My perspective on the economics of Mavic ownership

[adiru]

Long story short, bottom line is Mavic is about drone flying. It cannot compare to a DSLR, the "aerial" photography aspect of aerial photography is only possible because of drone flying. Hence DJI drones, and especially Mavic, is first and foremost a drone that just so happens to take pictures and videos, not the other way around, it isn't first and foremost a camera that just happens to be able to fly.

The Mavic, as originally pitched, was only $799 USD. The controller itself at $299 was supposed to be optional. so in theory the only thing needed to fly is the Mavic base unit, $799 to get up and in the air.

But in reality it is more like this, without a controller ($299) the Mavic is next to useless. and add on things like DJI Care ($99) and the premium ($79) and second change being ($179) and things like an Litchi app and Autopilot app (together about $70) and some spare batteries ($400) and another accessory or two and quickly the Mavic to miscellaneous ratio has spiraled out of control.

Now they want to sell us Goggles. ($500)

Now did we go from $799 price tag to effectively almost $2500?

 

[adiru]

And don't you think it is weird that DJI came out with the Mavic Pro first and then almost a year later the Mavic Standard?I heard it will not even have an LED screen!!!

How does one even fly without an LED screen? Sometimes at the park I like flying without the app, just with the controller. If it ever starts flying beyond visual range and I need to bring it home, sometimes it is hard to see which way it is pointed, so I use a crude form of "dead reckoning" by looking at the distance range, and then slowly turning the Mavic around in a circle (yawing with rudder) as I monitor the distance to see if it is headed in the general direction back home.

Things like being able to see battery level, speed, height, distance and these basic telemetry are core and critical....

If Mavic Standard does away with the LED screen effectively flying with only a controller will be rendered impossible! Heck you won't even know if its in ATTI or GPS mode or if things like NFZ LIMIT or BAT ERROR etc...

And I heard the range went from 4.6 miles to 0.6 miles, a rounding error! If they want to handicap the Mavic to that level, they should handicap the price too! I heard it is going to be $799..... Hmmm... I wouldn't even buy it for $299 becuase it is not capable anymore! The value prop isn't there, since I heard they are taking and removing the OA too!

The only conclusion I can draw is this:

Either DJI intends to price gouge the margins by riding the Mavic Standard gravy train, (esp after the Go Pro Karma mess that eliminated any competition) OR the Mavic Pro was a loss leader for DJI to get it out before Karma, make a splash, and then the Standard version is that they are really using to make money?

 

[Rnl]

Still long story.

 

[TheWolfen]

Well... I certainly wouldn't include 2 DJI Refresh replacement fees in the cost of ownership of the Mavic. Not everyone crashes. So I'd take that $260 off. I'd also not consider Litchi and Autopilot a requirement, so drop that $70. I also doubt many people buy 4 extra batteries (2 extra seems pretty common), so that $400 is realistically under 200. Those changes alone total about $530.

Having said that, this isn't a cheap hobby by any means. Spend what you want to spend but it certainly doesn't cost $2500 to fly the Mavic. Of course DJI wants to keep selling you stuff, as do a lot of accessory manufacturers, but that doesn't mean you have to get it all to enjoy it!

I've bought a ton of stuff for my Mavic and haven't spent much over $1500. I absolutely love the Mavic and enjoy every second flying. While I do wish it was cheaper, I don't truly have a problem with the cost. You get what you pay for!

 

[adiru]

Well... I certainly wouldn't include 2 DJI Refresh replacement fees in the cost of ownership of the Mavic. Not everyone crashes. So I'd take that $260 off. I'd also not consider Litchi and Autopilot a requirement, so drop that $70. I also doubt many people buy 4 extra batteries (2 extra seems pretty common), so that $400 is realistically under 200. Those changes alone total about $530.

Having said that, this isn't a cheap hobby by any means. Spend what you want to spend but it certainly doesn't cost $2500 to fly the Mavic. Of course DJI wants to keep selling you stuff, as do a lot of accessory manufacturers, but that doesn't mean you have to get it all to enjoy it!

I've bought a ton of stuff for my Mavic and haven't spent much over $1500. I absolutely love the Mavic and enjoy every second flying. While I do wish it was cheaper, I don't truly have a problem with the cost. You get what you pay for!

Yes, but my concern is the skewed ratio of sticker price to actual Total Cost of ownership.
Imagine if you went to a car dealership and bought a $25000 car later to find out it actually costs $100000

 

[Michael Ainsworth]

I bought a new VStrom motor bike stock standard from the shop.
Then I bought a different screen and brackets.
Crash bars.
Air horn.
Different seat.
LED brake lights.
Barkbuster hand grips.
Driving lights.
Night time flood lights.
Fuze block for extra electric fittings.
Bike alarm.
Automatic chain oiler.
Radiator guard.
Bash plate.
And the list goes on, suddenly the stock bike price has blown way out.
Is it worth it?
To me it is.
The Mavic ticks my boxes with minimal extra layout.

 

[tcope]

Now did we go from $799 price tag to effectively almost $2500?

I don't see where they did. I bought mine for right around $1200 with some extra batteries. Not $2,500 as you suggest.

What you suggest is that DJI simply sell all of those items for $2,500, period. No other packages.

You've never heard of buying additional items for something? Only item I can think of that does not do this is perhaps a pencil. Heck, even when I go to a fast food place I can buy extra items for an additional charge.

 

[adiru]

I don't see where they did. I bought mine for right around $1200 with some extra batteries. Not $2,500 as you suggest.

What you suggest is that DJI simply sell all of those items for $2,500, period. No other packages.

You've never heard of buying additional items for something? Only item I can think of that does not do this is perhaps a pencil. Heck, even when I go to a fast food place I can buy extra items for an additional charge.

So you didn't not buy DJI Care? Is so add another $99. Since DJI Care by itself without a premium doesn't activate, and is useless, for cost accounting you have to add at the very least the FIRST premium which is $79.
that is another $178, so no one would ever be able to make any claim under DJI Care for less than $178, then the $99 is misleading.

 

[tcope]

So you didn't not buy DJI Care? Is so add another $99. Since DJI Care by itself without a premium doesn't activate, and is useless, for cost accounting you have to add at the very least the FIRST premium which is $79.
that is another $178, so no one would ever be able to make any claim under DJI Care for less than $178, then the $99 is misleading.

Nope. I bought the Mavic and controller as well as 2 additional batteries. Offering additional items and not bundling everything together is much better for the consumer. That way you get only what you want.

 

[Michael Ainsworth]

Many many years ago when I was a wooden boat builder, we would regularly get customers in who wanted a good job done cheap.!
Bit of an oxymoron statement really.
Hobbies by their nature require the initial outlay then subsequent expenses as they develop.

 

[Rnl]

It will fly rite out of the box 999.00 everything else is because you want more.

 

[Rnl]

It's called addiction, and my girl is worth it.

 

[geigy]

My Mavic is a great bird, but for me it is a video/photo platform. If it couldn't do photos, I would not have bought it at all.

You do have a point about real cost of ownership. I did find myself spending an extra $400 for an iPad, after I discovered my Android device crashed too much to be usable.

 

[adiru]

My Mavic is a great bird, but for me it is a video/photo platform. If it couldn't do photos, I would not have bought it at all.

You do have a point about real cost of ownership. I did find myself spending an extra $400 for an iPad, after I discovered my Android device crashed too much to be usable.

yes you brought up a point I didn't even consider,,,, for all the "intelligent" flight modes, an iPad or larger tablet is needed....
Essentially the Mavic is offloading, offshoring, if you will, a huge chuck of the "intelligence" to the tablet for processing....
So while DJI claims deep learning this and machine AI that, it is leveraging on the hardware of others to make its claim! which in my opinion even further expands TCO

 

[knockstar]

Thank you, everyone, for your responses. Think after almost another day of reading all your advice and researching I've narrowed it down to the HP laptop I described above and an HP Omen gaming desktop running:

* i7-7700 (3.6 GHz, up to 4.2 GHz with Intel Turbo Boost Technology, 8 MB cache, 4 cores)
2 TB 7200 rpm SATA and 256 GB SATA SSD and a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (8 GB GDDR5 dedicated) Powered by NVIDIA Pascal architecture and 16 GB DDR4-2133 SDRAM memory.

About 99.9% sure of going w/ the desktop, because of the 8mb cache on the processor over the laptop, the punchier graphics card and more simply it will be much easier to upgrade the graphics card and memory plus the whole thing will run a lot cooler. The downside is having to give up portability as well as having to cough even more $$ for a decent monitor to go with it, but should be a decent enough system that will last for a few years until the next big tech breakthrough comes along. Thanks again!

 

[adiru]

Thank you, everyone, for your responses. Think after almost another day of reading all your advice and researching I've narrowed it down to the HP laptop I described above and an HP Omen gaming desktop running:

* i7-7700 (3.6 GHz, up to 4.2 GHz with Intel Turbo Boost Technology, 8 MB cache, 4 cores)
2 TB 7200 rpm SATA and 256 GB SATA SSD and a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (8 GB GDDR5 dedicated) Powered by NVIDIA Pascal architecture and 16 GB DDR4-2133 SDRAM memory.

About 99.9% sure of going w/ the desktop, because of the 8mb cache on the processor over the laptop, the punchier graphics card and more simply it will be much easier to upgrade the graphics card and memory plus the whole thing will run a lot cooler. The downside is having to give up portability as well as having to cough even more $$ for a decent monitor to go with it, but should be a decent enough system that will last for a few years until the next big tech breakthrough comes along. Thanks again!

Go for the GTX1080 TI Extreme by ZOTAC, SLI it.

 

[knockstar]

Go for the GTX1080 TI Extreme by ZOTAC, SLI it.

Was thinking that Adiru, they have the same spec pc except has a NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1080 (8 GB GDDR5X dedicated) card for 300 more. Was thinking I can just get away with the 1070 for now and boost the graphics later. Put the 300 towards a decent monitor Not sure what the Zotac Sli it means?

 

[Michael Ainsworth]

Ive got the MSI GT720 Dominator Gaming laptop 16GB ram.
Intel core2.70GHZ
SSD x2 with 1 1/2 Terrabytes.
4K screen.
Plays games and does all my video and photos.

 

[adiru]

Was thinking that Adiru, they have the same spec pc except has a NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1080 (8 GB GDDR5X dedicated) card for 300 more. Was thinking I can just get away with the 1070 for now and boost the graphics later. Put the 300 towards a decent monitor Not sure what the Zotac Sli it means?

1070 is better bang for buck for sure.

PassMark - Video Card Performance Comparison

Look under "VALUE" section


nvidia is coming out with a much faster card in a year anyway, that will put the 1080TI to shame.

 

[Johnmcl7]

So far all I've bought for my Mavic is an extra battery and a spare set of props, I don't agree that you must buy all the accessories you've listed at all.

John