After my first flight I must say that i am extremely impressed with this bird. I just recently started flying drones a few days before christmas. Ive wanted a phantom drone since it was first released but it wasnt something i could easily obtain. For christmas i received a U818a with fpv and the VR goggles plus a protocol video drone. Ive really enjoyed both my U818a and videodrone AP. Ive used them to get the feel of flying a drone while having the ability to crash. They both stood up well to the many crashes ive put them thru while learning to fly and ive only replaced props due to minor wear. I ordered the phantom 3 refurbished on the dji site. It was late saturday night when i finally hit buy! The drone went out first thing monday morning from Atlanta and arrived in Texas Wednesday before 5oclock. Thank you for that DJI! I did the firmaware update yesterday that did fail once but was successful on the 2nd try, very simple.  Today i went airborne. This thing is amazing. Its ability to hover in one place is beyond awesome. The flight controls feel great, and are very responsive. The video is beautiful. The app seems easy to use. The simulator was extremely helpful for simulating high wind conditions to get an idea of what the limits are of the drone. Overall im in love with this thing and could not be happier with the entire experience. Thank you again Dji. Everything bad ive read has proved to be not true, or just not in my case. A few more batteries and im good to go. Any upgrades or apps recommended that i try out?

If you are this pleased with it right out of the box, I would say just get another battery or two and just fly the daylights out of it before getting into any mods. Enjoy!

1. Landing gear
https://www.amazon.com/DJI-Phanto...B016EWOA2G
There's a bunch of different vendors and they all look alike. I went with the "name brand" that I found mentioned most often in discussion groups. Not sure whether the one I purchase is any better or any worse than the rest. I can tell you that the landing gear greatly adds to the stability of the drone when landing and taking off, so much so that I would call this a "must have" item.

2. Spare battery.
http://store.dji.com/product/phantom-3-intelligent-flight-battery
A spare battery would be the next thing on my recommended shopping list. The jury is out on whether substitution of generic batteries is worth the risk. So, I'd advise you to first look for genuine DJI replacement batteries when they come on sale.

3. Mobile device holder and sunshade.
http://store.dji.com/product/phantom-3-mobile-device-holder
http://store.dji.com/product/inspire1-phantom-3-remote-controller-monitor-hood-tablets
I'd suggest that the next item you purchase would be something to replace the "lobster claw" device holder that comes with the DJI Phantom 3. And while you're at it, pick up a sunshade. At the time I bought them, the holder was $28 and the sunshade was $8. This particular holder will hold anything the size of a cell phone to a minipad. Again, these products come from many different vendors, you might want to price shop.

4. Carrying case.
You don't really need a case unless you intend to backpack it. Most people simply need a convenient place to store their drone and to carry it around in their car - for that purpose, the original cardboard box will do until it is eventually worn out (which may take months or even years). The case I bought was a backpack model that was reasonably priced and pretty good quality.  Now here's what I don't like about it - the propellers needed to be unscrewed in order for the drone to fit and the controller/modified device holder doesn't fit. In hindsight, I wish that I had bought one of the suitcase-type cases.

5. Range extender
http://www.dronevalley.com/store/..._3_4K.html
The last item that I'd recommend to you is a range extender. From what I've read, it will double or triple the range that you can fly before losing signal. I just got mine and haven't installed it yet, so I can't tell you from experience. But there's a ton of YouTube videos,if you're interested.

6. Once you've got past number 5, you're ready to graduate to a P4P or Mavic Pro!

Additional comments:

Prop Guards
http://store.dji.com/product/phantom-3-propeller-guard
Purchasing the landing gear stabilizers significantly reduces the chances for tipover accidents, which are a major source of propeller damage. You should be able to avoid hitting trees and other objects while flying. So, the only reason that I would buy any propeller guards is as a safety precaution for preventing possible injuries to (a) passers-by and (b) to me.

Since I'm careful not to fly around any people and I never handle the aircraft when it's rotors are spinning, I did not purchase any prop guards. Also, my choice of backpack case preempts me from using them.

Other range extenders.
https://www.amazon.com/SKYREAT-Pa...B01DC0ZCN4
There are simple parabolic reflector range extenders ("windsurfers") that are much cheaper than the ARGtek one that I recommended earlier. I have no doubts that they do work. They are relatively cheap and you may want to try one of them out. I chose not to purchase one because I figured that after a while, I would have wanted even more range. So, I skipped the intermediate step of picking up a parabolic reflector and went directly to the ARGtek device.

VR Goggles.
http://forum.dji.com/thread-44492-1-1.html
https://forum.dji.com/thread-74692-1-1.html
I have no experience with 3D or virtual reality flying.  But it's something that I want to try out in the near future!

Don't upgrade FW ...ever. Unless it's a critical update.     Search p3s FW update and you will see why,,,range loss signal loss.  Happened to me