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iPad Mini 4 Decision

Just pulled the trigger on a wifi ipad mini as they are on sale in Argos (UK) for 299 for the 128GB version. Have been using a trusty Nexus 7 tablet which has served me very well with the Mavic Air but with the M2P it has crashed on me / restarted itself on 50% of the flights. I wanted something that fit into the controller without any mods.
 
Just pulled the trigger on a wifi ipad mini as they are on sale in Argos (UK) for 299 for the 128GB version. Have been using a trusty Nexus 7 tablet which has served me very well with the Mavic Air but with the M2P it has crashed on me / restarted itself on 50% of the flights. I wanted something that fit into the controller without any mods.
I bought one there yesterday , working perfect , no screen glitching and keeps up with the GO4 app video feed and video cache , , happy :)
 
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I love the way the ipad mini fits into the controller perfectly. It's like dji designed it for the mini and very comfortable and light weight when holding on to the controller when flying. I would spend a few extra bucks and get the I pad mini4 currently on sale at Walmart for $350. That Huawei tablet is over $300.


huawei mediapad M3 $237 on ebay new
 
You're right that GPS doesn't need a cellular signal, but Apple won't give you GPS unless you buy their LTE/cellular versions. This is true even of the $1500 iPad pro's - that still isn't enough money to buy you GPS on the WiFi versions. I hate that company sometimes.
That's true, but OP thought he needed to get cell service so I pointed out technically it isn't needed, unless Apple did something.
 
I use an ordinary iPad Mini 4 with both my Phantom Pro and Pro Plus and my Mavic Pro and have never had an issue with any of them. The iPad Mini4 is fast enough so there's no video lag and everything runs as smooth as butter every flight. I recommend the iPad Mini 4.

Bud


Presently I use an iPhone 6 Plus as a monitor while flying my Mavic 2 Pro. The small screen is getting old. Tried a Samsung Tab A and couldn’t get it to work, Go4 ran fine but no video. So I decided to go with iPad Mini 4. My decision. Get the wi-fi model and use my phone as a hotspot, or spend an extra $130 and get the cellular version. Also would cost me to add to my cell bill.
Any experience here with using a wi-fi hotspot to run a tablet ?? Or is there a cheaper Android tablet that would work since they have GPS ??
 
I also use the iPad mini 4 but the LTE version with GPS and boy am I glad this is what I had when I lost my Mavic pro in the woods where no cell signal is available. I was able to recover the unit by locating it very precisely on a small mountain side. I have to give kudos to DJI for the design as the unit's battery was depleted and the unit had turned off but the GPS signal was still available. I would never have found the unit without GPS on the iPad.
 
View attachment 49594

The iPad Mini 4 works well for me. I like not needing an adapter to use it and the hood, TPG SP, and TPU case is thin enough to use as-is with the controller so I don’t need to make any mods to the controller. Do I wish it was as powerful as the iPad Pros...sure, but I’ll take the portability over that any day. That’s why I’m a Mavic guy in the first place isn’t it? LOL


Could you point me in the right direction for that hood please?
 
Presently I use an iPhone 6 Plus as a monitor while flying my Mavic 2 Pro. The small screen is getting old. Tried a Samsung Tab A and couldn’t get it to work, Go4 ran fine but no video. So I decided to go with iPad Mini 4. My decision. Get the wi-fi model and use my phone as a hotspot, or spend an extra $130 and get the cellular version. Also would cost me to add to my cell bill.
Any experience here with using a wi-fi hotspot to run a tablet ?? Or is there a cheaper Android tablet that would work since they have GPS ??


I am using an IPAD Mini 4 WI-FI CELL 128 GB with an Mavic Pro and fly with Litchy.
I have seen no Problems with the brighness and the screen is great enough to have a complety view
It's running good
 
Presently I use an iPhone 6 Plus as a monitor while flying my Mavic 2 Pro. The small screen is getting old. Tried a Samsung Tab A and couldn’t get it to work, Go4 ran fine but no video. So I decided to go with iPad Mini 4. My decision. Get the wi-fi model and use my phone as a hotspot, or spend an extra $130 and get the cellular version. Also would cost me to add to my cell bill.
Any experience here with using a wi-fi hotspot to run a tablet ?? Or is there a cheaper Android tablet that would work since they have GPS ??
No! I replaced my iPad Air 2 with a mini 4. It’s the same hardware and is no longer enough horse power to run a modern drone. Especially if you run screen record and “cache drone video” too. My mini kept being choppy and giving cpu overload errors. Pay around the same price and get an iPad 6th gen full size. Faster processor and way more power. Runs smooth. All you need is an adapter to connect it on your Mavic controller. Order from Drone Valley. He has great ones for a good price. Do not buy a mini.
If you want location of the controller to be available you’ll need the cellular version. I’d recommend that as well. It enables “follow me” to work and “return to controller” to work. Although sometimes it still says “gps signal is too weak” when I click “set controller to gone point”, but if it does that, I find briefly opening Apple maps and clicking on the “my current location” button and then reopening Go4 solves that problem. Thai all can be done in flight.
Also, I might add, you do not need to have data, or any cellular account for the iPad. You do need a SIM card in it though, I believe. I just “hotspot” my phone to download the local map to the iPad or you can pre cache the map by opening Apple maps at home and browsing the area you will be flying.
 
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I use both the ipad mini 4 and the ipad 9.7 on my MP. They both work great and they DO NOT HAVE CELLUAR service. Get GPS every time.
I use the Hoodman on very sunny days. I bought the ipad mini 4 128 gb at best buy last christmas for $274.00. I use the mini mostly for my Osmo
and the 9.7 for the MP.
 
Just to say i went for an iPad Mini 4 coming from Android on a Samsung s8, I'm still stunned at how much more stable the DJI App runs on IOS, night and day difference
 
Any idea if the Fire HD 10 would work?
I’m using iPhone 7s but my eyes are not what they used to be.

Thanks
 
Lycus Tech Mavic Air 3 Case

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