Which Flying Drone Do I Buy?
Had you considered buying a drone about 2 yrs ago, many people could have labelled you as crazy. But nowadays, over the past year at the very least, that's what the buzz is all about. They have been gaining in popularity and more and more commercial applications have developed for them. The 2 main competitors are Parrot who have now released the 2.0 version of their AR Drone for amateurs, and DJI Phantom which coming in at over $1,000 is for the much more serious players in the drone arena.
The AR Drone is costing about $300 and up based on whether you choose to select any extra features such as for example GPS based auto-pilot, an additional battery or extra memory in the shape of a USB plug-in stick. This helps it be more affordable and it would not surprise me if it becomes one of the top Christmas gifts in 2010!
So which drone should I buy?
Say you're a beginner; you watched a couple of drone videos and are worked up about to be able to fly it around your city and take pictures from perspectives and angles you might not access before.
HD Video
Among the most important features nowadays is the capability to film hd video; should you desire to show your drone video art to friends, then that is essential. The good news is that HD video cameras have become cheaper and cheaper nowadays and the Parrot AR Drone and the DJI Phantom have them.
GPS Navigation
As mentioned GPS is optional for the AR Drone and can be had by purchasing a'flight recorder'for around $140 off Amazon. However, the DJI Phantom is sold with GPS capability and a'return home'feature built in.
Remote Control Capability
In addition to the price difference between both of these drones, the direction they are controlled is the next largest difference. Parrot, with help from French researchers have created quite an intuitive app for iOS and Android, called Parrot Freeflight. The AR Parrot 2.0 drone basically acts as a WiFi hotspot which connects to your smartphone or tablet and this allows it to stream HD video straight to your device.
You can even control the pilota droni by tilting your phone forward, backwards, left or right, just as you'd in a racing or flying game on the iPhone. The Freeflight app also allows you to directly share the videos to Facebook, YouTube or Vimeo directly from within the app.
Other differences between both drones comprise of the flying range; 25 minutes on a battery charge for the Parrot and around 40 minutes for the DJI Phantom. The DJI Phantom is also slightly heavier and some reports say that it provides better stability in windy conditions, but both drones are reasonably stable for that. Replacement parts are easily available to buy from Amazon for both models.
The Drones Den community website provides a success of information for anybody looking for drones on the market or for any accessories and replacement parts. The useful blogging articles offer tutorials, guides and stop you up to date with the latest news about drones.