ok so ive been watching fpv content for like a year and finally want to just pull the trigger and get something to learn on. the problem is every time i start researching i end up 40 browser tabs deep and more confused than when i started

from what i can gather the usual advice is to start on a simulator which i have been doing, been on Velocidrone for a few months and feeling pretty okay with the basics. so i think im ready for actual hardware but i genuinely cannot figure out if i should go with something like a BetaFPV Cetus Pro kit or just buy a used 5 inch from someone local and potentially save some money but also potentially buy someone elses problems

budget is probably around 300 dollars all in including goggles which i know is tight but its what it is. mostly want to fly in parks and open fields, not trying to do crazy racing or anything just want to cruise around and get comfortable with real flight. any actual user experience with budget options in this range would be massively appreciated, not looking for sponsored review stuff just what people actually think

the Cetus Pro kit is genuinely not a bad shout for what youre describing, especially at that budget. its all in one which means less stuff to figure out and the brushless motors on the pro version hold up way better than the brushed ones on the original. main downside is the goggles that come with it are pretty barebones and youll probably want to upgrade them eventually but for learning they do the job

buying used is a gamble, some people sell gear thats in great shape and some people are trying to offload something they crashed into a tree 15 times. if you go that route try to meet in person and ask them to fly it before you hand over money. i bought a used 5 inch as my second quad and it was fine but i also got lucky

honestly at 300 all in the Cetus kit removes a lot of headaches and lets you focus on actually learning to fly rather than troubleshooting why your vtx isnt outputting correctly or whatever. save the custom builds for later when you know what you actually want

yeah so i went through basically this exact situation like 18 months ago. ended up going with a tinyhawk freestyle 2 used off a local facebook group and it was fine until i crashed it pretty hard and couldnt source the parts easily, which is the other thing nobody mentions ? repairability matters a lot when youre learning because youre gonna crash constantly and thats fine thats how you learn but you want something where replacement parts are easy to find and not too expensive

also dont underestimate how much the simulator actually helped, sounds like youve already done that which puts you way ahead. some people skip it entirely and then get frustrated when real quads dont behave like they imagined