Carry it anywhere with its sleek and slim design that fits in any pocket or purse
Shoot up to 2 hours of stunning HD video (720p / 60fps) on 8 GB of built-in memory; no additional memory needed
Keep your video steady on the go with MinoHD's newest feature, image stabilization
Connect the flip-out USB arm directly into your PC or Mac to launch pre-loaded FlipShare software
Organize, create and share your videos with FlipShare software
This review is from: Flip MinoHD Video Camera - Black, 8 GB, 2 Hours (3rd Generation) NEWEST MODELCustomer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
======================================================================================================================================> PLEASE READ IMPORTANT UPDATES AT THE END OF THIS REPORT <======================================================================================================================================This Flip MinoHD Video Camera - Black, 8 GB, 2 Hours (3rd Generation) NEWEST MODEL is well-constructed and takes decent video and sound. It was offered to me by Amazon Vine and I wanted to obtain it to see why it has been stated that Flip Video 'rules' the pocket camcorder field.Unfortunately I am very disappointed with this model for the following reasons:1. It offers only one level of picture quality: 720P [1280 x 720 60fps H.264/AVC with an MP4 file extension]; while this is good, the files obtained are quite large - I took just 143 seconds of video and the total file size is 169.9 MB. A person could convert this to something smaller if desired but that is, at the very least, time-consuming and I think that many persons for whom this camcorder is intended might be intimidated by the necessity of doing this. A choice should be offered as it is on other similarly-priced pocket camcorders.2. It does not take still pictures. If you have a Microsoft Windows or Mac-equipped computer, you can extract stills from your videos using the free included software - but, again, this is an extra and time-consuming step and may also be intimidating for some.3. Its USB connector is very badly designed; unless you have one laying about, you MUST purchase an AmazonBasics USB 2.0 A-Male to A-Female Extension Cable (9.8 Feet / 3.0 Meters) or similar. If you attach the camcorder directly to your computer, you will find that the weight of the camcorder puts an inordinate strain on the USB port as well as the USB connector on the camcorder.4. I appreciate that the camcorder comes with a cloth bag as standard but this bag offers no real protection to the camcorder nor any means of attaching it to a belt or other connection point. The bag could have been much better designed and I'm sure that many, if not most, people will want to buy an after-market case.---> The following is the most important design defect, in my opinion, and would be a 'deal-breaker' for me:5. This camcorder uses a built-in rechargeable battery instead of a user-replaceable one. Not only that, its battery life appears to be somewhat short and the camcorder CANNOT be operated when connected to either AC or a USB port (these can be used only for recharging the battery).I did not know that it came with such a battery prior to ordering it and, had I known, I would NEVER have ordered it!What does this mean to the user? It means that, if you want to take video for an extended period of time and your battery goes flat, you will have to wait while you recharge it, possibly missing some situations you would have liked to capture.Just imagine having that happen during the middle of recording a wedding ceremony and reception, or your daughter's first dance recital, or your son's first school play, or your children opening their Christmas presents ...And don't think "it can't happen to me" - oh yes it can!I can't stress enough that this is a MAJOR disadvantage and is the main reason for my disappointment with this unit.In addition, these built-in rechargeable batteries have a finite and relatively short service life, generally about three or four years. After that, you will either have to send the camcorder back to the manufacturer (at a high cost including shipping) for battery replacement or, more likely, you will just discard it.In other words, after only a few years, you will probably have just an expensive paperweight.If this were some twenty-dollar 'wonder' the defects I list above might be acceptable (even the short battery life in use; at twenty dollars you could afford to buy two, using one while the other is recharging).But this camcorder costs TEN TIMES that! And at that price it does not offer good value for money, again in my opinion.So for whom is this camcorder intended? As it is extremely easy to set up (with few choices to have to consider in its menu) and very easy-to-use when 'filming,' it may be fine for someone's great-grandmother (no offense intended) or for someone who is completely technophobic. A wealthy person could buy one for a small child as a first camcorder. After all, as I stated, it does produce decent video and sound (stereo, by the way).But at its price it faces formidable competition, two of which I own (both courtesy of Amazon Vine): the Creative Labs Vado HD Pocket Video Camcorder 3rd Generation,120 Minutes (Black) - NEWEST MODEL and the Kodak PlaySport (Zx3) HD Waterproof Pocket Video Camera (Black) NEWEST MODEL. both of which I consider to be five-star products.Neither of those two have any of the functional shortcomings of the Flip MinoHD; they both feature relatively inexpensive user-replaceable batteries (I have bought spares for both) and you can buy an external charger for them. Thus you can recharge one battery while using the camcorder with the other, something you CANNOT do with this Flip model. (If you are interested in further details about either or both of these two, I refer you to my and others' reviews on Amazon's product d...
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