Quadcopter $150-200

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networkn

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#243323 6-Dec-2018 10:07

Have been thinking about trying one of the newer generation Quadcopters.

I might be dreaming to think I can get something with these requirements, in my price range but thought I'd at least ask..

1) GPS

2) Easy to Fly with the common anti crash and auto correction capabilities. Features like Hover etc would be good.

3) Smallish and OK to potentially fly inside.

4) Follow me.

5) Decent camera with some sort of stabilization. Live view, recording video and taking of pictures would be ideal. I'm ok if the device needs an SDCard.

6) Decent Flying time, maybe 10-15 minutes, ideally with swappable battery or fast charge.

7) Would be nice if it had an optional VR headset feature.

I don't mind purchasing from over seas.

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#2140427 6-Dec-2018 10:37

Think youre missing a 0 off the topic......

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networkn

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#2140429 6-Dec-2018 10:42

xpd:

Think youre missing a 0 off the topic......

The DJI Tello has about 90% of those features for $130 NZD. It's missing GPS.

Seems unlikely you'd pay $1000 more for the GPS function.

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#2140430 6-Dec-2018 10:45

You are asking for something that does not exist.

I think the closest you're going to get to your requirements, would be a dji spark.

Get the Ryze Tello (DJI tech) which meets your budget but not all of your requirements, or the DJI spark which meets most of your requirements but not your price.

Personally, I'm looking at the mavic pro 2... when it eventually goes on sale I might get it.

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#2140478 6-Dec-2018 12:08

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Quite interested in getting a quadcopter too. TBH my requirements are far simpler though; Decent controller, flight time and camera are probably my only requirements. The others you list would be nice to have but not must haves for me. With this in mind the Tello looks very interesting!

Anyone have one though and care to comment on performance, quality, etc?

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networkn

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#2140486 6-Dec-2018 12:24

surfisup1000:

You are asking for something that does not exist.

I think the closest you're going to get to your requirements, would be a dji spark.

Get the Ryze Tello (DJI tech) which meets your budget but not all of your requirements, or the DJI spark which meets most of your requirements but not your price.

Personally, I'm looking at the mavic pro 2... when it eventually goes on sale I might get it.

What features do you see my price point preventing me from having?

I found this:

MJX Bugs 2 B2C Brushless RC Quadcopter - RTF

Seems to review pretty well, $145 NZD.

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#2140491 6-Dec-2018 12:41

networkn:

What features do you see my price point preventing me from having?

I found this:

MJX Bugs 2 B2C Brushless RC Quadcopter - RTF

Seems to review pretty well, $145 NZD.

This looks a good drone for what you want to spend, but is missing your required features...

No anti-crash / auto correction.

Camera is not stabilised. Nor is it decent (only adequate)

Not easy to fly (compared with mavic).

No follow me.

No optional VR headset.

Very slow charging.

Probably the anti crash/correction features would be the most costly ... semi reliable anti crash is not really available until you are spending at least $1500+.

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#2140498 6-Dec-2018 12:57

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq4efJwc3LA

Looks reasonably easy to fly, camera looks ok, has GPS, take off and landing features. I thought crash protection was a feature of GPS?

Headless mode would be useful.

Maybe this isn't the exact unit I want but it's close ish... ?

VR would be nice but not required absoloutely.

Not sure what makes the Mavic "easier" to fly?

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kotuku4

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#2140510 6-Dec-2018 13:04

JJRC JJPRO X5

I have been looking at these for some time at around $200. Don't think that you can fly a GPS machine indoors, certainly can't calibrate and use the GPS.

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#2140619 6-Dec-2018 14:55

kotuku4:

JJRC JJPRO X5

I have been looking at these for some time at around $200. Don't think that you can fly a GPS machine indoors, certainly can't calibrate and use the GPS.

Interesting, the review I saw basically says they are the same copter as the bugs, just diffferent canopy etc.

surfisup1000

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#2140637 6-Dec-2018 15:32

networkn:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq4efJwc3LA

Looks reasonably easy to fly, camera looks ok, has GPS, take off and landing features. I thought crash protection was a feature of GPS?

Headless mode would be useful.

Maybe this isn't the exact unit I want but it's close ish... ?

VR would be nice but not required absoloutely.

Not sure what makes the Mavic "easier" to fly?

DJI models like the mavic use visual/ultrasonic obstacle avoidance. And a ground visual positioning system to stay in one place, which is why they are so good in wind.

GPS is only accurate to a few meters, so is not great at maintaining an exact ground position.

The one you are looking at seems good value. I think it is definitely a good way to get into drones. Looks like lots of fun.

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#2140640 6-Dec-2018 15:45

The DJI spark is probably what you are looking for, and it is under $1k. I got mine for about $800 with two batteries. The batteries themselves cost a lot.

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#2140645 6-Dec-2018 15:56

The Spark is $559 and the Fly more is $850, not a lot of detail on their site, is it essentially an extra battery?

Both are probably outside of what I can justify as a starter toy. I tend to get hot and bothered over these things and lose interest unless they are amazing fun.

I saw some mention a few days ago of a $200 programmabe drone, that sounded interesting, could be fun to do something like that with my kid. Probably would be missing a lot of features though.

The Tello is nice because it does tricks and stuff

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#2140662 6-Dec-2018 16:30

When the spark first came out, I didn't think it came with a controller, you instead controlled it via your smartphone, but that limited it's features and range. If you wanted a controller you had to buy it separately, or via a package. So the cheaper price maybe just that model. But IMO you need the controller to get the most from it. It is a proper drone though with GPS etc, and for the price it is pretty decent. The price hasn't dropped much in NZ on it, but that maybe due to the weak NZ dollar at the moment. If you are just wanting a toy or starter drone, I think the dji tello one looks okay. Youtube reviews are probably your best source for information. But you don't want to fly the spark inside, just because it is noisy and really needs GPS otherwise it will go into ATI mode where it does weird things and can fly off by itself. The problem though is finding places to fly it, as there are restrictions. Although the software does limit things such as the height to 120 metres, so you don't go above the height limit. But at 120 metres it can be difficult to see it or hear it as it is tiny.

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#2142390 10-Dec-2018 11:38

@networkn the Tello's video capabilities are extremely poor, suffering dreadfully from dropped frames due to not recording locally, purely over the wifi connection.

The responsiveness in congested network areas is also quite poor. In fact that's a leading issue with Drones controlled with Smart phones over wifi, the responsiveness suffers greatly.

I have played with multiple drones and quite honestly the cheap ones are the most fun because you don't fear breaking them and they're very responsive.

I had a cheap JJRC brushed motor (geared) drone that wasn't quick, but it was big and light and loved doing figure of 8 loops around the nearby power poles at ground level. If it fell on the road I would flip it back up go right back to flying.

I would never try this with a DJI device!!! The DJI's are for flying SLOWLY around and filming/photographing. Not 'fun' flying.

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#2142589 10-Dec-2018 14:53

surfisup1000:

The one you are looking at seems good value. I think it is definitely a good way to get into drones. Looks like lots of fun.

@surfisup1000 Which one are you referring to? I have posted a couple?

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