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Flip Ultra Series Camcorder, 60-Minutes (Black) OLD MODEL by Flip Video
Digital product summary informationManufacturer: Flip Video Format: CD Release Date: 2009-11-30 Platform: Mac, Windows Model: F260B Color: Black Product features: - Simple to use, pocket-sized camcorder with one-touch recording and digital zoom
- Holds 60 minutes of full VGA-quality video on 2GB of built-in memory; no tapes or additional memory cards required
- Convenient USB arm plugs directly into your computer for easy viewing and sharing
- Built-in software lets you easily e-mail videos, upload to YouTube and AOL, and capture still photos from video
- Watch videos instantly on TV with included cable
Accessories:
Digital camera reviews of Flip Ultra Series Camcorder, 60-Minutes (Black) OLD MODELDigital camera Review: (Surprisingly) Fantastic Value and Quality Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased the Flip as early Christmas present for my wife.. My goal was to get something we could take videos of the kids with and have it be as easy to deal with capture/storage/burning DVDs as it is with our digital still camera. We have a Mini-DV camcorder and we've never taken the time to get the video off the camcorder, onto the laptop and onto a DVD. It's just a real pain. So, I've wanted for a long time a camcorder that would record to flash memory or HDD but 1) we already had a camcorder and 2) they were expensive. Then I saw the Flip, grabbed one and we spent the month of December, especially the holidays, recording with the intent of producing a DVD at the end of the month.
Last night I burned a DVD with our recordings using the MyDVD software that came with our laptop. Then I put it into my DVD player to watch the videos on our 50" plasma. I expected something very grainy and small. I was shocked when I was greeted with good quality video even on my 50" plasma. The resolution of the camera is 640x480 which amounts to 4:3 480p so it's like watching a SD TV show except to my eye it seemed a little bit better than SD cable but not as good as an SD movie DVD. I was shocked to tell the truth given what we'd paid for it and what I've read about the picture quality.
The Flip has more than exceeded my expectations: it did exactly what I wanted and it made it easy. I can take videos of our family, upload them to our PC through USB and then burn them to DVD to watch on TV. The quality is more than good enough for the price (like I said IMHO something between SD cable and SD DVD) but more than anything it does all the things I wanted to and I didn't have to spend several hundred dollars.
We are VERY happy with our Flip. We now have an easy way to capture our children's childhoods (at least until flash camcorders that do HD come way down in price) -- something we never had as kids. The Flip is surprisingly good and unexpectedly fun.
Some things to know:
- Don't use the zoom. It's not an optical zoom so it just makes the picture quality poor by cropping the image.
- Expect a time-consuming setup. The first time you plug it in it needs to update itself and it takes a while.
- The software is just so-so. It doesn't really come with any decent software so you'll need something like Roxio's MyDVD to edit/burn videos.
- It records to AVI files (MPEG-4) so you can use a much better viewer on your PC than the one that comes with it. I use WinAMP (free).
- You might want to think about that external 500GB USB drive now because this thing eats HDD drive space like it's nothing :-). I think our 250GB WD is going to have company soon.
- The audio is mono
- When viewing with WinAMP it said it was 640x480, 30fps video
Enjoy it!
[Update] This update doesn't change my review because it's not related to the Flip itself but more to the video format it uses. I am hoping what I went through will help other folks The video files are AVI with the video portion as XVID 3ivx MPEG-4 5.0.1. When I upgraded from the Sonic MyDVD 5.5 software to the Roxio MyDVD 9.0 I could no longer view these files or burn them to a DVD. I had to upgrade to Roxio Easy Media Create 10 to get them to work again. Nothing on Roxio's site gave me any indication the upgrade would cause an issue with my files. Only throwing money at it seemed to help the problem. So, if you're using the Flip in combination with MyDVD to burn DVDs just beware it's not because you don't have the right codec or whatever installed. You apparently need MyDVD 10 or maybe even MyDVD9 Premium to view XVID video and create DVDs out of them. It makes me wish the Flip didn't record to such a wonky format but I guess with all the licensing around MPEG-4, AT&T lawsuit, etc. you get what you get as an early adopter. If you're lost (like I was for a long time) here's some information on 3ivx and MPEG-4: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3ivx http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPEG-4
Summary of Flip Ultra Series Camcorder, 60-Minutes (Black) OLD MODELThe Flip Video Ultra Series Camcorder is a revolutionary new way to shoot and share videos. Its portable, simple-to-use design makes it incredibly easy to create high quality home movies. The camcorder's built-in software provides a convenient, seamless way to save and share memories: email videos, make custom movies, capture still photos from video clips, and upload videos directly to popular video-sharing sites, including AOL Video and YouTube. Flip Video Ultra is the ideal, affordable choice for capturing everyday moments that happen anywhere, and sharing them with family and friends everywhere. This next-generation version of the original Flip Video line features a new sleeker design, premium no-glare LCD screen, and improved video and audio quality. Flip Video Ultra comes with a TV connector cable, wrist strap, soft carrying case, two AA batteries, and a quick start guide. Specs: Flip Video Ultra incorporates 2GB of built-in flash memory which holds up to 60 minutes of 30-frame per second full VGA-quality MPEG-4 video. Compatible with Windows XP SP2 and Vista; Macintosh OS X 10.3.9 or later. Computer connection via integrated USB Port.
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