I have just placed an order for the P3 and while doing research I found the 3RD Solo drone Do you think it's worth buying? I mean it requires separate camera, Half a mile range compared to over 1 mile on Phantom

From the footage I have seen from the Solo the footage it yields is less than satisfactory. While a go pro is a great all around option, its distortion makes aerial footage look weird in certain situations. Along with this it seems that the Solos gimbal is not nearly as effective. Even in the commercial shots theres lots of jello and shuttering. The smaller 90 degree field of view on the P3 will give you more cinematic shots similar to a DSLR. Along with this for the price the P3 is the clear choice. For 1300 you get a complete quad with a 4k camera and a gimbal. To achieve the same specs on the solo it'll cost nearly 2k and won't be nearly as integrated. However the Solo has some benefits. Its autopilot is more advanced and it has a higher top speed. This autopilot advantage may be temporary in that DJI has released an SDK and these features should appear soon. In conclusion I would keep your order for the P3. At least to me it seems like a more complete package that will be more fun to fly and be less hassle in the long run. Also like you mentioned integrated light bridge is a huge advantage as well as the down firing sensors on the P3. Hope this helps

Twice the price, less features and you're stuck back in the fisheye dark ages!
Hardly a compelling value proposition.
3DR are competing with the Phantom 2 series still.

For me, whenever I read up on another quadcopter that has a cool feature that isn't available on the Phantom 3, I only doubt my P3 pre-order purchase for a few seconds. Then I remember all the great things that the P3 DOES have, many of which aren't on those other quadcopters, all at an amazing price for the P3. I'm not ready to jump ship for another manufacturer I've never tried before.

I also think about if the differentiating features are software or hardware-related. If it's something that can maybe be updated on the P3 via software, then I'm that much less worried. For example, while I don't need/want "follow me", I do REALLY want the ability to do "virtual cable" (or whatever it's called) and I also want that "selfie" view. As those aren't hardware-dependent I'm sure those can be added in the future, either by DJI or a third party.

The one HARDWARE-related thing about the 3DR that I lust for is the hand-gimble thingie (if I'm htinking about the right one). The P3 won't ever have that (my guess), so I'll be looking for a separate solution for that.

I think it depends on what you intend to do with the craft - and also has a lot to do with your trust of 3DR. DJI has a track record of reliability  which is fairly good (yes, poor customer service, but the quads generally work well), while 3DR has twice promised big things (Iris and Iris+) and failed to deliver.

Given the pitch I saw from Colin they are more interested in picking up DJI "cast off" customers than they are at actually providing a real value for the dollar spent. That is - instead of just presenting their quad as what it is (different than the Phantom), they act as if DJI is in the stone age for making their quads slowly better and better. That's plain silly.

If my friend, brother, father or fellow forum member asked my advice about the Solo I'd say don't buy it....for at least 6 months after the release date. By that point we will know some of whether they delivered what they promised. Moreover, if one does not need the particular features the Solo offers, there is no reason to spend the money...they should buy the $1000 Phantom 3 (IMHO).

Lots of people want something different and want to be the first on the block with the new machine. 3DR will sell a lot of these to early adopters. But I'm conservative with my money so my advice tends to follow that same route.

dorn.michael10@ Posted at 2015-4-17 15:01
From the footage I have seen from the Solo the footage it yields is less than satisfactory. While a  ...

The P3 has also jello effect in some of the videos, so we have to wait on that. The Gopro is a better camera compared to the P3 camera. And you can mod the gopro with a narrow angled lens or put it in narrow mode. I really think we have to wait 2-3 months before we can judge the two quads. Im sure the P3 will also have its downsided when the first ppl receive them. The 3DRs weak link is probably the Wifi connection and the latency, range and how much fps the video downlink streams. Because it looked a bit laggy like 15fps.

1 thing I noticed about their orbit mode is that it goes sideways then turns, sideways, turns..not a smoot circle.

amstaff_loyalty Posted at 2015-4-18 03:57
1 thing I noticed about their orbit mode is that it goes sideways then turns, sideways, turns..not a ...

You saw that thing already orbiting? Where?

one is on the market ready to go the other is still pre order with just glossy media and hype so its unfair to compare them.