation while flying, it takes a while to figure out coming to you is opposed to going away kinda thing. Another aspect is battery efficiency as they take much longer to charge then discharge flying. (Avoid any that carry dead weight on stuff just for looks like that Falcon.) I have bunches sitting around waiting for time to learn/play with but been too busy!
  Financially you need to start at the shallow end of the pool, that tiny Estes will fly better then 2-300.00 choppers a few years back do. (You'll avoid a hard learning curve from pitch/yaw/rotation/elevation and so on.) PM or email me if any questions. 

[AKcharger]

Copy Blue...Thanks!  I select one I'll PM for your approval!