Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 GPS Edition Quadricopter - Record HD Movies - Return Home Mode (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

Great price for a quadrocopter. Durable easy to use. Easy to fix things if they do break. Amazing to fly

Having flown, crashed, and successfully repaired the AR Drone 2.0 I can say that manual operation is fun and lives up to most of its promises. The controls are a bit sluggish as one might expect from a WiFi controller instead of a dedicated RF unit.For manual flight, the AR FreeFlight software runs on iToys and Android. The Android version is rather buggy - mine often freezes when I try to go into the "Pilot" mode (which is necessary for all manual flight). I've heard the iOS version is better and updated more regularly.While flying under FreeFlight, simply releasing the controls ceases all motion and places the drone into a hover mode. Its a good panic feature, but the drone tends to overreact and lose altitude when operated in this way. (You'll learn to ease off on the controls manually instead of simply "letting go".)Automatic flight under GPS guidance uses freeware called qGroundControl. qGroundControl is lightyears ahead of many free software projects, but do not expect polish you'd find in commercial software. The documentation is also painfully lacking - lots of worthless "Click 'open' to open a file" advice but nothing substantive.To even attempt a guided flight, you'll want to watch many of the videos on YouTube. Even with these helpful videos, its not easy. qGroundControl throws a tantrum when it loses connection to the Internet, something you must typically do to connect to the drone. (The Mac version wouldn't even use Ethernet for the web and WiFi for the drone - why not?) Annoyingly, qGroundControl doesn't seem to allow you to set waypoints unless you're connected to a drone (why not?), so preplanning is that much more complicated.Also, don't buy into the "2 feet" line with the GPS. I had my drone sitting on the ground with qGroundControl reporting drifts in excess of 15 feet. This made GPS flight in my backyard all but impossible. Don't attempt GPS guided flight without a generous amount of maneuvering room.Good:- Easy to fly. Release the controls and it hovers in place.- Rugged. Much better survivability than conventional RF helicopters and airplanes.- Easy to fix when it does break.- Forward camera has excellent 720p resolution.Bad:- Runtime on included battery is only 10-15 minutes. Takes a good 90 minutes to recharge- Controls are laggy, probably owing to the WiFi interface- Downward camera is low quality (think 1950s TV in a storm)- Battery compartment, USB and power connections are second rate. They seem like an afterthought. Difficult to fit together in the fieldUgly:- AR FreeFlight software is buggy.- qGroundControl is cumbersome, difficult to use, and has almost no failsafes. Check the discussion boards - qGroundControl is responsible for more than a few flyaway drones. Seriously consider tying a string to the drone for your first attempted GPS flight.One more thing. Amazon encourages you to buy the 2000mAh DroneBattery.com battery for more runtime. While this battery does work, it is larger than the standard battery. With the GPS module attached, its almost impossible to put the cover on correctly, and the drone definitely notices the added weight.But DO buy the spare propellers, and DO buy spare gears!

I used an AR Drone 2 before, so I knew exactly what I was getting when I ordered it. Overall, the AR Drone 2 is a nice, expensive toy. With only about 10-15 minutes of flight time before battery needs to be recharged or swapped out, I can't honestly say that it's a real high performange system. And the box can be misleading. The AR Drone 2 does have a 720p camera mounted on the front, but the vertical (downward-facing) camera is decidedly low-def. It's used by the drone to better control its hovering and whatnot. So don't expect to get hi-def bird's-eye footage of your neighbor's pool. Not unless you're flying forward at high speed with a steep forward tilt angle...

This drone is pretty awful based solely on the control method. Having to use your smartphone to control this beast is such a bad idea. It causes a lot of lag and the further away you go the more the signal cuts out. The range is only like 150 feet. Garbage! Also, not having tactile controls means you need to be looking at your smartphone to see if your thumb is actually on the control or not. Stupid!!! I have a $100 Traxxas quadrotor with a gaming style controller and I enjoy flying it tenfold to this device. Not to mention the range is better. Lastly, Wifi connection is so unreliable compared to other radio styles of control. Do not buy this or you will be turning around and selling it just like me.

Poor range. Doesn't get more than 20 feet off the ground with the foam protectors around it.

I purchased the Parrot AR Drone GPS not knowing anymore than what I had read about it. It exceeded my expectations right out of the box. It's extremely easy to fly. I have flown it with my Iphone as well as my Ipad. If there is any fault to be found it's the use of the Iphone or Ipad in bright sunlight. You can still see it but bright sunlight makes it difficult. Basically perfect in the shade. The actual flying time on the standard battery is about 11 to 13 minutes. I have 2 helicopters that I crash every time I fly them. So far no crashes with the Parrot and I'm in my 3 week owning it.

This thing WOULD HAVE BEEN GREAT if they didn't use Wifi controls from a phone. Especially at this price range. I get 40 feet away and the thing starts freaking out. Make a 2.4ghz model and maybe I won't return that one like I am this one.

I love my drone. People should know there are no spare parts available at the local Toys R Us, and you will need them. Order ahead. Get a second battery. Get out in a field to really have fun. Otherwise it drops the wifi regularly

Als Anfänger ist man mit einer AR Drone sehr gut ausgestattet.Was mir besonders gut an der Drohne gefällt ist der "Autopilot" der die Drohne auch im Wind ausbalanciert und dafür sorgt, dass die Drohne auf der Stelle schweben kann.Die Kamera nimmt zwar in HD auf aber das ist auch das einzige Positive an der Kamera. man darf nicht zu hohe Ansprüche an die Kamera stellen. Sie hat einen nicht so guten Weißabgleich und die automatische Belichtung ist träge. Wird der Himmel gefilmt, so ist dieser 2 Sekunden lang hell weiß (Überbelichtet) erst nach dieser kurzen Zeitspanne passt sich die Kamera an und man erkennt einen Blauen Himmel mit weißen Wolken.Wird dann der Boden wieder gefilmt, ist der Boden sehr dunkel und dann das selbe Spiel.Dennoch reicht die Kamera für ein paar Luftaufnahmen (Bild oder Video) völlig aus.Was jedoch sehr schade ist, sind zwei Punkte. Die Verbindung per WLAN und die App für Android.Die Idee die Steuerung über ein Drohnen eigenes WLAN Netzwerk zu verwalten ist eigentlich keine schlechte Idee. Jedoch wird schon ab ca 15-20 Meter höhe die Verbindung zur Drohne durch Aussetzer und Bildabbrüchen geprägt. Ab 30-35m ist die Verbindung so gut wie weg.Das Problem das hier entsteht ist folgendes: Bricht die Verbindung ab, muss man hoffen das die Drohne nicht plötzlich ihren eigenen Willen bekommt und steil in eine Richtung fliegt.Ein anderer Punkt ist die App. Hier hat Parrot viel Potential verschenkt. Der seit Jahren angekündigte Regisseur-Modus kommt für Android so wie es scheint nicht mehr. Die App wirkt oft langsam und ruckelig. Nach Updates ist alles eher verschlimm-bessert worden.Die Gestensteuerung funktioniert aber gut und auch die Höhenanzeige und Geschwindigkeitsanzeige sind nette Features.Wer die Drohne per GPS bewegen möchte kann dies auch tun, jedoch sollte dazu eine Sache im Hinterkopf sein. In den Parrot Produktvideos sieht es so aus als könnte man GPS Wegpunkte setzen und die Drohne fliegt diese ab. Grundsätzlich ist das möglich, aber NICHT in Deutschland.Mehr als ein Wegpunkt, würde heißen das die Drohne unbemannt und "autonom" fliegt, hier gibt es vom Gesetzgeber vorschriften dass dies für den Laien nicht erlaubt ist.Wer ins das Drohnen geschäfft einsteigen möchte wäre mit dieser Drohne nicht falsch beraten, jedoch lohnt es sich mehr ein paar Euros mehr auszugeben und sich ein aktuelleres Model oder etwas von der Konkurrenz zu kaufen

El dron va perfecto, pero es dificil de controlar, pero supongo que hace falta práctica. Hay que reconocer que a pesar de que los materiales exteriores parecen débiles, el dron es muy resistente. En uno de los primeros vuelos se me engancho en una rama y cayó desde una altura de 30 metros a una carretera de asfalto y no le pasó nada. Muy buen dron.

E' un vero peccato perchè è un oggetto fantastico e molto divertente e fa anche buoni video e foto. un'altra cosa a suo favore è che ci sono tutti i pezzi di ricambio acquistabili a poco prezzo.Il problema che ho avuto io è che a causa della carenza di istruzioni d'uso per uno che non ha mai usato nulla di simile; l'ho rovinato al primo utilizzo. E' un oggetto che va manovrato con molta attenzione e fin dalla prima volta è necessario settare in modo corretto le impostazioni dall'applicazione.

je possédais le AR drone 1 (acheté le jour de sa sortie) qui souffrait de nombreuses erreurs de jeunesse... le drone 2.0 (et en particulier cette édition GPS) les a tous résolus!plus maniable, plus facile à prendre en main, la fonction gps permet de lui indiquer un trajet à faire et de le faire aller bien plus loin... bref, une seule ombre au tableau encore: la camera reste en moyenne définition... à part ça c'est probablement le meilleur drone du marché!

Brilliant! Quite easy to operate very please with it