I noticed Best Buy is selling refurbished Solo drones for an extremely low price compared to other similar drones. Is it a worthwhile investment to pick up one of these?
Geek Squad Refurbished Solo Drone Worth It?
- Thread starter nathanial
- Start date
I picked one up and have had no problems with it, biggest headache I had so far was getting a compatible tablet to work with it, got a Samsung and all is well!
I have a Best buy refurb and a $60 eBay as is. Both are great! eBay one has a better GPS, but I had to open it up and plug one of the motor pods in 
I have a BB refurbished, all is good, it even had the revB GPS. Only thing it was missing was the operational manuals. I downloaded and printed them from the 3DR site.
3DR doesn't include a real printed manual, so we all have to download the manual. I just put a digital copy on the tablet I use to fly as a quick reference.
My refurb from best buy worked fine right out of the box. Bought it for spares but it flies much too good to take apart.
I just received my factory return from the seller in this forum and so far I am totally delighted. It looks brand new and came with two extra batteries and a back pack and all the 3DR goodies excellent service. Now I just gotta get it back to the UK ;-)
Good for you Bill! I heard U.K. Doesn't have the low prices like here in the USA. Enjoy and blue skies..
Hey! Update in case anyone was wondering - I received my Solo from Best Buy refurbished a few weeks ago, and I LOVE the thing. Can't beat the price they have it for. My only complaint so far is I have tried to use 2 separate gimbals to no avail, with both being defective, however 3DR's support, though slow, is amazing, so I have no reason to be worried. If anybody's looking for a Solo at a good price, I'd definitely go this route.
I have refurbished BB Solo. I had to return it. Out of the box Solo looked great (brand new) First flight went great. I went to fly it again and the controller would not connect with the Drone. I did some research and tried to do a factory reset for the drone and the controller. The reset worked on the controller but I couldn't get the drone to reset.
After trying to do the factory reset and that not working. I took the Solo back to my local Best Buy. They took it back with no problems and ordered me a new refurbished Solo.
I had no problems returning it I knew buying a refurbished Solo I may have problems. Best Buy was great. So now I wait for the new one to arrive.
I think if you buy something refurbished you should expect things to go wrong or not be perfect. I did research before buying the Refurbished Solo from Best Buy and knew I could return it and I could return to my local store making things easier. My local Best Buy is only about 2 miles away from me. Make sure you do your research when you buy refurbished electronics. I always look at the warranty and how easy it will be to return it if need be. I have had good luck with refurbished stuff you just need to understand things can go wrong.
After trying to do the factory reset and that not working. I took the Solo back to my local Best Buy. They took it back with no problems and ordered me a new refurbished Solo.
I had no problems returning it I knew buying a refurbished Solo I may have problems. Best Buy was great. So now I wait for the new one to arrive.
I think if you buy something refurbished you should expect things to go wrong or not be perfect. I did research before buying the Refurbished Solo from Best Buy and knew I could return it and I could return to my local store making things easier. My local Best Buy is only about 2 miles away from me. Make sure you do your research when you buy refurbished electronics. I always look at the warranty and how easy it will be to return it if need be. I have had good luck with refurbished stuff you just need to understand things can go wrong.
Just got one for my second and first mini flight last night went off fine. Looked brand new to me accept I believe BB updated firmware as it had the latest firmware. I believe these are opened box items and the guys take out fire them up update firmware verify base functionality between controler and copter and call it good. I am a brand new 3dr owner and first one immedialty updated GPS with mod board and I can say flying one with update and one without update is a big difference.
I ordered one from Best Buy. The first one arrived and after calibrating the controller stopped connecting to the vehicle. I attempted to factory reset both and the controller failed (solid orange light could be seen from the vents). I contacted Best Buy and they sent me a replacement, which has worked perfectly since it arrived. It has achieved a good GPS signal within 30-45 seconds every time I've turned it on (granted I live in the midwest so clear open skies aren't hard to find) and has given me no problems at all during flight.
Both appeared brand new upon arrival with the exception of the box being opened. They both had the plastic coverings on all parts and the two accessory boxes were all sealed with the original packaging as if from 3DR.
Both appeared brand new upon arrival with the exception of the box being opened. They both had the plastic coverings on all parts and the two accessory boxes were all sealed with the original packaging as if from 3DR.
Well sir that is not good news. This means I better fly this each day for next week to find out if I have a lemon. Did the one you seen this on already have updated firmware? Your stickers and all that now scares me just a bit however I got mine for 180 and simply shocked by the price. I have been a DYI c- drone hobbiest for last 5 years and there is nothing I have ever had that comes remotely close to this quality at this price point. Got my first one with Gimble brand new this Xmas with case for 350.00. Simply amazing and since I stink as a pilot cheap is important. I did however miss the small print about GOPRO 3 not able to control from gimble. 
Anyway I wish someone would post a knock off camera that works with OEM HDMI out for my second one. (No Gimble just hard mounted) I plan on learning waypoints and don't have the guts to put my Hero 3 black on a mission. Just bought the SOLEX app and that was well worth the 30 bucks. Just signed up to this forum today officially but have been lurking for 4 months just reading and learning. Ton of heated debates but I have learned a lot from 3dr owners. I simply like the fact I now have two quads for the price of one and given the open source nature of solo tons and tons of guys that blazed the trail already a mile wide 
Anyway I wish someone would post a knock off camera that works with OEM HDMI out for my second one. (No Gimble just hard mounted) I plan on learning waypoints and don't have the guts to put my Hero 3 black on a mission. Just bought the SOLEX app and that was well worth the 30 bucks. Just signed up to this forum today officially but have been lurking for 4 months just reading and learning. Ton of heated debates but I have learned a lot from 3dr owners. I simply like the fact I now have two quads for the price of one and given the open source nature of solo tons and tons of guys that blazed the trail already a mile wide I don't know if I would agree that it is good news or bad news, just simply matter of fact. Things can be defective and things break sometimes, all you can do is take it in stride. Geek Squad offers a 90 day warranty on their refurbished items and with BB being an official retailer for 3DR, they seem to be honoring the 1 yr warranty on these refurbs as well. I'm guessing the 1 yr warranty is with discretion, so I would be inclined to be extra polite if I ever had to take them up on that 
?That being said, it probably isn't a bad idea to get several flights in early to be sure nothing is defective, but that is good practice with any sensitive electronic items whether it be a drone, an xbox, or a TV. If it's defective, it's best to know early.
As far as the few comments I've seen of people being warned not to buy the BB refurbs, I disagree with that. BB has these in inventory and will dispose of them as soon as they stop making money on them. We as the Solo enthusiasts are better off getting as many of these units into our hands as we can, so we can make use of them, even if just for parts, than we would be if they all got melted down for the metals.
Also, you never know, maybe if Solo gets enough of a consumer following, 3DR will pick it back up and go with it... (I know, my head is in the clouds on that one) lol
?That being said, it probably isn't a bad idea to get several flights in early to be sure nothing is defective, but that is good practice with any sensitive electronic items whether it be a drone, an xbox, or a TV. If it's defective, it's best to know early.As far as the few comments I've seen of people being warned not to buy the BB refurbs, I disagree with that. BB has these in inventory and will dispose of them as soon as they stop making money on them. We as the Solo enthusiasts are better off getting as many of these units into our hands as we can, so we can make use of them, even if just for parts, than we would be if they all got melted down for the metals.
Also, you never know, maybe if Solo gets enough of a consumer following, 3DR will pick it back up and go with it... (I know, my head is in the clouds on that one) lol
Has anyone been able to purchase the solo gimbal and case for around $205
Website keeps saying not available within 250 miles regardless of what zip code I enter. Called bb customer service and was advised they don't even have visibility.
So far my bb refurbs have performed well.
Blue skies....
Website keeps saying not available within 250 miles regardless of what zip code I enter. Called bb customer service and was advised they don't even have visibility.
So far my bb refurbs have performed well.
Blue skies....
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