Drone 2.0 is by no means the best drone you can buy, Parrot deserves some credit for helping kick-start the quadcopter industry. The second version of the drone was launched at CES in January 2012, so this is effectively a three-year old quadcopter. Indeed, there is a new model which has just launched: the BeBop Drone. We'll review that soon. But price drops mean that the AR.Drone 2.0 is now a better deal than ever. See also: DJI Phantom 2 Vision+ review For under £250, you get a lot for your money. First, build quality is in a different league to cheaper quadcopters. The frame is made from nylon and carbon fibre parts, and you get brushless motors which are much more durable and reliable than cheaper brushed motors. Next, you get a lot of processing power which means you can take advantage of automatic takeoff, hovering and landing. With cheaper quadcopters, you'll have to practice for some time before you're able to hover, fly and land safely. There's also a pretty good 720p camera with a lens that has a nice 93-degree field of view.

It's not stabilised, but footage is a good step up from quads costing £50-150. You can plug in a USB flash drive and record footage directly, and there's the option to buy Parrot's "Flight Recorder" which includes 4GB of storage and a GPS receiver, although at £99 it's rather expensive. What it allows it for automatic piloting by defining a series of waypoints, something you can't do without GPS. In the box you get two hulls, one for indoor use and another - without the rotor guards - for outdoor use. Unlike some quadcopters the AR.Drone 2.0 is technically not ready to fly, though. You'll need to bring your own iPhone or Android smartphone and install the AR.There's still no official Windows Phone app but - weirdly - FreeFlight is also available for Windows 8 tablets. Even though it goes against our "we shouldn't need to read the manual" philosophy, your first flights will be far less frustrating if you do, as the controls are far from obvious. It takes quite a lot of getting used to controlling the drone by tilting your phone (physical sticks are always better), but you can optionally use virtual on-screen joysticks.

But unless you're using the live video stream to pilot the AR.Drone, it's very hard to use these since your fingers tend to drift off the controls. What's nice is that the app offers lots of advanced controls, such as limiting the drone's altitude and also its speed. If you've got more than 30 percent power remaining, you can press a button to make the AR.parrot ar drone uk stockistWe found the (new, larger) battery was good for about 12-15 minutes' flying. purchase spy droneRecharging takes between 60 and 100 minutes, depending on how discharged it is. parrot ar drone kugellagerSpare batteries cost almost £40, but there's a vibrant third-party marketplace where you can buy a higher-capacity battery (good for 20-minute flights) for £30 or less.

You're also limited by the range of Wi-Fi which is noticeably poorer than most cheap drones. At least the AR.Drone 2.0 will stabilise and hover when it loses the signal, rather than flying away uncontrolled. Plus, if you fail to heed the low-battery warning, it will land itself when it's almost run flat. So don't fly over water. At £230 from Amazon, the AR.Drone 2.0 Elite Edition is great value, and spares are easily available. Official spares are pricey, but clones are much cheaper.FPV Mini Race Quad Video TX & RX i-Drone was established in November of 2011 and soon became the UK’s No.1 Custom Centre for the Parrot AR Drone. Based in Hertfordshire United Kingdom, our range grew as new products evolved. We now specialise in selling parts and equipment to the FPV Racing community worldwide. We regularly attend RC Model Shows such as Weston Park, The Nationals, Wings & Wheels and FPV Race Events, UK Drone Show, Formula FPV, The Mini Air Show  and more.

We feel we are at the heart of the FPV racing scene, selling those essential parts to keep you, the pilots in the air. We supply ARTF race quads and always have a selection available from stock, all you’ll need to get them flying are a battery and receiver for your transmitter. They are pre tuned to a basic set of PID’s, but as your flying skills progress, you will need to alter these to suit your own flying skills. i-Drone are certified resellers of Parrot, DJI, Video Aerial Systems, Acehe, FX Tech, DAL Props and many more. Its all here, props, batteries, upgrades, genuine spare parts, lights, bearings etc…. We are always looking for new and the latest products that you will only get from a specialist. i-Drone offers a place to purchase with confidence, the Multirotor of your choice. Two 1500mAh LiPo batteries giving a flight time of up to 16 minutes Without a permit, the legal range for a drone to fly is below 120m and always in the line of sight from the operator

Check out The Drone Code or The IAA (ROI) for everything you need to be aware of when flying your drone Limited stock may be available in some stores. Call us on 0844 557 6000 to check • Two 1500mAh LiPo batteries giving a flight time of up to 16 minutes • Without a permit, the legal range for a drone to fly is below 120m and always in the line of sight from the operator• Check out The Drone Code or The IAA (ROI) for everything you need to be aware of when flying your drone• Record in 720p giving you HD resolution for clear videos and great aerial photography shots• Vertical mounted camera for measuring ground speed• Controllable via downloadable Apple or Android appWhat makes this drone different from the other Parrot AR drones?This drone comes with two improved batteries on the previous models. The two 1500mAh batteries give you a flight time of up to 16 minutes - an improvement of approximately 33% on the previous model. This ensures that you can enjoy your flying with more time between charges.

This quadcopter also comes with three spare sets of propellers in different colours so you can customise your drone for flight.What quality of camera does the Parrot AR drone come with?This drone comes with a high definition camera that gives you a maximum video recording resolution of 1280 x 720p at 30 frames per second. This gives you a great looking picture as you soar through the skies, without missing a thing. For still photography, the camera gives you the capability of good quality shots for those sweeping landscapes. This is all live viewable on your smartphone or tablet. Safe flying is your responsibilityWe fully encourage safe and responsible flying. We recommend you read the CAA’s/IAA’s website and The Drone Code for full information on safe and responsible flying. The CAA (UK)The IAA (ROI) The Drone Code Please see the Downloads tab for information regarding responsible flying and aviation law. Weight (including battery and propellers) Diagonal size (including propellers)

+/- 5 cm on all the axes Max altitude above sea level Front: 90° diagonal lens Vertical: 64° diagonal lens Bracketed frames at 0.7EV bias 1280 x 720p (30 fps) Supported SD card types Max bitrate of video storage 32 mins - 16 minutes per battery 2x HD 1500mAh batteries 4 x sets of propellers - Black/Orange/Turquoise/Red Indoor and Outdoor hulls in ‘Stealth’ Black Why not tell us and our B2B sales team about your specific business needs and expectations? At Maplin, we’re always looking for innovations and technology that can help your business work more efficiently. With a dedicated business team and special services available only to business customers, you can access our electronics and technology solutions through our wide network of over 200 stores, our website with more than 20,000 products or though your personal account manager over the phone. Working with organisations for nearly 30 years, Maplin offers a nationwide range of benefits to our business users: 30 day EOM credit account volume discount pricing online and in-store use of account one-to-one account management bespoke product sourcing and branding free delivery on orders over £10 scheduled and forward ordering service Contact our business team on 0333 400 9740 to open an account or discuss your business needs.