A friend of mine is looking for a drone - and I recommended the Mavic and the Autel X-Star (I hear Autel has better customer support and better app support in general).

Intruder ,

I'm being honest -- I voted NO because I feel that the Mavic is not a drone for Amateur's or Beginners   

Yes I did, my two friends bought the Mavic and they are very happy

SkunkWerxs Posted at 2017-4-8 18:40
Intruder ,

I'm being honest -- I voted NO because I feel that the Mavic is not a drone for Amateur's or Beginners

I would disagree SkunkWerxs I have never flown a quadcopter before, but found thge Mavic extremely intuitive to fly. It almost babies you in flight.

SkunkWerxs Posted at 2017-4-8 18:40
Intruder ,

I'm being honest -- I voted NO because I feel that the Mavic is not a drone for Amateur's or Beginners

I suppose if they aren't sure if they really want a drone - then this might be a pricey entry one. There is a huge learning curve learning the features - but it should only take a few days :-)

But flying this thing is super easy (and frustrating from disconnections, app crashes, etc).

I have to say that I voted Yes but I would qualify that and say that if the friend was a bit of an idiot or couldn't respect the rules then I would tell them to get a Karma.

No, I would not recommend the drone. I would tell them my experience with it, pros and cons, and let them decide. It is a lot of money for a drone.

I'd recommend the Mavic everytime. Yes, it's a learning curve, but all you have to do is read the manual, watch the tutorial videos and start off in beginner mode.......simple!

I would. Already have.

Since my little mishap when I first got it(total pilot error) it's served me well over 10 hours of flight time so far.

To add, the app hasn't crashed once on me yet, probably just jinxed myself, but hey ho

To be honest, I voted NO. The reason is simple:

1. Mavics camera is too bad for quality photography/video.
2. Mavic is too expensive and useless to just being a racing drone and impossible and repair as a hobby after a crash.
3. And then it pinches my imagination and find some other uses,  who can say ok fore Mavics high price.

Regards Leif.

lumilan Posted at 2017-4-8 19:49
I would disagree SkunkWerxs I have never flown a quadcopter before, but found thge Mavic extremely intuitive to fly. It almost babies you in flight.

lumilan,

Yes the Mavic is very intuitive to Fly -- I also think and agree with you about it Babying the pilot
that fly's it ---- that was one of the reasons I said no ---- it makes the Amateur owner too over
confidant thinking this is easy as pie ---- According to what I read on the Form and Interweb
I really start to wonder how many Owners read the whole manual? How many just read up to the
part or skipped directly to how to start it and takeoff without ever reading + understand it fully.
One person came on to the form starts a thread that states My Mavic don't Start or something to this nature , he explained he powered up the Mavic an pushed on the control stick to make it Takeoff
nothing was happening, Now you as an experienced Mavic pilot you know what he's doing wrong
if you were to reply to his post would you tell him how to start the motors up or read the manual?
I posted back to him Read the Manual and nothing more many others posted the same along with
others that gave him the correct StartUp instructions , I was surprised at how many did that , it
lead me to believe there is more then just a few owners that never fully read the manual.
The other thing is that I have some Crazy , Stupid , ignorant friends , I guess we all do lollll
I believe this is why there is so many incidents due to the lack of reading , not understanding the
Mavic's full capability's there is a lot of information to retain , Like Intruder posted there is a huge
learning curve for all the features .
As I really thing about it , To me it's kind of a tossup, I guess if a friend of mine wanted to get
in to RC drone flying and was serious + responsible enough (I don't have many like this) I would recommend the Mavic, but also tell him to get a toy drone first to learn all the basic's B4 investing
in a Mavic as others have posted here .
To Intruder, This is a very interesting poll I'm going to keep checking in on it -- good job
                                                        Fly Safe -- Fly Free

        

4wesomeAdam Posted at 2017-4-8 22:52
No, I would not recommend the drone. I would tell them my experience with it, pros and cons, and let them decide. It is a lot of money for a drone.

Sounds impartial :-) I'd feel bad if I recommended a high dollar drone and they hated it :-)

Bnmjy1 Posted at 2017-4-9 02:08
I would. Already have.

Since my little mishap when I first got it(total pilot error) it's served me well over 10 hours of flight time so far.

Must be an apple user then if the app hasn't crashed. The android app consistently crashes around the 10 minute mark

My phone: (nugout/s7)

I voted yes, and I recently had a friend buy a Mavic that has never flown a drone before on my recommendation.  But....I recommended he get a practice drone like a Hubsan 107C ($19.99 on refurbished Ebay) or Syma (and spare props and batteries) so he will have stick coordination mastered before flying the Mavic. I have suggested that to others as well and they have thanked me because it's much better to learn and crash the cheapo drone. Much harder to fly but when you have that mastered the Mavic is a delight to fly.  That said, my friend did not get a cheap practice drone. He has crashed a the Mavic a few times but it survived and it's still his favorite thing ever!

I strongly recommend IOS devices over android for new users as well. (I don't want to reopen the IOS vs Android debate here but for a newbee it removes the app crash issue).

everyone keeps talking about learning the controls, but i pretty much had it down in about 2-3 flights, maybe not as smooth as some of you guys but i never hit anything. i just recently got a mavic ( and then lost it for 3 days ) and i just really dont think learning to fly it is the problem. more like knowing where to fly and what the actual capabilities are and learning its limitations.

i couldnt hand on heart recommend this machine, as the controlling firmware and App is so poor.

To a new pilot? Have to agree with skunkwerxs. My inlaw flew my mavic but recommended he go with the p4p because it has sensors all the way around.

Some people are naturals though. Have to see them fly first. Some have no spacial abilities though. The p4p is built for those guys. Plus the camera needs timing to focus during different gimbal positions. If you don't want to do that, the mavic is not for you either.

I'd say yes, if your friend is willing to spend the amount of money. It's a lot for someone who has never used a drone before, and isn't sure if he's going to use it often enough. If you are in the market for a first camera drone it is worth the money. The build quality is amazing, the image quality is amazing (maybe not as good as a P4P, or Inspire 2, but those are more expensive, have better camera's, and I've read that those are harder to fly), it's portable, and it's very easy to use. Even if you've never used a drone before. Just start in beginner mode, and make sure there's a decent GPS connection. Two of my friends are very enthusiastic about it, they love how portable it is, how easy it is to fly, and they like the image quality. They will not buy it though, because they find it very expensive and don't think they'll use it enough for that kind of money. I bought mine as an addon to my camera gear. Even then it's a lot of money for a hobby, but I think it's well worth it.


edit: I do agree with some people who'd say no. The Mavic is easy to fly, but it is indeed only to recommend to people who are willing to invest in it. Not just the money, but also time to prepare by reading the manual, watching instruction videos, checking local law, learn how to fly, etc.
While waiting for my order I did most of the above, and thus found it easy on my first flight (which was in beginner mode for 10 minutes, and then to normal mode). By now I've also changed the joystick layout to another mode which I like better. But it can still be dangerous. Just yesterday I almost flew it into my face when I wanted to land it and pushed the wrong stick down, making is move backwards to where I was standing. Lesson I learned: be careful with what you do, and keep your drone in sight so you can respond to what is going (wr)on(g), and know what to do if things may go wrong. Fortunatly I did all of that, so I didn't get injured because I stopped the drone in time, and (just to be extra safe) stepped aside.

Said No, because it still feels like Mavic is in Beta, have to do lots of testing, updating, learning changes, seeing if update fixed issues, testing some more, etc.!!!

They should go with something more refined like Phantom 4/Pro..

Can watch a few minutes of tutorials, fly out of the box, and not have to worry about most things Mavic owners are facing now!
(Notice I still recommend DJI!)

I would But I would also let them know about the bugs and the poor service.  for a beginner who want to fly and take videos its perfact as long as they read the book and start off slow .

SkunkWerxs Posted at 2017-4-8 18:40
Intruder ,

I'm being honest -- I voted NO because I feel that the Mavic is not a drone for Amateur's or Beginners

I disagree. It's my first drone and I learnt how to fly it  extremely fast. I did loads of research before though and I love technology so that helps I guess.
The mavic is a great piece of equipment, perfect for travelling but the customare care is nightmare. I waited 6 weeks for a gimbal overload hardware issue.

I would say yes. I have been using my instagram page @droneeasy to share my wonderful Mavic captures.

I would say yes. I have been using my instagram page @droneeasy to share my wonderful Mavic captures.

I voted yes because I now have 4 other friends that are flying Mavics; Yes I see a lot of issues posted here and I'm leery of updating  my FW all and all none of us have had any issues I think that speaks a lot for itself.

I did and he got his last week.  

SkunkWerxs Posted at 2017-4-8 18:40
Intruder ,

I'm being honest -- I voted NO because I feel that the Mavic is not a drone for Amateur's or Beginners

Seriously? This was my first drone and I was doing figure 8's with it in the first 10 minutes. My 7 year old was flying it in the first half hour.  It doesn't get any easier than the Mavic.

wolfdogg Posted at 2017-4-10 20:09
Seriously? This was my first drone and I was doing figure 8's with it in the first 10 minutes. My 7 year old was flying it in the first half hour.  It doesn't get any easier than the Mavic.

wolfdogg,

     Yes Seriously, you are right that the Mavic is easy to fly but at the same time it is and can become
complicated . It's so simple to fly that if you were to fly a different drone by a different manufacture
there's a good chance you can crash it. I'm sure your 7yr. old was able to fly it --- under your supervision.
Leave him alone with the Mavic for a half hour, then come back and see what's left --- Your post seems like an invitation for amateur's that know nothing about basic flight or RC flying --- There's a loot more to the Mavic then just pull it out of the box an start flying -- This is just my opinion and I'm taking your post as just a figure of speech.
FlySafe--FlyFree  

on one hand I would certainly recommend the Mavic as its an excellent bit of kit, on the other hand I am not sure I will recommend the Mavic until DJI get their support sorted and are able to offer the level of support expected for (IMO) such an expensive item.

SkunkWerxs Posted at 2017-4-8 18:40
Intruder ,

I'm being honest -- I voted NO because I feel that the Mavic is not a drone for Amateur's or Beginners

I think the mavic is a fairly decent device for beginners - as long as they are thorough and can read the manual - and really interested into getting into this hobby :-)

My first drone was a pain in the rear to fly.

SamBGB Posted at 2017-4-11 07:56
on one hand I would certainly recommend the Mavic as its an excellent bit of kit, on the other hand I am not sure I will recommend the Mavic until DJI get their support sorted and are able to offer the level of support expected for (IMO) such an expensive item.

I hear that, along w/ their application support - I feel like they don't care about the android experience. You pay a ton for an awesome device to only have a cruddy app experience.

"Friends don't let other friends fly Karma" I read that in another thread lol.

jeebs-9 Posted at 2017-4-11 12:50
"Friends don't let other friends fly Karma" I read that in another thread lol.

Was it that hyper-active guy with a russian accent that really dislikes the Karma? That guy is gold in that video.

Even after 1 day of owning one, yes I would.

digitalintruder Posted at 2017-4-11 12:58
Was it that hyper-active guy with a russian accent that really dislikes the Karma? That guy is gold in that video.

I think he's from Turkey.

digitalintruder Posted at 2017-4-11 12:58
Was it that hyper-active guy with a russian accent that really dislikes the Karma? That guy is gold in that video.

Intruder ,

     If it came down to me recommending a friend and his choice was between the Mavic or the Karma
I defiantly recommend the Mavic no questions asked  

SkunkWerxs Posted at 2017-4-11 17:48
Intruder ,

     If it came down to me recommending a friend and this choice was between the Mavic or the Karma

I suppose it depends on how much you like that friend

digitalintruder Posted at 2017-4-11 17:49
I suppose it depends on how much you like that friend

lollllllllll so cruel

digitalintruder Posted at 2017-4-9 08:09
Must be an apple user then if the app hasn't crashed. The android app consistently crashes around the 10 minute mark

My phone: (nugout/s7)

Yes, I got Iphone 7, works flawlessly

Id recommend the Mavic for sure, but id also recommend them to buy a cheap SYMA or something $30-50 to fly for a week or 2 then step up to the Mavic.