I had the same thoughts before buying the APM clone too. But, I found out that a lot of people here (and overseas) are using the APM clones without problems. You'll get similar flight characteristics with the clones too. The only drawback is manufacturing quality.

Oh, and do get the telemetry kit as well. That way you can get regular voice updates about battery voltage, heading, altitude etc. You can also control your APM with an android  phone/ tab this way.

Hmmm ok... Will look into it..

Karthik sir, Have you decided on APM ?

Yep   
 dont call me sir tho..

hi guys!
got apm2.6 at last from a fellow member!
connected to mission planner and following d steps...

Stuck at this step whr it shows d frame selection qnd in d right thr is this list..
which one to select?

use wizard from initial setup.

I selected quad x4 rtf option and finished calibration...

OK,  that's enough. The option that you asked is for reset all parameters to its defaults.

Ya..  I understood tat..
Nees to see hw it behaves wit my quad..

Hello guys!

the whole build was in a state of hiatus..
now continuing it..
all the calibration and procedures has been followed.. But am not able to arm the APM..
see d snapshot...
While calibrating esc's all d motors spins perfectly but wen I reconnect it doesnt...

Any errors in mission planner regarding prearm check?
If prearm check is enabled then this will not arm without GPS lock

May be rudder is reversed.

Or
For arming need keep throttle down and hold rudder stick to right(normally 2 to 8 seconds ) until led sequence shown
 
Edit : also should need to keep APM in level while arming.

Am not sure about prearm...wen I connect first time, it arms and all d motors spins but after few seconds it turns off.. Wen I reconnect it doesnt arm
rudder is not reverse as well..
APM is in level while arming...

Forgot one thing that the motors will not spin in new apm firmware while throttle is in zero(even if armed but the red led should solid) and need little throttle up to start spin.

I dint get it...

After armed the motors will not spin in low throttle. You need to increase throttle to spin motors.

Also can you please post a screenshot of mission planner(flight data page)

I tried increasing d throttle but dint work...

Is the motors outputs connected is in 5,6,7,8? That should be changed to 1,2,3,4

Edit :Sorry its already connected in 1,2,3,4 shown in the previous pic.

Armed? And no motors spinning?
So now check THR_MIN and THR_MAX Parameters.

Is it ok to connect to pc wen the apm is connected via battery...

yes, but always remove props while testing and keep radio on and throttle to min, else had some bad experience while updating parameters (with old firmware) and especially fail-safe,

Ok... I hav similar experience on it... So I do hav a precaution checklist...
Will check it tonight...
is thr anything to be done for simonk esc's in specific?

one more situation:
apm will go to esc calibration mode(in this situation apm will not have control and throttle directly control ESC) if you put throttle high and restart apm two times(resetting will occur if you connect to pc), then motors should spin if you give throttle without arming.

for flying?
nothing other than calibration.

Restart meaning reconnecting battery?

Restarting (Power Cycling) APM,

Means:
Reconnecting Battery or
Reconnecting to PC or
Clicking Reset button on APM

Ok.. Will try it n see...