"Beginner" Drone - recommendations?
Discussion
I quite fancy a new toy, don't want to spend too much money on it, but wanted to play with drones in the house and garden.
Looking into them a touch and there are feckin' millions of options but the main issue for me is poor battery time.
I am thinking then of the F181DH - with 4 spare batteries....
What do people think of this drone? Easy to learn?
Looking into them a touch and there are feckin' millions of options but the main issue for me is poor battery time.
I am thinking then of the F181DH - with 4 spare batteries....
What do people think of this drone? Easy to learn?
I have one of these:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Syma-Explorers-Quadcopter...
Plus a load of extra batteries (available everywhere, I went to GearBest).
It's very much a toy, it's no DJI Phantom, but for less than £40 (all-in, inc spare batteries) you'll find out if it's your thing or not and you won't cry when you get it stuck at the top of a 20 foot tall bramble bush, or the dog crunches it.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Syma-Explorers-Quadcopter...
Plus a load of extra batteries (available everywhere, I went to GearBest).
It's very much a toy, it's no DJI Phantom, but for less than £40 (all-in, inc spare batteries) you'll find out if it's your thing or not and you won't cry when you get it stuck at the top of a 20 foot tall bramble bush, or the dog crunches it.
It's a slippery slope.
I had one of those Syma drones and the next day I was ordering a Phantom for over £700 at the time as I knew I wanted more.
I sold the Phantom last year though after 12 months of use and a few videos as I started to use it less and less but I am glad I experienced it.
This is video using Syma:
https://youtu.be/7rSKzrBU_1w
And this is using the Phantom:
https://youtu.be/_KDUF5EMB4s
It is a totally different experience though, the cheaper drones are always moving about as they tend not to have GPS to hold them in place but like has been said, if you hit a tree with a cheap drone then its no big deal.
The scariest moment using the Phantom was flying over the water as if it failed for whatever reason, it was going to be down with Davy Jones locker but it was rock solid to whole time and very enjoyable. I had a slight issue with GPS calibration when flying over a dam at Grafham water a few weeks later as it turns out it isn't a good idea to calibrate it when standing on one of the largest concrete and iron structures for miles around! At one point it was flying uncontrollably at over 30mph towards the dam wall but I managed to regain control and gain some altitude before landing it.
I think that combined with more and more people objecting to drones due to media coverage that led me to fly less and ultimately get rid of it.
I had one of those Syma drones and the next day I was ordering a Phantom for over £700 at the time as I knew I wanted more.
I sold the Phantom last year though after 12 months of use and a few videos as I started to use it less and less but I am glad I experienced it.
This is video using Syma:
https://youtu.be/7rSKzrBU_1w
And this is using the Phantom:
https://youtu.be/_KDUF5EMB4s
It is a totally different experience though, the cheaper drones are always moving about as they tend not to have GPS to hold them in place but like has been said, if you hit a tree with a cheap drone then its no big deal.
The scariest moment using the Phantom was flying over the water as if it failed for whatever reason, it was going to be down with Davy Jones locker but it was rock solid to whole time and very enjoyable. I had a slight issue with GPS calibration when flying over a dam at Grafham water a few weeks later as it turns out it isn't a good idea to calibrate it when standing on one of the largest concrete and iron structures for miles around! At one point it was flying uncontrollably at over 30mph towards the dam wall but I managed to regain control and gain some altitude before landing it.
I think that combined with more and more people objecting to drones due to media coverage that led me to fly less and ultimately get rid of it.
Pretty sure I won't be spending 700 on a unit as I simply don't have the time to spare to justify that kind of money on a toy for me..... Plus I want a starter one as I've never flown these things before and frankly I don't even know what use I can make of them, it is literally I thought "Oh, a drone"..............
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