I had a parrot drone before. It went up to 30 feet, disconnected from Wifi, dropped from the sky, and when I was just about to catch it, it re-connected, turned and crashed into pieces.... Ever since then, I am not a very big fan of their technology. For slightly more, you can get much better drones which would be worth the investment.
The first AR Drone was released before the tech was ready for an out of the box consumer experience, especially for outdoor flight. The technology has come a long way in a few short years, especially for hobby grade gear, and the Bebop looks pretty solid in the few demo videos I have seen.
My AR Drone had busted battery on arrival. But what really had disappointed me was very flimsy styrofoam construction. Looks like this version also continues to have styrofoam.
It's not a feature, its cost savings. You will never see good quality drones with styrofoams. The styrofoams makes drone lighter so that battery can be also cheap and manufacturer can claim bigger number for flight/charge. One advantage of styrofoams is that you can change it cheaply it breaks but in reality styrofoams makes drone much less stable because even small wind can now throw things off. It also makes it much more fragile.
The DJI Phantom is pretty much the standard in consumer-grade multirotors. It's plug & play, sold as a complete package with transmitter included, and for what you get it's actually not that expensive. If you're reluctant to fly a $500-$1000 UAV, get a cheap multirotor first and learn to fly. The Hubsan X4 is under $50, for instance.
If you're a tinkerer you can build your own for a lot less, but be prepared for a LOT of fiddling to get it right (and the crashes that come with the fiddling). I fly a DIY F330 (same dimensions as the Phantom, only 'naked' frame) with an Arduino-based flight controller (APM2.6). It has some advantages over the DJI system, such as unlimited waypoints for autonomous flight. It can carry a gopro, and replacement parts/batteries are a lot cheaper if you get them from China. I don't get anywhere near the battery duration of the DJI, though.
So: if you're looking for a new hobby: build your own. If you just want to fly: get the DJI.
Couldn't agree more. I had a Parrot 1.0 and it was of low overall quality. I have a Phantom (v1.1) and it's fantastic; a friend just bought the v2 which is even greater.
Among the differences: the Phantom has an actual radio, with ranges of over 500m (it would be very surprising if Wifi covered the advertised 300m of this new Parrot); you can change cameras as you wish (or, after a crash), it can fly really high and really fast, etc.
You can get a Phantom 1 for under $350 these days (without a gimbal), or a 2+ (camera and gimbal included) for around $1000. I would recommend buying the 2 without gimbal ($550) and the Zenmuse gimbal ($150-$200) -- and if you already have a GoPro you're all set.
Alternatively, you can buy a Hubsan H107D FPV which comes with a radio with a screen, for under $150! I don't own that one, but I have the Hubsan X4 which is a lot of fun (and completely safe to fly indoors).
If it is possible, you would be severely limited by the WiFi signal radius. I'd highly recommmend a normal 2.4 Ghz TX since they're designed for this stuff. The phantom comes with TX, but if you go the DIY route I can really recommend the Turnigy 9X from HobbyKing. It's only $60, has 9 channels, comes with receiver and people won't laugh at you because you're holding an iPad or a toy-like transmitter.
For learning how to fly in the sub $100 price range, get a Hubsan X4 H107C - don't be put off by the low price - they are crazy fun to fly. For the $1000+ price range, the DJI Phantoms are great. For the $500 price range, check out http://www.thepocketdrone.com - the most successful drone Kickstarter campaign of all time (raised almost one million dollars). Disclosure: I work for AirDroids who manufacture the Pocket Drone.
Before you even start, have a look. You'll need a frame kit, motors, ESC and a flight controller as well as a transmitter and a reciever. You might also want an FPV kit so you can see where your flying and a GoPro so that you can film what you see.
Have a look at the DJIF450 or DJIF550 frame kits, start with one of those cost me around £400GBP, you'll learn more with one of those than a Phantom and you'll be able to replace parts easier.
