I know I shouldn't give too much weight to the complaints here but that doesn't stop the mind from wondering a little bit...

In any case.  New Vision+ V3, added some make-shift RC heli training gear (I fly RC helis) just in case it did something unexpected and up she went.  All quite stable, the drift was a bit more than expected (about +/- 2' from position) but other than that it was a dream to fly.  I didn't get crazy or fly around as much as I do my helis but I ran it around and through it's paces and I must say am pleased with the Phantom.

I just wanted to share...

A few things I did that the instructions don't say...

I found the compass to be a bit off so I degaussed the compass (using a magnet) and performed an advanced calibration.  All other operations where stock (update firmware, calibrate sticks, etc.).

I had 9-10 satellites, compass calibrated outside well and it's quieter than I expected.  I don't know if this is a result of the new props in the V3 or just the Phantom itself.  It did take about a 1-1.5 minutes to flash all green.  From initial power-on to all green it would go through a stage of flashing all green and flashing (what I thought) was red (but could have been orange).

In any case, I'm feeling much better about the Phantom and wanted to report that it as much trouble as some comments would suggest (not that I expected it to be since many people come here for help and not for praise).  I wanted to add a bit of praise.

Nice machine!

Hi Kenargo,
Thank you for giving positive feedback. As you also noticed a lot people come here ask for help on issues, this is our intend to build this forum to help, but some people just interpret as Phantoms got a lot issues. They didn't see that a lot more people are enjoying flying. With users giving back positive feedback, it gives users a better comprehensive understanding of the product and not be scared off.

Again, thank you for your feedback. We hope to see more and more feedback to better design our products.

That's good to hear and it sounds like you did your research and watched some online vids.
There's no dispute, it is a great machine..........