Good afternoon,
I am looking for advice from Inspire owners.

1. I have only played in the cheap R/C market and I want to get a nice drone. Are the following reasons a mistake to justify the purchase?
A. Its the only drone that I enjoy looking at and don't find hideous to look at.
B. I do not want to buy something just have to replace it because I want to jump up to the next level.
c. Retractable landing gear!!! OMG!!! Shut up and take my money!

2. Being that this is my first real drone, will the onboard simulator and all its other technology be sufficient enough for me to learn to fly?

3. How many hours/day/months/years of fun can I hope for before it's life cycle is over (ie. engines die)? If I'm spending $3000 on this I want atleast a 300+ hours of flight time.

4. I'm not a photographer by any means, I just want to have fun flying, is this the wrong drone for me and if so, which other drone offers the styling and technology that this bad boy has? (Yuneec 500 4k seems sweet with the removable gimbal for the wife to play with but, reviews havent been to sweet on it)

Thank you in advance for your time.

Respectfully,

Bill Cobb

If you just want to have fun flying, and your experience has only been (cheap R/C) as you say than I would not get the inspire.
You will be much better off with the Phantom line. If you just want to zip around the. The Standard would be a great choice.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2015-12-10 13:48
If you just want to have fun flying, and your experience has only been (cheap R/C) as you say than I ...

The phantom line looks so awful... I like the idea of the Adv and Pro having the indoor flying....  But the Inspire has retractable landing gear!!! What if I found the Inspire 1 version D for 2300$.... Is $1000 more worth it for the landing gear? How sweet is that landing gear....

Go for Phantom Pro. If you get a taste for it, maybe a i1 down the road.
Forget about Landing Gear.
For the price difference, if you go for i1, you'll be paying $1500 for that.
Ask yourself if that's worth it.

Damn, was hoping more for encouragement to buy it lol. So the inspire doesn't really rate the price increase unless you are a professional photographer?

Linolens Posted at 2015-12-10 14:37
Go for Phantom Pro. If you get a taste for it, maybe a i1 down the road.
Forget about Landing Gear.
...

i actually agree with you,  it's better to get one of the Phantom series as a first drone!

especially if you are not a photographer... And for the rest of the money you can get yourself a little FPV 250 quad, just to play with

Thank you all. Sadly you have all persuaded me away from the I1 but, I think I will go with Yuneec Q500 4k over the Phantom.  Thank you all again.

bankercobb Posted at 2015-12-10 04:29
Thank you all. Sadly you have all persuaded me away from the I1 but, I think I will go with Yuneec Q ...

Get the Inspire.  It is awesome!
x2 on using the simulator to learn (most) everything about it and how to fly.

Life is too short to not get what you really want.

Although we'd love for you to have a DJI product and if you did a comparison between the two brands, DJI offers incredible technology and the gimbal/camera quality are incredible.

bankercobb Posted at 2015-12-9 21:40
Damn, was hoping more for encouragement to buy it lol. So the inspire doesn't really rate the price  ...

I was facing the same situation you are.. Ive played with the el cheap Quads, However  I have never owned anything over the 500.00 Mark...  
The way I justified it to myself was fairly easy.

1) it seems to me that a large portion of the cost of the inspire is in controllers and batteries as well as other accessories... a controller retails around $450 - $650 a battery is around $200.00 a pop... a new case by go professional is going to run around $350.00 and this is not counting other accessories that are inspire 1 specific

I I am a land  & construction surveyor, so eventually  I also intend to eventually use this Item for work.... therefore in the long run I'm going to want the heavier bird not only to buck the wind better and also for the upgrade capability..  With birds like the phantom what  you see is what you get....

In my case purchasing the Phantom line would be a waste..  not only 1200 for the Phantom pro ( I want a 4K camera) but all of the accessories your going to buy for it as well...... if you get want to get everything set up properly with extra batteries and a real case my numbers show  about 1800.00 -2000 dollars.

so ultimately....  I intend to be as cautious as possible and use common since.  and get lots of simulator time. My  fingers crossed and hopefully,   I don't wreck the I1.  However if I do, then hopefully worst case scenario  I'm only going to be out the cost of the bird. minus any parts of it I can salvage.

you can buy a blank I1 (with no accessories)  for 2k from DJI,,, and I've seen then for as low as 1600 on eBay.

while this is not chump change its still something to think about.. I guess it depends on your situation...

If i just wanted to zip around the Yard,  I already have a box full of air hogs....

I was  looking to buy a real drone  and while its true spending 1200k  on something to learn on might have been a better idea .( i honestly believe it would have been a waste)..  I chose to take the risk.
I  know the stakes. and I have justified it in my mind already.

GL with whatever you choose

Yeah, I'd go with a phantom or something else. Especially if you arent taking media.

But if you do get the inspire, its awesommmmmmme

I was in the same boat. I was going to get the Phantom.........until I saw the Inspire. Really wanted it but it felt foolish to spend 4K on a toy. Then I got a small inheritance, bought the Inspire and haven't regretted it. I had practiced on a Syma X5C for about 8 months. It was time well spent. I can't even count how many times I crashed that thing and it never broke. The Inspire is so much easier to fly. Just stay higher than everything else and go. Get nervous, just let go of the controls and it stays right there. It's totally amazing and the best technology I've ever used.

This community is amazing to say the least. My wife told me no matter what I buy I'm not allowed to buy another for three years. So I bought the inspire. Feel like a kid waiting for Christmas morning, hurry up and arrive already.  Thank you all for your advise.

bankercobb Posted at 2015-12-11 18:51
This community is amazing to say the least. My wife told me no matter what I buy I'm not allowed to  ...

   I know that feeling!

Buy the Inspire 1 and the Phantom 3  now that's a lot of fun and well worth it.

You cant loose
Rich

bankercobb Posted at 2015-12-11 22:51
This community is amazing to say the least. My wife told me no matter what I buy I'm not allowed to  ...

Congrats!