Research I did when I was buying my first drone. Ended up with a refurbished Mavic Air. Great decision, and DJI shipped it as if it were new. Frankly, it was almost impossible to tell it was used, and was able to save a lot of money from buying refurbished (and also was able to use my .edu email to get a 10% discount).
read more6 Tips for Cinematic Drone Footage - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pOZ9L5cr00 Air Traffic Facilities Participating in LAANC: https://www.faa.gov/uas/programs_partnerships/data_exchange/laanc_facilities/?fbclid=IwAR2AvoG9GqwusTQ9YerChnS5ISt9S2N9oxPy4ALt9Cfb9c1L3lY9VitFw5c Check conversation with Jonny. I really think the Mavic Air, especially if it goes on discount, would be something I might want to swing. If not, then maybe the Spark, which is the cheaper one, but meant for toy-ish use (even though it's $350), whereas the Mavic Air is $700. Seems like Jonny's old accessors aren't going to work with the Mavic Air, so we'd be out on our own on that, but the Mavic Air baseline is probably enough of what we want, then maybe we could get another battery. Using the education discount, you can get 10% off. Just an email verification. Can use mom's email if my coupon has expired already (July). Looks like you get 2, so could buy a battery later with a 10% discount. Mom/Dad/Tara could contribute as a birthday present potentially. Seems like Amazon Prime Day might have a nice discount, based on last year. But that might be waiting a while (July). Added an alert on Slickdeals for "DJI". Should check Wirecutter again: https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-drones/ But basically Wirecutter only is recommending DJI drones, so should definitely do DJI. • We had plans to make the DJI Mavic Air our top pick before the arrival of the Mavic 2 Pro, and we still think it’s a great drone. It’s essentially a hybrid of the Mavic 2 Pro and Spark; it’s smaller and lighter with gesture control abilities, but has the same smaller sensor as the Mavic 2 Zoom and a 21-minute battery life. It’s a good option if you are willing to spend a bit more to get something like the Spark with a better camera. • So basically, the Mavic Air is definitely one we should get. Checkout page. Could buy insurance, but it only covers the first year, so might not be worth it because I will only be flying it 2 times a year. • Although, looks like you can get 1 year coverage for $89 • Then a second year of coverage for $69, so that might be worth it. • Given that this will be the first drone I'll use, it is probably just better to bite the bullet and get the insurance. The drones are very expensive. Dad will tell me to just get it. Note: in about 6 months, should probably buy DJI Care Refresh +, which will extend the coverage another year. Cost is only $69, but I have to do it before the 1 year coverage is up: https://store.dji.com/product/dji-care-refresh-plus-mavic-air Note: could look into getting insurance through State Farm, which would cover loss as well. Might only cost something like $60/year or so, which is great. (or maybe not: https://www.reddit.com/r/drones/comments/6wjb45/be_very_careful_with_the_state_farm_drone/) Ultimately, decided to just get it refurbished. People seem to say they're just as good, and it's probably more cost savings then I'd get otherwise. Mainly decided because of this: https://www.reddit.com/r/djimavicair/comments/agbghu/has_anyone_purchased_the_refurbished_mavic/?st=JRLSGS0C&sh=7a46b938 Could have also checked Costco (but may not have been able to get the insurance or it would have been a bit more complicated), plus probably would have ended up getting a new one for $600 at best instead of a basically new one for $639 and dealing directly with DJI. Could also have asked them for a larger discount, like just said I couldn't afford it, could they take more off. Also, interestingly, I could have gotten it on Amazon, apparently, for new, which would have been $689 instead of $799: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078WP48CH/. No sales tax it seems, either. However, wouldn't have gotten the discount, so would have paid overall: $784 for a new drone, instead of $668 for a refurbished one, so I still saved $116 by getting refurbished, plus the risk of buying on Amazon (would rather deal with only DJI). Also, if I had purchased from DJI directly (new), the cost would have been $812 (because of my discount), so Amazon really would only have saved me $30 compared to buying new directly through DJI, so not really worth it for anyone. Upshot: I made the right purchasing choice, saved the most money and got the safest order.