I've got my own flying drone. I'm basically the CIA and a spaceman all in one civilian package. I'm going to fly a drone, I'm going to get arrested, and I'm going to be a hero." After pulling one of Parrot's AR Drones out of the box and experiencing this understandable reaction, you start to think about what you're really dealing with—a flying robot, controlled by your phone, with a camera that records the world below as if you're sitting in a tiny cockpit.An affordable four-prop remote-controlled drone with an HD camera and a wide-angle lens.Aviation dabblers who want to look over their neighbors' fences.DesignAn insectoid pod, about one square foot, with an orange color scheme near the toy end of the aesthetic spectrum.Using ItThe first minute is magical—with a single button press, your own little drone hops a meter into the air. And just sits there. Next, you fly that fucker right into a wall.The Best PartIt's a flying drone with a built-in camera. You own a drone.Tragic FlawNeither of the cameras—the front facing 720p one or the lower-resolution cam that points straight down—are any sort of magic.

(Think cell phone camera from 5 years ago.)The tilt-to-control flight interface is so instinctive that it is borderline overwhelming. It tilts just like I tilt my phone?Test NotesFlying an AR Drone makes you feel like a robotic Peeping Tom crossed with a cybernetic monk with a splash of soon-to-be-killed Call of Duty side-story operative.I broke the hell out of the Styrofoam indoor hull pretty much as soon as I started screwing around with it.You can buy replacement hulls for about $45—a lot of scratch for something that's almost certainly going to be trashed multiple times, especially by a novice. (Good news: glue is still available.)I lost it off the roof of a midtown NYC building. I let it fly too far away from me and it stopped responding to my commands. It drifted slowly in the breeze until it ran into a building and fell about 20 feet onto a skylight. From there, I was able to get it to respond, and I guided it onto the ground. The claimed outside range of the Wi-Fi connection—200 feet—isn't as far as you might think.

Parrot didn't seem very on the ball when it came to actually supporting its product after its launch, as a quick scan of the AR Drone forum will uncover. Not all the features promised in the 2.0 version have been released yet; phantom 2 vision drone priceupdated firmware has actually caused drones to "drop altitude abruptly"; drone with camera canadadevelopers trying to use the AR Drone API complain of a lack of feedback from Parrot engineers. black ops 2 activer droneIt didn't engender a lot of confidence in your $300 purchase. ar drone hong kong sale(Parrot seems to have improved in the last couple of weeks, having released new firmware.)best drone with camera under $400

There are some really interesting hacks—especially ones that turn the AR Drone into a hunter-seeker. Others can track objects, or even follow you like a pet. Why hasn't Parrot hasn't included those out of the box?If you really want to buy a drone to capture high-quality footage, you'd be better off buying a rig purpose-built for it. how much do army drones costSome $1,000+ models now have six-axis DSLR mounts as options (and the horsepower to haul them).The app can save video files to your phone (and even upload them to YouTube), but another option is saving directly to a USB stick that can be nestled inside the flight body. This saves at a higher bitrate, with no potential dropped frames due to Wi-Fi issues. One caveat: finding a USB stick that the AR Drone will recognize. It took me a few before I found one that would record—and I happened to have a hot crash right after plugging it in. Unfortunately, I don't have video of that crash.

The hard shut-down disrupted the writing of the file. Sometimes having a record of your big failure can ease the embarrassment.The indoor hull's four Styrofoam hoops, meant protect the rotors, break with very little force. How about thin loops of wire? Flexible but sturdy plastic ribs?Should You Buy It?As far as drones go, you're not going to get much more accessible or inexpensive as the AR Drone. But it's still three bills—and Parrot's shortcomings on service aren't instilling consumer confidence. Updated software is meant to fix the loss-of-altitude problems that have plagued the first runs. But since my test drone is waiting on replacement gears (due to an unfortunate decision to let an intern attempt to fly it on the High Line in Manhattan), I can't verify if Parrot has worked out all the kinks. Flying a drone is a lot of fun, and you can get some decent video out of the Parrot's camera. Provided you have the disposable income and free time to justify it, the AR.Drone 2.0 is a satisfying purchase.

Whatever you do, just be prepared for the inevitable crash—and the possibility of lost footage or additional costs to repair the damage.Drone 2.0 SpecsCamera: 720p 30fps HD Lens: 92-degree diagonal wide angle Processor: 1 GHz 32-bit ARM Cortex A8 Weight: 380 grams with outdoor hull; 420 grams with Styrofoam indoor hull Motors: 4 brushless 14.5-watt, 28,500 RPM inrunner motors Battery: 3 elements 1,000 mA/hour LiPo rechargeableDrone 香港銷售點 Hong Kong Point of Sales20 July 2010 at 22:35    玩具反斗城 -  九龍紅磡黃埔花園第11期地庫1層B24A - B33號舖Toys "R" Us -  Shop B24A-B33, 1st Basement, Site 11 Whampoa Garden, Hung Hom, Kowloon 852-23562688      玩具反斗城 -  九龍九龍塘達之路 80 號又一城 L2 - 02 號舖Toys "R" Us -  Shop L2-02, Festival Walk, 80 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon 852-22657933      玩具反斗城 -  九龍將軍澳新城市中心 2 期商場 2 樓 2052 - 2053 號舖Toys "R" Us -  Shop 2052 - 2053

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, Site 2 of Aberdeen Centre, Aberdeen, Hong Kong. 852-25187128      玩具反斗城 -  香港銅鑼灣皇室堡 7 樓Toys "R" Us -  7/F, Windsor House, Causway Bay, Hong Kong 852-28811728    玩具反斗城 -  香港中環德輔道中 60 - 68 號萬宜大廈商場 G04 號舖Toys "R" Us -  Shop G04, Man Yee Arcade, 60 - 68 Des Voeux Road, Central, Hong Kong 852-22599166      玩具反斗城 -  香港太古城太古城道 18 號太古城中心 1 樓 103A 號舖Toys "R" Us -  Shop 103A, Cityplaza, 18 Tai Koo Shing Road, Tai Koo Shing Island East, Hong Kong 852-25692388      HMV - 香港中環畢打街 1-3 號中建大廈 1 樓  HMV - Suite 101, 1/F., Central Building, 1 - 3 Pedder Street, Central, Hong Kong 852-27390268     HMV - 香港銅鑼灣柏寧酒店前線觸覺 1 樓HMV - 1/F., Style House, The Park Lane, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong 852-25043669 New Vision 2 -  香港銅鑼灣駱克道 514 號地下New Vision 2 -  G/F., 514 Lockhart Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong 852-28380919    Mobi Shop -  香港銅鑼灣軒尼詩道 555 號祟光百貨 10 樓Mobi Shop -  10/F

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