[fireman15]

This is from about three weeks ago. No compromises that might have made the DJI ban real have surfaced since then.  In other words the "DJI ban" whatever its merits might be... is looking more and more like it is currently dead in the water.

I have been farting around with cheap Chinese toy drones for about 10 years. Most of them cost less than $40. Some of them came with GPS and cameras that claimed to have decent specifications.

About 3 months ago I bought a DJI Mini 3 drone on sale for $300 at Costco. This was close to what I spent on all of my other drones combined over the previous 10 years. But the thing is a completely different animal than what I am used to. Cheap toy drones can be challenging to fly and build your skills inside and outside. The pictures and videos that come from them are cheesy.

The DJI drone is not really even like flying a toy drone. It is a pretty decent camera on a very steady tripod that flies. It is possible to crash it into something especially when you live in the middle of a bunch of trees. But if you are paying attention and you get it into a hairy situation all you have to do is just take your hands off the controls and it will just sit there in one place even when the wind is blowing a bit. Then you can decide the best way to get it out of the mess that you got it into.

And of course, the videos and pictures are incredible. There just is no comparison to a cheap toy drone. It actually is arguably a useful tool. Apparently, there is nothing made in the USA that is even close to being affordable for a normal consumer. I thought that $300 was a lot to pay, but as far as I can tell there are no camera drones made in the USA for close to that price that have features that are comparable.

https://www.thedronegirl.com/2023/03/20/best-camera-drones-made-in-the-usa/

[wally_bert]

I have a BWINE and it’s held up to my abuse learning how to handle it.

A DJI is on the short list.

Maybe I will get something out of that FAA 107 eventually.

[Political Junkie Too]

I bought one, too, when the mini 3 came out with collision avoidance. However, I really have spent no time with it and maybe flew it once or twice in my backyard.

-PJ

[Larry Lucido]

Just keep on saying DJI without saying what it means. We all know that it stands for Dow Jones Index. Right?

[NorthMountain]

DJI makes the best ready-to-fly drones on the consumer market. IMO.

They also like to phone home. A lot.

[BipolarBob]

But Chinese spy “weather” balloons going across the US esp. at military bases is A-OK? We have the best Congress money can buy. Doesn’t Tampon Timmy have an interest in a Chinese spy balloon business?

[fella]

Sounds like it would be an interesting article if only the acronyms were explained for us non-nerds.

[lgjhn23]

I have a hard time believing that this is about so-called “Chinese spying”, especially after they all allowed that Chinese balloon to do its thingy..
Either someone is real paranoid/skeered of the fed-up. overtaxed “unwashed masses”and/tor has big investments in the competition.