Leary of Autel purchase

[ovrszd]

Agreed. I'm totally not interested in investing in a "new" Autel product until my current one is stable. Why would anyone do that??

 

[xspwhite]

Hey everyone, I am posting this because I want to ease the fear. AUTEL is for from going out of business. We recently opened an east cost service center with technicians and customer service. We are holding strong to our 14 day SLA.
We will be at CES with great news. You have to believe me its not just talk, I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

As some have said we are still supporting the XSP, however we are focused more on the new and exciting things to come.

See you at CES!

See us at CES?

Mr. Tucker: we want to see motors, motherboards, shells, cameras, gimbles and any other parts needed to make repairs to the XSP quadcopters for sale on the Autel website.

Also, please make provisions for folks to flash back to previous firmware.

We love our XSP's and would like to keep them in the sky. All of us have been working our buts off to support Autel products, and have put our trust and faith in your hands. Not to mention our check books on the line!

So PLEASE! Give us something to believe in, and a reason to carry on.

 

[xspwhite]

We don't want to be hamsters on a little wheel chasing carrots !

 

[Wayne Maine]

Hey everyone, I am posting this because I want to ease the fear. AUTEL is for from going out of business. We recently opened an east cost service center with technicians and customer service. We are holding strong to our 14 day SLA.
We will be at CES with great news. You have to believe me its not just talk, I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

As some have said we are still supporting the XSP, however we are focused more on the new and exciting things to come.

See you at CES!

So where is this East Coast center and how do we access it?

 

[arto.inetco]

———
Sorry about that. I had a brain fart. Link below. Got the name confused with something else I have been looking at. At the bottom of the page it shows all of the drones compatible with their software. The XSP is now compatible with the software.
PrecisionMapper | Drone & UAV Mapping Analytics
Continuous Lift

I use precisionhawk and mapper, unfortunately their use of Autel is not for mapping, but will use any drones pictures that have gps info attached in the EXIF file to stitch an orthomosiac. Dronemapper will work just as good, is free, and is stand-alone on your PC. I use it alot with Autel and DJI P4P...
DroneMapper Software & Downloads | Drone Mapper Imagery Processing
Another post-processing goto freeware that works great with Autel and I rely on is GeoSetter Description
Finally, while on the subject of Autel XSP software, I actually plunked down $80 for the non-watermark veresion of PanoramaStudio3 Pro after seeing it listed on this forum and testing it out...drag and drop panoramas packaged with their own control buttons, no internet needed, works great for visuals for clients....Welcome to PanoramaStudio | PanoramaStudio Website

arto.inetco

 

[xspwhite]

So where is this East Coast center and how do we access it?

For all we know that could have been a troll from one of the other drone forums. Maybe just popped in to make fun of our situation.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

I love my PanoramaStudio, been using it for all my 360 panos. Works great with no headaches

 

[Jagerbomb52]

For all we know that could have been a troll from one of the other drone forums. Maybe just popped in to make fun of our situation.

He has other posts and they all were about getting information on flying in class D air space. I wonder just who he is also. If he represents Autel he is doing a sh!tty job of it.

 

[Elgogo]

Just got an email from bhphotos that x star premium has been discontinued. I think this company is going under anytime now. Run to the hills. I would not buy from this company. Nothing to sell on their websites, no promos for christmas, no update whatsoever on website, a completely horror story. I had my hopes in this company but I would be one for sure not to spend my hard earn money on a company is on a brink of collapse.

 

[Sundog775]

So where is this East Coast center and how do we access it?

According to the Autel "Job Openings" listed on their website, it is in Pittsburgh, PA.

 

[joshmentele]

Just got an email from bhphotos that x star premium has been discontinued. I think this company is going under anytime now. Run to the hills. I would not buy from this company. Nothing to sell on their websites, no promos for christmas, no update whatsoever on website, a completely horror story. I had my hopes in this company but I would be one for sure not to spend my hard earn money on a company is on a brink of collapse.

I have posted several times on this forum, they are clearing out stock and preparing for the next drone.

 

[arto.inetco]

Just got an email from bhphotos that x star premium has been discontinued. I think this company is going under anytime now. Run to the hills. I would not buy from this company. Nothing to sell on their websites, no promos for christmas, no update whatsoever on website, a completely horror story. I had my hopes in this company but I would be one for sure not to spend my hard earn money on a company is on a brink of collapse.

I can understand your intrepidation, but the XSP is really a GREAT UAS....and even at $799, its a much better deal than anything else out there. The only comparable drone is the P4....and the XSP comes with a hard case, the 64gb SD card, and batteries are $79, not $150 as per any Phantom....so a refurb at $600 is a very very good deal....
the only other similar choice in that $600 range is the P3 SE, which is also being discontinued.....The DJI Apps and firmware are just as buggy if not more than the XSP...but I understand to a new buyer the lack of Autel being forthcoming with any real news since October is disheartening...

 

[ATVIS]

Just got an email from bhphotos that x star premium has been discontinued. I think this company is going under anytime now. Run to the hills. I would not buy from this company. Nothing to sell on their websites, no promos for christmas, no update whatsoever on website, a completely horror story. I had my hopes in this company but I would be one for sure not to spend my hard earn money on a company is on a brink of collapse.

Dude, who are you and why should we care about your opinion? Do you even have a drone? I have been an early adopter in Autel and have only praise for the X-star. The video and photo is phenomenal. I have not had a single issue with the drone and have flown hundreds of times without incident. Horror story? seriously? all of your opinions are out the window along with your non-existent credibility.

 

[yrless]

It is holiday season after all and LOTs of stuff is already either out of stock or discontinued....I wouldn't draw any further conclusions from just that one data point.

 

[Sundog775]

Just got an email from bhphotos that x star premium has been discontinued. I think this company is going under anytime now. Run to the hills. I would not buy from this company. Nothing to sell on their websites, no promos for christmas, no update whatsoever on website, a completely horror story. I had my hopes in this company but I would be one for sure not to spend my hard earn money on a company is on a brink of collapse.

Sorry, but I'm always a little suspicious of folks who join a forum like this for the sole reason of trashing Autel. In the past 30 days, Autel has posted job openings on Zip Recruiter and/or on their own website for the following U.S. based positions:

Marketing Manager, Bothell, WA
Finance Manager, Bothell, WA
Repair Technician, Bothell, WA
Customer Support Associate, Bothell, WA
Office Administrator, Pittsburgh, PA
Project Manager, Pittsburgh, PA
Computer Vision Engineer, Pittsburgh, PA
Visual Positioning and Navigation Algorithm Engineer, Pittsburgh, PA

They are also seeking to fill engineering positions at their facilities in Munich, Germany and Shenzhen, China. So whatever else has or hasn't happened in the past year, I am 100% certain that this is not a company "on the brink of collapse".

One of the oldest "dirty business tricks" in the book is to spread false rumors about the impending demise of your competition. Not sure if that's what's going on here, but it wouldn't surprise me, given the nature of the business practices of the competition.

The fact that the XSP has had such a strong run for nearly two years now is a testament not only to the quality of the product and the outstanding customer service, but also to how much desire there is on the part of the consumer to have a viable alternative to DJI. Even without ever actually producing any of the promised improvements announced at the last CES, they still have never really been able to keep up with the demand for the X-Star. Definitely looking forward to what they bring to CES next month, whatever it is I am very hopeful it will be something customers can actually get their hands on, and not just more pie-in-the-sky prototypes.

 

[xspwhite]

Sorry, but I'm always a little suspicious of folks who join a forum like this for the sole reason of trashing Autel. In the past 30 days, Autel has posted job openings on Zip Recruiter and/or on their own website for the following U.S. based positions:

Marketing Manager, Bothell, WA
Finance Manager, Bothell, WA
Repair Technician, Bothell, WA
Customer Support Associate, Bothell, WA
Office Administrator, Pittsburgh, PA
Project Manager, Pittsburgh, PA
Computer Vision Engineer, Pittsburgh, PA
Visual Positioning and Navigation Algorithm Engineer, Pittsburgh, PA

They are also seeking to fill engineering positions at their facilities in Munich, Germany and Shenzhen, China. So whatever else has or hasn't happened in the past year, I am 100% certain that this is not a company "on the brink of collapse".

One of the oldest "dirty business tricks" in the book is to spread false rumors about the impending demise of your competition. Not sure if that's what's going on here, but it wouldn't surprise me, given the nature of the business practices of the competition.

The fact that the XSP has had such a strong run for nearly two years now is a testament not only to the quality of the product and the outstanding customer service, but also to how much desire there is on the part of the consumer to have a viable alternative to DJI. Even without ever actually producing any of the promised improvements announced at the last CES, they still have never really been able to keep up with the demand for the X-Star. Definitely looking forward to what they bring to CES next month, whatever it is I am very hopeful it will be something customers can actually get their hands on, and not just more pie-in-the-sky prototypes.

ABSOLUTLY ! We have to remember that the Autel X-Star is indeed hands down the best quadcopter on the market to this date folks. So if you are the owner of one, then consider yourself lucky!

 

[ContinuousLift]

Sorry, but I'm always a little suspicious of folks who join a forum like this for the sole reason of trashing Autel. In the past 30 days, Autel has posted job openings on Zip Recruiter and/or on their own website for the following U.S. based positions:
____________
I corresponded with Autel yesterday about some of the negative vibes on the forums and asked if they were aware of all the issues: Here is Jacob's reply:

"As far as the forums and such go, we are doing our best to stay on top of the forums and make sure people aren't dissatisfied. We know there were a lot of people who weren't happy with the beta firmware, but the official release is out now and seems to have fixed most of the issues people were complaining about online.

We try to keep all of our accessories in stock as much as possible, and currently, I believe we have most things in stock in that regard. We will absolutely continue to support our aircraft and have no plans to stop that support anytime soon.

If you have a crash, our repair department is here to keep you in the air, and we are always happy to bring aircraft in under a warranty evaluation to see if we can cover the damages for you. We had some delays in development from the prototypes that we showed at CES last year, but they are still in the works, and we have some great products in our future plans."

 

[arto.inetco]

Autel needs a website redo....come on guys! if your so passionate about your work and the new product...put a better face forward...by the way, i flew in zero degree weather over a frozen lake today...made it about 10 minutes before the pumpkin dropped from 30% to 6% in one second. it went to land but i held it up to try to bring try closer.(200ft away)...it made it 120 ft before it faceplanted in the snow, none the worse for wear....i went to out fetch it...thats my first pumpkin crash (march 2017, 150 flights) arto

 

[xspwhite]

It's been below zero here. I thought about flying yesterday, but after giving more thought; I decided that the exstream dry cold weather can't be good for the plastic/mounts. After all, I think plastic becomes very brittle in cold air. I decided to wait for 20s or 30s at the least.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

I have flown in -20F and the X-Star handled it very well. Better than I did