tl;dr: if you're interested in drones but not willing to dump a bunch of money, just go buy this thing, it's a great deal--I've been wanting a quadcopter for a long time, then I finally broke down and got this with three batteries - for less than $70.Each battery gives you about 8 minutes of flying time, and by the time I started on the third one, I was flying confidently, within a few feet of trees, fences, and other obstacles. I took it up to about 100' above the ground, and 200' away horizontally with no loss of control.It can theoreretically go further, but the WIFI connnection started breaking up at 150'. Not a problem, since the included controller still worked, but I would have lost control if I was flying with only the phone. Definitely use both at once - the controller unit is a million times better for controlling altitude and direction than the phone app, but only the phone app seems to work for photos and videos. You will need to supply your own micro sd card to record images.Once you learn to adjust the trim settings, the machine is very stable and easy to controlThe manual, on the other hand, is an incomprehensible pile of rubbish - leave it in the box and find one of the many online reviews that have instructions. Here's a very basic startup using just the included controller:- unfold the drone's arms...and don't forget to snap the prop guards into place- long-press the power button on the drone, and set it on a flat, level surface- turn on the controller- push left stick all the way forward, then all the way back- drone should now be connected to controller- push both sticks down and to the right to calibrate. If you're on level ground, this works well. If you aren't, be prepared for the thing to zoom off in a random direction at launch- press the take off button. The drone will go up about 8' and hover. It should stay very still if there's no wind. If it doesn't, use the trim buttons to compensate until it's steady- be careful with the left joystick; it's very easy to lose track of which way the thing will move once you spin it. Keeping the machine's butt toward you is the least confusing way. There is a "headless mode" that keeps the direction of travel relative to you no matter which way it's facing, but I haven't gotten that to work yet.- once you've run through the batteries (a bit over 20 minutes of flying), go look up how to use it with your phone while they recharge. The app you need is called "JY UFO" and is available for both IOS and Android devices- finally (this should be first, but let's be realistic, you'll be flying this thing five minutes after it's delivered), look up the relevant state and federal laws, especially if you're within five miles of an airport