Hi all, Was browsing in Best Buy tonight waiting for the wife to finish up in Target next door. While walking around, noticed that Best Buy had the Apple IPad Mini 4 with 128gb on sale tonight only for $249, new in the box. Some type of Manager's Back to School special. Anyway, I bought it as it was a very good price (regular price was $399). Can always return it. Here is where I am at - I've never owned an Apple product in my life, been strictly an Android user forever. Anyone using the Apple Mini 4 for their Anafi? How do you like it? Pros/cons? How is the brightness - would I need a sunshade with it outside? Are reflections bad? I've been using my Android Motorola Moto G5+ phone with good results for my Anafi flights, but I do long for a bigger screen. The older I get, the harder it is to see all that is happening on that small screen! My two other Android tablets don't have the horsepower to keep up with FreeFlight 6 (lots of stuttering and freezes) so I had been thinking about getting a new smaller form tablet for flight control. Is the IPad Mini 4 a good choice? Thanks for your help!
Bought a New Apple IPad Mini 4 for $249 - Should I keep it????
- Thread starter TJBC75
- Start date
i have an ipad three i bought when they were bringing out the 4. now they're debuting the 5. the 2, 3 and 4 are almost the same machine. i have always used the three, never tried a phone. i like the screen area, bright enough if you keep yourself between it and the sun. not heavy, long battery life, the 128 gig gives you lots of room for videos and photos, so you can use it to show friends and relatives what you've done in a form factor small enough to carry and big enough people can appreciate the videos and photos.
i fly a spark but thinking of upgrading to an anafi.
i fly a spark but thinking of upgrading to an anafi.
Kilrah
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The Mini 4 is great for DJI aircraft since it's the biggest screen you can mount on their remotes without additional accessories. But with the anafi it'll likely be a pain to mount with that horrible remote clamp.
Screen isn't the brightest but not bad.
It's a good tablet for other uses too anyway.
Screen isn't the brightest but not bad.
It's a good tablet for other uses too anyway.
I use the iPad Mini 4 with the Anafi since the very beginning.
Unless you bought the LTE version (the version that can handle phone cards), you will not be equipped with an onboard GPS and that is necessary to fly the Anafi. I had to add a Bluetooth GPS (a Garmin Glo) that is really precise... to be able to fly the Anafi.
Just use the ‘airplane’ mode of the iPad and make sure the Bluetooth is ‘on’ and it pairs with the GPS.
I made a sunshade for it and I am really found of this setting (I also fly with an android phone but still prefere my iPad Mini 4. You can now find sunshades and adaptations to clip the iPad Mini 4 to the Anafi’s radio command (I posted here somewhere my setting).
At the very beginning, the iPad mini 4 was not supported by Parrot (just iOS phones, but no tablet). And as a matter of fact, the screen layout was not optimized to a point the battery %age was not reported in a visible way, nor GPS coverages for both the iPad nor the Anafi. Some useful information was not correctly visible on the screen such as settings for Bracketing function (that I use a lot). But all those ‘cons’ have been addressed since last update and I must say they did a great job.
I still do not know if the iPad Mini 4 is officially supported, I’ll check that... but for me : Anafi + iPad Mini 4 + External Bluetooth is a great combinaison...
Philippe
Unless you bought the LTE version (the version that can handle phone cards), you will not be equipped with an onboard GPS and that is necessary to fly the Anafi. I had to add a Bluetooth GPS (a Garmin Glo) that is really precise... to be able to fly the Anafi.
Just use the ‘airplane’ mode of the iPad and make sure the Bluetooth is ‘on’ and it pairs with the GPS.
I made a sunshade for it and I am really found of this setting (I also fly with an android phone but still prefere my iPad Mini 4. You can now find sunshades and adaptations to clip the iPad Mini 4 to the Anafi’s radio command (I posted here somewhere my setting).
At the very beginning, the iPad mini 4 was not supported by Parrot (just iOS phones, but no tablet). And as a matter of fact, the screen layout was not optimized to a point the battery %age was not reported in a visible way, nor GPS coverages for both the iPad nor the Anafi. Some useful information was not correctly visible on the screen such as settings for Bracketing function (that I use a lot). But all those ‘cons’ have been addressed since last update and I must say they did a great job.
I still do not know if the iPad Mini 4 is officially supported, I’ll check that... but for me : Anafi + iPad Mini 4 + External Bluetooth is a great combinaison...
Philippe
Thanks for the responses. MustangPhil, are you saying that unless I have a Apple or android device that has a GPS chip in it, I won't be able to fly the Anafi using Freeflight 6? I did not buy the Apple Mini 4 LTE version, just wifi. Thanks
I have the Mini also, and fly without any issues OR having to use an external Bluetooth GPS. It just means that If I am using the iPad Mini, I cannot use such elements as follow me, and if I move after taking off, when the Anafi returns to home, it will return to where it took off and not where I am standing..... For me thats fine, as I never really move far away from my starting point.
You just need to be conscious of that if you launch from something like a boat..... The home point will be continually moving.
Love the mini 4, and many still say its the perfect iPad. Rumour has it that Apple may be releasing a new version of the mini in the near future.
You just need to be conscious of that if you launch from something like a boat..... The home point will be continually moving.
Love the mini 4, and many still say its the perfect iPad. Rumour has it that Apple may be releasing a new version of the mini in the near future.
I second what d95gas just said :
Without GPS on a phone or a tablet, some functions will not be usable on a WiFi only iPad.
I had the Garmin Glo GPS for hiking and when I found I could fly with it, ... I just do !
Without GPS on a phone or a tablet, some functions will not be usable on a WiFi only iPad.
I had the Garmin Glo GPS for hiking and when I found I could fly with it, ... I just do !
HiloHawaiian
Member
Personally, the minimum brightest for me is the iPad Air 2. It's also the thinnest/lightest, 9.7" iPad ever made. I tried the Mini 4 and it just isn't bright enough. All you need is a 16gb iPad Air 2, maybe $150 or less on Craigslist. Yea, it's bigger, and that poses problems, but the Mini just isn't bright enough to be seen well in sunlight unless you have a GREAT shade, and even then, it's just not very bright. The Mini is an older design, not upgraded in many years...
