Should I Take the Plunge?

Vengeance1968 · Apr 1, 2015

I have a Phantom 2 V+ and have some issues with the gimbal. For that I have a couple of choices;

1) Go with Dronexpert rail systems and use a different gimbal and a GoPro
2) Sell the bird and buy an Inspire 1

My question to those of you owning the I1 is this... Is it worth the money?

I have seen a lot of issues posted and it is a little daunting to contemplate spending nearly $4k with extra batteries and other accessories to only have it fail and crash or fail and be grounded for a length of time while waiting on DJI to come up with a fix.

Shipping the P2V+ is bad enough, the I1 is even larger and heavier, I would be PO'd having to ship it to DJI to repair.

Anyway, your thoughts?

Thank you,
Jason

InspiredOne · Apr 1, 2015

Yes, every penny. Jump in. Take the plunge.

As to the need to ship for repairs. No one foresee the future. I've had mine since the first of February. Haven't needed any repairs yet.

Jason Mezinko · Apr 1, 2015

I also am looking to take the plunge, however I am concerned that I may have missed a known issue and this will lead to a crash. Should I hold off another couple of months? Can any experienced Inspire 1 pilots provide us newbee I1 pilots with a full preflight checklist?

kc@uav-outlet · Apr 1, 2015

While there are reports of problems and issues, there are a lot of happy people out flying their Inspires as well. If you decide to make the plunge, we've got them in stock

http://www.uav-outlet.com/products/...ote-quadcopter-with-integrated-4k-camera.html

InspiredOne · Apr 1, 2015

Jason Mezinko said:
I also am looking to take the plunge, however I am concerned that I may have missed a known issue and this will lead to a crash. Should I hold off another couple of months? Can any experienced Inspire 1 pilots provide us newbee I1 pilots with a full preflight checklist?

http://www.inspirepilots.com/threads/is-inspire-worth-it.806/#post-8066

Jason Mezinko · Apr 1, 2015

Thank you InspiredOne!
Greatly appreciated.

Hope to be up flying with my very own soon.

Airwolf13 · Apr 1, 2015

Here are my thoughts. May work for you, maybe not. I had been on the fence since November. For various reasons, expressed here with the various issues seen here, I was going to wait, like you. I had an opportunity to buy very cheap at a 'dealer demo' day so I did. MINE works great, no issues, did not update the FW. I love it. I am being very, very conservative with my flying and go thru the various check;points to try and minimize issues. So far, so good.
YMMV

pops52 · Apr 1, 2015

You know you want to, so press the "BUY" button.

Mazz · Apr 1, 2015

If you can fly it you won't be disappointed. Compare the video between the Phantom and the Inspire and disregard the quality of the video camera and just look at how smooth it is. The two crafts with the same camera would produce a very different video. When I fly my phantom now I just can not reproduce the smooth shots from the inspire. It just flys so well.

skylabimaging · Apr 1, 2015

Here's my take...I hated the Inspire upon it's announcement. Wanted nothing to do with it whatsoever, I'm a builder at heart and wanted no part in an rtf. I knew it was gonna be tormented with issues left and right, especially after the initial delay. While it does have some flaws and I don't think any operator could deny that whether they've experienced them or not, you do have to take a lot of the issues with a bit of salt (and I don't mean a grain) this was geared towards people with zero previous experience (the pro ground photographer if you will and anyone else willing to buy one) so that leaves the door open for a lot of operator error to be made, some of these might be a DJI issue too.

With that being said, while initially I wasn't very sure about the Inspire when I first got it. I've actually come to like it very much and it's earned a spot in my fleet. I had a opportunity recently (yesterday) to trade for an S800evo with zenmuse z15 gh3 which I declined. So that's says something. It's not perfect though, the camera is rather sub par imo, however I do like being able to control my exposure vs gopro systems, I had to upgrade my iPad mini to a 2nd gen which was kind of a unexpected expense (this was my bad for making assumptions though) Batteries aren't cheap, which most 6s 4500mah lipos are like 50 bucks. Regardless of these minor things I find it is a fantastic machine for an AP rig. I find it very easy to fly compared to my other rigs (some are naza, wkm, superx) I really like it's compactability (is that a word?) I can pack this thing up and go shoot some stuff vs having to go through a meticulous check list of bits and bobs for my other stuff which could take an hour or 2 all in itself...sometimes a day of flight took almost an entire day and half of pre flight stuff, finding location charging batteries etc etc.

I'm not gonna tell you to buy it but I'm also not gonna say to not buy it, ultimately it's your call if you think it's worth it or not. It is a substantial upgrade from a P2V+...on the other hand so is a gopro4 black with h4-3d and a much smaller hit on the wallet.

The Editor · Apr 1, 2015

skylabimaging said:
Here's my take...I hated the Inspire upon it's announcement. Wanted nothing to do with it whatsoever, I'm a builder at heart and wanted no part in an rtf. I knew it was gonna be tormented with issues left and right, especially after the initial delay. While it does have some flaws and I don't think any operator could deny that whether they've experienced them or not, you do have to take a lot of the issues with a bit of salt (and I don't mean a grain) this was geared towards people with zero previous experience (the pro ground photographer if you will and anyone else willing to buy one) so that leaves the door open for a lot of operator error to be made, some of these might be a DJI issue too.

With that being said, while initially I wasn't very sure about the Inspire when I first got it. I've actually come to like it very much and it's earned a spot in my fleet. I had a opportunity recently (yesterday) to trade for an S800evo with zenmuse z15 gh3 which I declined. So that's says something. It's not perfect though, the camera is rather sub par imo, however I do like being able to control my exposure vs gopro systems, I had to upgrade my iPad mini to a 2nd gen which was kind of a unexpected expense (this was my bad for making assumptions though) Batteries aren't cheap, which most 6s 4500mah lipos are like 50 bucks. Regardless of these minor things I find it is a fantastic machine for an AP rig. I find it very easy to fly compared to my other rigs (some are naza, wkm, superx) I really like it's compactability (is that a word?) I can pack this thing up and go shoot some stuff vs having to go through a meticulous check list of bits and bobs for my other stuff which could take an hour or 2 all in itself...sometimes a day of flight took almost an entire day and half of pre flight stuff, finding location charging batteries etc etc.

I'm not gonna tell you to buy it but I'm also not gonna say to not buy it, ultimately it's your call if you think it's worth it or not. It is a substantial upgrade from a P2V+...on the other hand so is a gopro4 black with h4-3d and a much smaller hit on the wallet.

I wholeheartedly agree with everything in this post.
There is one very, very important thing to consider as well...... Once you have flown one you wil be hooked!
I actually wanted to dislike the Inspire when it was launched but ultimately I took the plunge and it is such a blast to fly.
I also come from an electronic engineering background and have worked my way up from the v1 Phantoms to self designed and built hexacopters and I am fully authorised for commercial work by the CAA in the UK. I have flown many different platforms both bespoke and rtf, however, and it's a big however..... For me the Inspire eclipses them all in not only how well and stable it flies (you won't believe how good it is in the wind) but how much fun it is to pilot as well.
For me, I still remember the grin I had on my face the first time I flew a quad and then watched the footage I had captured...... No HD, no gimbal stabilisation but still fantastic fun. Well, the first time I put the Inspire in the air so had the same grin back on my face!
Just buy one!!!!!!

StupidGate · Apr 1, 2015

You just need to find a local where you can see the craft in action (live)...you'll be sold.

Mossie · Apr 1, 2015

Before I bought my Phantom Vision over a year ago,I was having doubts too. But when you compare the Phantom boards a year or so ago to this Inspire pilots board now , there were way more complaints on the Phantom boards about flyaways, crashes, motors failing due to battery connections etc, etc.
Every day you were reading about somebody loosing or crashing his Phantom, but the Inspire boards are much quieter.
The majority of complaints about the Inspire don't particularly concern me as they seem to be mainly about video quality, what Inspire crashes (including my own) there have been, seem to have mainly been due to pilot error which wasn't the case with the Phantom so DJI seems to have learnt a lot of lessons from the Phantom range.

I wrote a post a couple of months ago called 'Finger hovering over the buy button' because I was having doubts about buying the Inspire. But I'm **** glad I was persuaded to buy because in my opinion it's a fantastic piece of kit and I don't have any complaints about the camera or video quality and it flies superbly.

JoffaDan · Apr 1, 2015

Similar to all these guys, I got into the multi game when there was no other choice but to build your own...RTF did not exist, let alone a machine that was capable of 720 streaming, 3 axis gimbal stabilisation and 4K video out of the box.
The inspire is in a completely different league to anything I've flown. It's like they've thought about everything that was a pain in the *** about taking your home made multi out for an FPV flight, and made it easy.

johnmont250 · Apr 1, 2015

lifes too short, dont think about it, do it!
do it! do it! do it!

Karl · Apr 1, 2015

Jason Mezinko · Apr 1, 2015

I appreciate all the great insight everyone. I think I am going to pull the trigger tomorrow. Thanks again for the preflight checklist. That will be a HUGE help to ensure no stupid mistakes. Sounds like I just need to avoid any encounters with trees and I should be in good shape

Vengeance1968 · Apr 2, 2015

Adding to my dilemma is the Walkera Voyager 3. While it does not have some features of the i1, at least from what I can make out of the poorly typed description on their site, it does peak my interest. I use to fly Walkera back when I flew scale helos.

The design looks similar to the i1 but has a completely different execution of transformation...

Both platforms seem to taunt us with the promise of modular upgrades like gimbals, camera, etc... The main difference seems to be in software features...

Walkera V3 has dual GPS, POI, less complicated mechanical transformation internals but lacks true dual operator. Apples to apples it also comes in at $200 cheaper than the single controller i1. It also looks to have a lower cost to own based on the less complicated internals compared to the i1.

Complex systems do not intimidate me on a usability level, but they do have a higher percent chance of something failing and tend to be more expensive to repair.

If I had real money I would go for the DJI Spreading Wings S800 Evo... but that is an easy $10k for everything so a no go on that.

I am on the fence. Does anyone here have both or have at least flown both? I am open to ALL comments. I cannot be the only one to compare the two platforms.

Thank you,
Jason

dreadwing · Apr 2, 2015

i1 has been so far the best most fun quad I have flown. To agree with everyone on this thread, it's worth every dime. The V3 to me looks hideous but that's just me,

turbodronepilot · Apr 2, 2015

Vengeance1968 said:
Adding to my dilemma is the Walkera Voyager 3. While it does not have some features of the i1, at least from what I can make out of the poorly typed description on their site, it does peak my interest. I use to fly Walkera back when I flew scale helos.

The design looks similar to the i1 but has a completely different execution of transformation...

Both platforms seem to taunt us with the promise of modular upgrades like gimbals, camera, etc... The main difference seems to be in software features...

Walkera V3 has dual GPS, POI, less complicated mechanical transformation internals but lacks true dual operator. Apples to apples it also comes in at $200 cheaper than the single controller i1. It also looks to have a lower cost to own based on the less complicated internals compared to the i1.

Complex systems do not intimidate me on a usability level, but they do have a higher percent chance of something failing and tend to be more expensive to repair.

If I had real money I would go for the DJI Spreading Wings S800 Evo... but that is an easy $10k for everything so a no go on that.

I am on the fence. Does anyone here have both or have at least flown both? I am open to ALL comments. I cannot be the only one to compare the two platforms.

Thank you,
Jason

Hey jason..
The inspire is a great aircraft and I don't see any benefit in waiting for a new release because in my opinion they could release a worse version like the p2v+ V3 with the motor and esc problems ..
Also in my estimate there's probably around 20 thousand inspires out there right now and out of those 20 k only a very small amount have had issues. .
the voyager 3 is supposed to be released any day now so there's not many out there to get feedback from. .
I suggest watching the video on YouTube of a guy flying one and crashing it..
The voyager seems to be high powered and flys fast and maneuvers very well..
I'd be surprised if the inspire could keep up with it..
although the range is probably nothing close to the Inspire and there's no app to use..that's the biggest difference I see..
both are not crash friendly. .
also there's some rumors of a Phantom 3 coming our one of these days..
anyway. .dji seems to be the leader in uav's for now and probably will be for some time..
happy flying
turbo