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frodri

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three questions:

1-should I purchase a drone directly from dji or any other seller and any advantages to doing either one or the other
2-will the new law banning Chinese drones make it hard to fly it or be illegal
3-any thoughts on buying a mavic mini pro 4 drone- experiences bad or good? Your thoughts
Much appreciated.
 
1) my choice would be from Amazon or from a national retailer. Amazon's return policy and process is a major selling point as far as I am concerned.
2) I thought those 'laws' have yet to be written into the law books. What I have read seems to indicate that they will make things awkward for future models and that there is no mention of them affecting existing models.
 
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three questions:

1-should I purchase a drone directly from dji or any other seller and any advantages to doing either one or the other
2-will the new law banning Chinese drones make it hard to fly it or be illegal
3-any thoughts on buying a mavic mini pro 4 drone- experiences bad or good? Your thoughts
Much appreciated.
1. Either is OK
2. Probably not
3. There are hundreds of thousands of users of that model.
It's a good drone.
 
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1. Some retailers have special deals when purchasing that much Might be worth a look just find a reputable dealer.
2. If your Drone is for sale today in the U.S. no bans will effect it
3. I don't have a Mavic mini 4 pro BUT I would for sure buy one if I had the Funds.
 
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You should be good ordering direct from DJI, or getting it from Amazon or even BestBuy.
The ban isn't in effect (and may never make it through congress). Buy whatever drone you want.
I just picked up a Mini 4 Pro from Costco (they have a Costco only package with controller, 2 batteries, an SD card, ND filters and spare props for $750. I got it to replace my Air 2, and I couldn't be happier. It has a nice camera, and excellent collision avoidance.
 
You should be good ordering direct from DJI, or getting it from Amazon or even BestBuy.
The ban isn't in effect (and may never make it through congress). Buy whatever drone you want.
I just picked up a Mini 4 Pro from Costco (they have a Costco only package with controller, 2 batteries, an SD card, ND filters and spare props for $750. I got it to replace my Air 2, and I couldn't be happier. It has a nice camera, and excellent collision avoidance.
Did u buy the care package (protection) and how much was it? Have u flown it and how does it perform?
 
1) If purchasing the day a drone is released, the DJI Store is my go to place. If purchasing when plenty of drones are in stock across the US, I'd also consider the closest dealer (like Best Buy) or Amazon Prime. While you probably won't need to return your drone, it's easy returning to a local store or Amazon.

2) There is no new law banning Chinese drones. For the talks of laws that were supposedly going to be passed, they weren't going to affect drones that had already been purchased. And if a law is really passed at some point in the future, there's no telling what it will end up looking like.

3) DJI drones in general are great drones. But, I think you're asking if the Mini 4 Pro would be a good fit for you personally. If so, then you should compare all DJI consumer drones to make sure the model you pick has the features you need. It's probably not the best idea to shell out this kind of money solely on the fact that someone else loves it.
 
My hobby guy said that the price from DJI is locked. Won't matter much where you buy it, it will be the same price (I'm against price locking).

The Mini 4 is a good drone, so far.
Caveat, the obstacle avoidance is visual. Without contrast, I don't think it works. If you go under a tree, it's going to be useless, from what I've seen.

Buy a good memory card, recommended by DJI.
Get a good case. I'm not impressed with the one that came with the package deal.
With the "good" batteries, you will be over the minimum weight and be required to register it.
You can get a free registration sticker at pilotinstitute.com

There are many who are sticklers for rules. Take it with a grain of Sodium Chloride.
 
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My hobby guy said that the price from DJI is locked. Won't matter much where you buy it, it will be the same price (I'm against price locking).

The Mini 4 is a good drone, so far.
Caveat, the obstacle avoidance is visual. Without contrast, I don't think it works. If you go under a tree, it's going to be useless, from what I've seen.

Buy a good memory card, recommended by DJI.
Get a good case. I'm not impressed with the one that came with the package deal.
With the "good" batteries, you will be over the minimum weight and be required to register it.
You can get a free registration sticker at pilotinstitute.com


There are many who are sticklers for rules. Take it with a grain of Sodium Chloride.
That just means that there are some of us on this forum who do not suffer from the illusion that we are privileged characters, to whom rules do not apply......stick to the rules...they apply to every one and they are for everyone's safety.
 
here are many who are sticklers for rules. Take it with a grain of Sodium Chloride.
Oh dear, now this may be bad phrasing, again, on your part or my not understanding your humour or what you are trying to say.....but, if by some chance, you are referring to "FCC rules" breaching them and advocating breaching them, that merely enhances the impression that drone flyers are a group of reckless jerks who care nothing for the safety of others.

The purpose of FCC and other airspace authorities rules are, in general, to enhance the safety of aircraft. With respect to drones, which your FCC consider to be aircraft it seems obvious to me that the rules are primarily aimed at enhancing the safety of uninvolved people.

I would suggest that publicly flaunting breaches of those rule and publicly advocating the breaching of those rules opens the door to legislators
a) tightening regulation or
b) use other means to enhance the safety of others.
And actually encourages them to do so.

Drones are a somewhat unique entity, there ability to fly derives from the use of high speed computation and the software that performs that computation and it extremely ease to change that software.

As such legislators have two entirely separate lines of attack against drones.
1) tighten regulations, which they are already doing, just look at the situation in the EU with regards to where differ weight classes of drone can be flown.
2) and arguably far more effective, force manufacturers to install software that limits the drones capability. DJI already does this and has done so since I have known DJI drones.
I.e. the 500m maximum height limit that DJI have arbitrarily applied to all the drones that I have. There is nothing that I know of in the laws of physics/aeronautical-engineering that says there is a 500m threshold above which drones can not be flown.
If you need further evidence then again look at the situation in the EU where depending on which 'class' you want 'your' mini 3 or perhaps mini 4 to fly in, DJI's software enforces a 120m above-the-take-point ceiling. As I understand the EU rules such a limit is not written into the relevant laws and the legal height limit remains 120m AGL.
Given how 'easy' it is to change software how hard do you think it would for governments to turn around and say to drone manufactures "Write the following limitations into your drones,' software otherwise you will not given either or both
a) an import licence for your drones or
b) radio transmission compliance acceptance."

The latter is already a prospective threaten the sale of new future models of DJI drones in the USA.

Even if you have no regards for the rules yourself please consider the possible impact of your advocation on others.

If I am mistaken in my understanding of your post then I suggest you earn to express your thinking more precisely as clearly and REMEMBER, this is an international for where not everyone speaks American.
 
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This is a public forum and we members feel it best to be "Sticklers" and yes you should heed the warnings and take them with a grain of salt.
For all of our warnings about not to do this or not to do that, The truth is 99.9% of you will NEVER see an FAA official or anyone at all for that matter with the power to fine you for flying your Drone. In the U.S. we are still flying under the Honor system and I for one would like to keep it that way. So I will follow the rules.
Many come to this forum wisely to learn. That is why you will see me and others on this forum "Warn" of violations and there fines and I am all for that, seeing as a second time fine from the FAA can Bankrupt most people !!!
One more thing to remember. This is a public forum and any statements made here could be reported by anyone reading it ...just like YouTube.
Sorry for the off subject Banter. MY 2 Cents.
 
three questions:

1-should I purchase a drone directly from dji or any other seller and any advantages to doing either one or the other
2-will the new law banning Chinese drones make it hard to fly it or be illegal
3-any thoughts on buying a mavic mini pro 4 drone- experiences bad or good? Your thoughts
Much appreciated.
1 Got mine from Amazon on 2 year interest free. Opened, tested then bought two year Care Refresh from DJI without probs.
2 Retrospective laws are rare but hey, I’m in the UK so what do I know…
3 As a long time photographer I spent several years looking into aerial solutions before I got my m4p and I did this realising there are better camera systems out there. However this model has been a revelation in terms of ease of use and the image quality it produces. Several chaps at the photo club have them now and you can’t easily determine which model produced which image. The learning curve on flying isn’t too steep and I’m now enjoying that part probably more than the taking photos bit. I can see how the guys here get hooked and I can image buying something larger with better lenses in the future but there’s still a spot for a sub 250gm drone once you start checking flying restrictions around you.
In summary I’d say buy it before the weather gets too bad!!
 
I meant that the person receiving the criticism shouldn't get upset that the people cite the rules. Not to take it personally.
 
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I meant that the person receiving the criticism shouldn't get upset that the people cite the rules. Not to take it personally.
OK then perhaps you should make your phrasing less open to misinterpretation.

Unfortunately comments on forums are very open to misinterpretation, which is one reason why I often repeatedly edit my posts.
I.e. i realise that whilst I might understand what I meant and written not everyone else will, especially if their native tongue is in a different language
 
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As a Fellow California drone pilot, I have purchased my now 3 DJI drone products from B&H in New York using their “PayBo” credit card. They are a wonderful photography equipment provider. Why there? They are the only vendor that I know of, that pays the exorbitant CA sales tax of up to 10% depending on your county. They provide free 2 day expedited shipping to your door. I have the credit card paid off immediately by attachment to my bank account. I have never paid any interest and I’m saving 10% of the cost.
Great service and easy phone contact with a real human being - shocking I know. Save the 10% !
 
As a Fellow California drone pilot, I have purchased my now 3 DJI drone products from B&H in New York using their “PayBo” credit card. They are a wonderful photography equipment provider. Why there? They are the only vendor that I know of, that pays the exorbitant CA sales tax of up to 10% depending on your county. They provide free 2 day expedited shipping to your door. I have the credit card paid off immediately by attachment to my bank account. I have never paid any interest and I’m saving 10% of the cost.
Great service and easy phone contact with a real human being - shocking I know. Save the 10% !
They are the best I know people here that forgo buying local and will only buy there. I have a friend that just got his Red Cinema Cam from them and he could have purchased it locally.
 
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Did u buy the care package (protection) and how much was it? Have u flown it and how does it perform?
Yes. I bought the 2 year plan for $125.
I've flown it probably around 10 hours so far and love it! The collision avoidance, small size, transmission quality (the live picture looks great) and large number of automation features (follow me, quick shots, master shots), are all very nice. It has shorter battery life and can't handle winds as well as my Air 2, but I haven't found either of those limitations to be an issue. I'd buy a Mini 4 Pro again in a heart beat.
 
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My hobby guy said that the price from DJI is locked. Won't matter much where you buy it, it will be the same price (I'm against price locking).

The Mini 4 is a good drone, so far.
Caveat, the obstacle avoidance is visual. Without contrast, I don't think it works. If you go under a tree, it's going to be useless, from what I've seen.

Buy a good memory card, recommended by DJI.
Get a good case. I'm not impressed with the one that came with the package deal.
With the "good" batteries, you will be over the minimum weight and be required to register it.
You can get a free registration sticker at pilotinstitute.com

There are many who are sticklers for rules. Take it with a grain of Sodium Chloride.
Thank you!
 
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Thank you!
Just as a matter of interest have you googled the price/s of identical combinations of drone and controller and whatever else from USA online retailers ?
If so, were the prices ALL the same for identical combinations?
 
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