Solo and P3P Owner... Real honest discussion please

[Dunginhawk]

No, i wasnt being sarcastic... I am sarcastic but not in that case thanks for the info

 

[dmassphoto]

That would be awesome, looking forward to it.

When I was fooling around with the controller, you could hit one of the buttons, and watch the lcd screen show the gimbal moving up/down at a certain rate. That's where I got that from. If it works, it will indeed be awesome.

 

[Raybro]

That would be awesome, looking forward to it.

We will find out in a couple of weeks!

 

[Raybro]

So folks. I want to start a serious (NON FLAMING) thread on the real thoughts of owners of both.
I know at least 2 people (we live within miles of each other) that own both. We are both in roughly the same spot.
So i want to start a valuable discussion to hopefully shed some additional light on things to help me make a decision on which to keep, and perhaps help others.

These are MY opinion today. some may seem harsh towards SOLO and some may seem harsh towards DJI

Solo Pros
- Badass look
- Flight modes (really love these... amazing.... can/will DJI do these modes? how long will i have to wait?)
- Radio Display (this is low on the list, but it will be nice to see some data there vs having to always look at the app, which may allow the app to be less cluttered going foward)
- Battery Location - I really like it up top. First off, it makes the bird a bit top heavy and in roll over crashes (which Rich and I have both had, it lands on its back and does no damage to the quad at all, besides props) . Secondly it will allow for a larger battery in the future.
- Motor Pods - I know Rich and I differ here, but i like the easy removal pods. With the larger battery options, moving up to a larger motor to carry more weight/payload is something im very interested in.
- Accessory bay - IF and this is a big IF right now, they come out with some cool additions (like the FLIR camera, aka bigfoot and ghost hunting device. parachute, etc) it will be a REALLY cool feature.
- Speed - I love the fact that this can be acrobatic. Not that ill ever do flips, or fly it 60mph (or more like Rich) but I like the option. I just hope they open up some GPS modes to be able to use the additional speed and manueverability while still being under GPS control of my quad.
- Speed or lack there of - I love the option to dial down the rabbit to the turtle and slow it down to my full stick up moves it ever so slightly. I think thats an amazing feature.
- Tower App - If they can get it to stop crashing, flying missions, etc will be pretty damm cool.
- BYOC - I love the option to bring my own go pro. I know people look down on this, but I personally dont want to replace my quad each year. Next spring, if my solo (if its the one i keep) is working great and there arent any staggeringly new and awesome features, why would I buy a new one? Ill get a new go pro.
- HDMI Out - Integrated HDMI out is nice - Is going to cost me $150 on the P3P if I want that. For use with my headplay FPV goggles (which ROCK btw)
- Four Legs - Seems minor but landing this thing is 10x more stable than landing the P3P.
- Its Black - You can see it in the air, against clouds 10x better than a white P3P
- Support - Although its often hard to get ahold of them, in the end they do the right thing. Once they clear a massive backlog and get this all squared away, i think support will be a MAJOR selling point for 3dr

I may think of more, and ill edit this then.

P3P Pros
- Solid 3rd generation product - Roll out has been MUCH less buggy than the solo. To be expected, but its un-deniable. Right now its a much more polished Quad.
- Lightbridge - With Lightbridge the range is MUCH greater on the P3P than it is on the solo. To some this doesnt matter, to a lot of us, it does. Ive gone over 1.5 miles stock with my P3P and quite frankly, I dont even look at the controller or get concerned. I know it will be fine.
- Built in camera - Now i know i listed BYOC as a pro for solo and it is, but for those that want a camera included, this is a major pro here too. TCO is much lower on the P3P because of it.
- Built in Gimbal - this should be negated soon. Also, in my con list, I can see this being brought up because of the fragile nature of the gimbal/camera combo, which will lead to massive repair costs.
- Pilot App - The app is good. No denying that. Its a solid app with great features and telemetry.
- Extra part and tool pouch - seems like a minor thing, but I like it
- Vision positioning system - nice for indoor flying etc. - I think currently mine is disabled, but its nice to know its there.
- Torque / zippiness - No doubt about it, this is a major factor for a lot of people. In GPS mode, even with it all the way to Rabbit (the solo), its much more sluggish than the P3P. DJIs quad is snappy, and it just gets out and nails it. Solo can level this, but opening up more power in GPS mode.
- No Fish eye - yes, this is a huge benefit. I cant find a lens for my go pro (for my solo) that I want to use. so right now I'm stuck with Fish eye, and I hate it.

I may add things to the pro list as well, when I think of them.



Solo Cons
- Range - This is first and foremost for me. The range is generally pretty lackluster. Stock, I get around 2000 feet, which is about 4x less than that of my P3P. I have antennas on order, but this is still a concern.
- Torque - Just as torque is a pro for P3P it is certainly a CON here. Even full Rabbit it does not get off the line and go. Its top speed is fine, and it maneuvers very well, but its off the line speed is terrible. This can be changed by 3DR, but will they?
- Bugs - Every newly released product will have some major bugs and issues to work out. 3DR is no different. I would have liked to have seen a 100 person pre-release and they could have likely found many of these bugs.


P3P Cons
- Looks - DJIs phantom look is VERY stale by now. In fact I hate it, with a passion. So much so, that if I do keep it, Im going to skin it with something just so I dont have to look at it in quite the same light.
- Gimbal/Camera combo - It can be a pro, and a con, which it is. Its a good camera, without fisheye, but it also causes some MAJOR repair cost issues if/when you break it.
- Landing gear - Hand catching has become such an important thing to do because the phantoms tip over half the time. They could have just as easily put a little angle to the legs and split them apart (ala the solo) . The solo lands perfect each and every time. This is a major oversight on DJIs part. Easy to correct, but my guess is they didnt want to foot the bill. China - faster, cheaper.


As you can see, from my point of view there are not many cons in either camp, but the Solo Cons (at least today) are a pretty big deal. Much more so than the P3P IMO.

So there is my issue. The pros (in my book) are higher for the solo, but the cons are higher too.
The P3P is a workhorse. It just does its job and does it quite well.

This is a really hard decision, and ill continue to add to this list as the dialogue continues.
thank you all, and PLEASE no BS or Flames.

Phantom Con: lack of support......in general lack of DJI support in all categories.

 

[Rich]

I don't have a phantom so I don't know if I'm qualified to answer, but look at the open source nature of the Solo, that has a big plus!

Also, if you don't like how 3DR tuned the Solo to fly, feel free to tweak the flight parameters using tower or mission planner. Can you do this with the phantom?

On the other hand, I'm a bit disappointed with the WiFi susceptibility issues and the GPS issues. If we are lucky, they can fix some of this in software.

Right now I'm rooting for Solo as this thing has amazing potential and hope I won't need to return it. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt until I see the gimbal.

 

[mudman]

Ive got both and really like them, haven't had a problem with either so I cant comment on the support

The P3P is pretty much ready to go out of the box and takes great photos/video only issue I have is constant crashing of the app on my tablet.
The solo is a really good platform that has tons of potential due to its modularity which for me is a big plus.
I honestly don't think it fair to compare them with each other one is completely RTF and seem to be best suited for people with little or no RC experience
the other is designed to be a modular platform that eventually can be personalised to fit your needs through different bolt on items and the open source firmware.

 

[JohnSal]

As a P3P owner and Solo owner the OPs list is spot on from my perspective as well.

If you could only buy one drone and wanted the best as of *today*, it would be P3P, easily, based on range, performance and camera with gimbal. Out of the box it's usable. Can't say that about Solo.

In 2 months that could change if: a) the gimbal is good, reliable and *available* and b) 3dr is responsive with *good* CS. I mention customer service and responsiveness because that ONE attribute is so lacking with DJI, it alone offsets the technical advantages DJI has over the competition (IMO).

Solo, today, requires more of a commitment in faith. We are buying based on a promise and a belief that 3dr will deliver. To be fair there are risks with both platforms so it comes down to usability. One is usable today. One isn't. Good discussion. Cheers!

 

[Dunginhawk]

I don't have a phantom so I don't know if I'm qualified to answer, but look at the open source nature of the Solo, that has a big plus!

Also, if you don't like how 3DR tuned the Solo to fly, feel free to tweak the flight parameters using tower or mission planner. Can you do this with the phantom?

On the other hand, I'm a bit disappointed with the WiFi susceptibility issues and the GPS issues. If we are lucky, they can fix some of this in software.

Right now I'm rooting for Solo as this thing has amazing potential and hope I won't need to return it. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt until I see the gimbal.

Rich
So, can i tweak it to have more torque, or hole shot? because it accelerates like a buick...
Moving the bars only gets you so far...

 

[Jubalr]

Rich
So, can i tweak it to have more torque, or hole shot? because it accelerates like a buick...
Moving the bars only gets you so far...

Have you flown in Acro mode?

 

[Dunginhawk]

Have you flown in Acro mode?

No, i want to keep my solo in the air
I want to have a more responsive solo, while keeping GPS active.

If you look at how much hole shot the P3P has, thats all im looking for. but with gps , no acro haha

 

[rrmccabe]

I have to say one thing I like about the P3 is it's Easy.

Insert a SD card (which is done without removing the camera), hit the power button on the aircraft, power up the controller and turn on the app. No connecting WiFi or messing around. 14 satellites in 20 seconds.

I just walked outside about 30 minutes ago, launched the P3 and headed southeast over the treeline until lost connectivity which was about 8500'. I started walking around to front yard as it was returning home and at 5000' I had full connectivity again with the controller pointing away from aircraft and towards the ground !

Lots of battery left so blasted up towards the lake as sun was going down and starting to get dark.

The P3 might not be everyone's cup of tea but I am impressed with how well everything works when I put it in the air. Might look the same as my old Vision+ but DJI really upped their game with this generation.

As much as I am rooting for 3DR they have a long ways to go in a lot of areas.

I think John said it well.

Solo, today, requires more of a commitment in faith. We are buying based on a promise and a belief that 3dr will deliver.

Will say what I have said many times. I think 3DR has some good stuff going. Just not sure they can make it all happen in the lifespan of the current Solo.

Here is video. About 4 1/2 miles of flying.

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[Lon Snyder]

I hope they can catch up while the Solo is still modern and yeah, the gimbal better rock or else I will be pretty bummed.

The Solo was my choice because:

• I already own 2 GoPros
• The ability to upgrade the camera and the hardware on the bird.
• Cable cam, follow me, and hopefully tower (iOS)

Those were pretty much the MAIN reasons I chose the Solo and that was basing it off the fact that the gimbal was going to be on par or better than the Phantom. Is the Solo worth the extra $500? I'm hoping it will be in the long run.

I was following DJI from the beginning and I was waiting for them to release a model where you could attached your GoPro to a gimbal (with a live feed) and that never happened after 3 generations. When I saw that was one of 3DR's features, it became more clear.

The DJI P2 with the Zenmuse gimbal uses GoPro with a live feed (it's not very clear) but no camera control such that you must video your entire flight and can't take photos. Solo will end up far superior.

 

[Raybro]

3 reasons I went for Solo instead of P3

1. No support for Ground Station on P3 (Tower on Solo)

2. Good support from 3DR

3. U.S. Company

4. Good replacement warranty

5. Cutting edge technology on a quad

I said 3 didn't i? I could go on......

 

[Dirby]

with all that has been said about both solo and p3.
should i get rid of the solo and get a p3 or stick with the solo.?

 

[erikgraham]

No, i want to keep my solo in the air
I want to have a more responsive solo, while keeping GPS active.

If you look at how much hole shot the P3P has, thats all im looking for. but with gps , no acro haha

You would have to use something like Mission Planner or Tower to adjust the appropriate params to get the feel you want.

For example, to just make it faster horizontally you could bump up the WPNAV_LOIT_SPEED parameter. But that just scratches the surface of what you can do. You might want to use Mission Planner to really tune it just the way you want.

Anyway, check this out - scroll down to the Tuning section:
http://copter.ardupilot.com/wiki/flying-arducopter/flight-modes/loiter-mode/

And here is the obligatory complete params list (with descriptions):
http://copter.ardupilot.com/wiki/configuration/arducopter-parameters/


The Solo and almost all the drones out there that do follow me and complex auto mission stuff are all based on APM/Pixhawk, or something related. So it's worth getting familiar with the ardupilot website. Obviously stick to the arduCOPTER areas vs boats and planes, etc.

 

[rrmccabe]

with all that has been said about both solo and p3.
should i get rid of the solo and get a p3 or stick with the solo.?

Wait for gimbal. If it works for you then stick with it.

 

[JohnSal]

3 reasons I went for Solo instead of P3

1. No support for Ground Station on P3 (Tower on Solo)

2. Good support from 3DR

3. U.S. Company

4. Good replacement warranty

5. Cutting edge technology on a quad

I said 3 didn't i? I could go on......

Good list. Items 2, 3 and 4 are part of the promise.

 

[Dunginhawk]

how do you actually connect to tower mission planner thats loaded on your PC? is there a way?
i joined wifi sololink on my PC and tried connecting via udp, but that failed.

The tower android app is easy with UDP, this seems more difficult.

 

[Dunginhawk]

nevermind, rebooted the bird and its working

 

[GhostMaster]

with all that has been said about both solo and p3.
should i get rid of the solo and get a p3 or stick with the solo.?

If you want to capture aerial video now just return the solo and get a P3, if you want to miss the summer flying wait for the gimbal.

I think for 999$ the p3a is a no brainer, you can say the 3dr solo its best in some things but either the P3A is a muh better deal, the best deal now.

Link: http://j.mp/1Jsl7R0