Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I previously owned an RC airplane and flew (and crashed) it until it could no longer be repaired. Ever since then I was itching to get back to the skies. When the first gen AR Drone came out I was interested but hesitated. With the improvements made in the AR Drone 2.0 I am thrilled and have been flying whenever I get a chance. My unit arrived fully functional, it was recognized by my iPad immediately (after charging/installing the Drone's battery) and I was up and flying quickly. This unit is a pleasure to fly and much different than my RC plane. You need a much smaller area for one so heading out into the neighborhood (vs a large flight field) means you can fly at a moments notice. Because of its features (e.g. hovers, user-defined flight ceilings) mistakes are more preventable. Also, because of its relatively easy to learn flight controls you can start having fun immediately, my RC plane had a pretty high learning curve and I spent more time fixing and tweaking than in the air. I'd say for someone who is a beginner to moderate level RC enthusiast who will go for a flight every so often this is the perfect kind of device. For someone who is looking for a more aggressive flying experience there may be better options. Overall, the unit seems to strike an excellent balance between weight (be as light as possible) and durability (be as protective as possible) that is inherent in any flying device. Couple that balance with all the tech that is crammed into this thing helping to prevent mistakes, the fun of having a live camera feed to user-controlled drone, and it's no wonder that I have a big grin on my face whenever I'm flying it. PROS 1. Easy set up for flight (<1 min) 2. Easy to pick up and fly (although mastery will take practice). 3. Very stable in the air even in light winds; easy take off and landing features; emergency cutoff, flight lights all make this very easy to fly. 4. Can be easily flown in relatively small spaces (even indoors, try that with an RC plane-not). 5. Forward facing camera is quite good for video, passable for stills. 6. Parts readily available (and I've had a few crashes where that was important). 7. Easy video recording to my iPad (using the 3rd gen iPad BTW) and simple importing to iPhoto or iMovie for editing. 8. Lots of tweakable preferences in the control app for flight ceiling, rate of ascent, tilt, etc. This means as I get more comfortable flying I can change parameters to be more aggressive (or less if someone new wants to try). 9. Reality enhancement games are pretty cool that use the onboard camera. 10. Nice box for storage of unit when not in use (Adding a little compartment for batteries and what not would have been a nice touch) 11. Future App support (at least in theory) allows you to upgrade capabilities over time. RC planes have dedicated devices that aren't typically upgradeable. Plus the app is free! CONS 1. Stock battery life is very short (6-8 min) after a 90+ min charge Extra battery recommendation: This 1300mAh battery and charger will give you 15-20 min worth of flight time and requires <1hour to charge. Items can be found on amazon.com. Bastens LiPo battery upgrade for the Parrot AR.Drone. Fast LiPo Battery Balance Charger - 40 Watt - 4.5 Amp - 1 2 3 or 4 cell batteries 2. Bottom camera resolution is pretty awful (Draw a picture with a crayon, that is the resolution of the bottom camera). 3. I agree with the other reviewer that the angle of the front facing camera should point down a bit more. I find myself having to compensate for the lack of downward angle by increasing the speed of the device or flying way back (neither of which work in every setting). Having a little allen wrench adjustment on the lense would be a great feature that you could customize depending on your need. 4. Would like the indoor and outdoor hulls to "clip on" during flight. I use a small piece of Velcro for this currently. 5. Would like the design to protect the gears at the ends of the cross. I crashed into a tree, the motors cut out and the plastic gear hit the pavement which ground down some gear teeth. A slight lip, bumper or cowl that surrounds those external gears might go a long way toward preventing the gear from coming into contact with hard objects. 6. One limitation of the quadcopter design is that you won't be doing tons of aerial acrobatics but that is the nature of this design. Although the double-tap to flip feature is pretty cool! 7. When it says "low battery warning" it means "land that sucker RIGHT NOW", it's a matter of seconds before the auto-cutoff kicks in so don't have it over a lake. 8. Cost. Once you get a device to control the drone, pick up some spare parts, and invest in longer lasting batteries and chargers you can easily invest a large chunk of change. That said any kind of decent RC device that flies is decidedly NOT cheap, you do get what you pay for.