Flip Video Ultra High Definition Camcorder With 8GB Memory - Black

The good stuff:The Flip Ultra HD couldn't be ANY simpler. It switches on and is ready to film in about a second - which fact alone makes it an incredibly useful tool for documenting unexpected events. The picture quality is great, the sound is surprisingly good (considering the puny mic that must be onboard) and you can just pile two hours of video onto 8Gb. It captures night time scenes like no other camera I've seen: blacks are inky black and light sources stand out. Goodbye over-compensated orange night scenes.In short, the Flip Ultra HD really IS as easy to use as a video camera can possibly be. Carry it in your pocket and capture anything, any time, anywhere.Now, the not so good stuff:First, the battery. I plugged in after my first few 'out-of-the-box' shoots to recharge only to find... it wouldn't recharge. Great. So off I went to Google to research. Before long, I found a significant number of people experiencing the same - and I discovered the fix - so listen up. The rechargeable battery pack comes with two AA size cells covered in a plastic wrap. It also has two plastic 'arrow' shaped seating lugs sticking out at the top end. The purpose of these is to seat into slots inside the Flip and tell it that it has the correct rechargeable pack in place.Unfortunately, on too many of these packs, the plastic wrap runs over the 'slope' of the lug that faces into the body of the Flip. That effectively turns what should be a pointy lug into a gradient or slope with the result that it doesn't seat properly and doesn't tell the Flip to recharge.Solution is to take a craft knife and cut away the plastic wrap where it runs over the base of these two lugs (particularly the smaller, inward-facing of the two). This will allow the lug to seat properly and Presto! you'll be charging in no time.Second, the Flip Ultra HD's dislike of movement. This camera really doesn't like you moving. Unlike old-fashioned analog video (from years ago), the Flip digital video goes into super-jerky ultra-high frame-rate effect when you pan or even move. Everything just looks...jarry. There's no other way to describe it. This unit could do with some kind of image stabilisation. If it has it, I'm damned if I can find it. For the best results you're going to need to stand still or at least pan incredibly slowly whenever filming. I'm hoping I can get used to it.Once you know the battery modification and you remember to carry a tripod or move slowly whenever you're filming, you wouldn't want any other video camera in your pocket but this one. I also bought the waterproof case (can't WAIT to go snorkeling somewhere to try it out).Thanks to Amazon for the speed it organised a replacement (before I learned the battery fix). In the end, I sent the new one back - figuring what was the point, since I'd only have to take the craft knife to that one as well. Flip, take note and do something on the production line, willya? Search Google for 'flip ultra HD not charging' and you'll find a bunch of post on the subject (mine included) but nothing from Flip.One last thing (and this isn't Flip's fault but something they really COULD make simpler): the Flip makes filming so easy that you're suddenly going to be facing a problem you maybe didn't have before. What to do with all this video data?? In my case, owning the Flip has rapidly revealed the limitations of the MacBook, iMovie and iDVD. Putting the video through either or both of those applications introduces a 'stagger' to the playback that is really unacceptable. Not only that, both programmes are so unwieldy that I've been failing all week to make a DVD of all my pieces of video. The result is that after only two weeks of owning the Flip Ultra HD, I'm about to run out of disk space.Flip - if you're listening: More than anything else, I really need the Flip Share software to take all the bits of video on my camera and burn them all together in a single long stream of video on DVD. No editing, no 4 hours building movies...Seriously, if I don't find a solution that makes archiving video data quick and easy, I'll end up NOT using the Flip which seems utterly mad - but there you have it.

The Flip is a nice little gadget, great for those who want "simple" and "easy" with decent results.Good points: Flip has minimal controls, an on/off button, one big button to start/stop recording, a playback clip button, and a delete button, plus a simple up/down left/right cursor control. Press "on" and it is ready to go in two seconds, which is nice and convenient. There are no focus control to worry about, digital zoom is simple, and the display is bright and clear. Recording results are crisp and lively if somewhat stroboscopic. The supplied software installs from the camera (which is really a memory stick with an image chip on the front and a screen on the back with some buttons) and auto-updates itself and the camera software. The software doesn't do a lot, providing the basic functions you need, and relying on Windows DVD maker to create a DVD. The battery took about 90 minutes to charge 1st time out, and lasted at least 50 mins. My 8Gb Flip gives 2 hours of recording space.Not so good points: This is a simple and easy to use device. There are no settings to adjust, so WYSIWYG what you see is what you get. There is no anti-shake system which it really needs although with practice and two hands you can keep the picture stable. There is no wind filter either. The display while bright is still a little hard to see in strong sun. The picture is somewhat noisy in low light and the digital zoom looses you definition. You really need a USB extension cable to plug it into a PC as the USB arm is a good idea but restrictive in practice. You need a decent video editing package to assemble the individual clips (each clip is an individual file). I found Vista Movie Maker does the job but can't handle more than 15 - 20 clips as my 3Gb PC runs out of memory, so I had to create multiple videos from the Flip clips, and then assemble them with Movie Maker!! Windows 7 Live Movie Maker is just plain awful :-(So for the beginner or non video-phile user this is a nice little product to slip into a pocket and have fun with.Cheers TimBo

I hesitated for some time before buying this due mainly to the mixed reviews on Amazon and elsewhere. However, having looked at similar products, there seemed to be no close alternative (and all suffered similar levels of tech. issues). Add to this a Best Buy score in Which and Amazon's excellent returns service (if I DID experience any of the technical problems detailed in other reviews I could return) I decided to take the plunge.So far 100% happy. I am sure I am not unique in that I need something as simple as possible to capture those special moments of family life. Things that are so often missed because the old video camera is either too cumbersome to use, or is stuck in the cupboard uncharged.The Flip is absolutely perfect for this. Virtually instant from switch on and so portable it is never an issue to take anywhere. The picture quality is superb and any of the added features available on bigger camcorders are just not missed (how many great videos have you made in sepia?)I have taken off one star simply because it did not come with an HDMI cable or a USB extension cable (which is basically essential if you are working off anything other than a laptop). Although both of these only cost a couple of quid (and thus would only cost pence for a manufacturer to add into the box) it pains me to have to further purchase something that really is required to make the thing fully functional.I will update this review if I do experience any problems, but thus far (2 weeks) it has worked a dream.UPDATEStill love this thing! Is simply perfect for quick capture of special moments, days out and family hols. Only gripe would be charging. Through USB it takes AGES plus the charging symbol never appears to actually show the thing is charging so you are never sure if it is charged fully or not. Would therefore suggest a mains charger is a good thing to get. Otherwise superb.