Crave

'Tis the season to record a lot of video. And take it from me: you want a camcorder you can slip into a pocket between memorable moments, not some big, bulky thing that requires a neck strap.

Flip Video's popular pocket cams start at around $200, but right now you can grab the Creative Vado HD (with accessories) for $99.99 shipped.

I'll be the first to admit this isn't the best deal I've ever posted on an HD camcorder, but it's one of the best I've seen lately. Plus, the bundled accessories--a mesh case and a USB power adapter--would cost you an extra $45 if purchased separately.

The Vado itself can record up to two hours of 720p-quality video--twice as much as the Flip MinoHD. That's because it sports 8GB of onboard storage compared with the Mino's 4GB. Alas, there's no media slot for adding memory cards.

CNET gave the Vado HD mostly high marks, citing its strengths as solid video quality, removable battery, easy operation, and bundled HDMI cable for watching videos on an HDTV. Of course, as with most pocket camcorders, this one offers fast and easy USB-powered uploading to YouTube.

Also, the Vado features a relatively spacious 2-inch LCD. The MinoHD's 1.5-inch screen seems painfully tiny by comparison (trust me--I've got one).

I have no idea how long Creative's stock will last. But I do know the Vado bundle is also available in red--much purtier, IMHO.

Backup deal: You know what would go great with that $78 Blu-ray player I mentioned the other day? The Optoma HD20 1080p projector for $999.99 shipped. (Add it to your cart to get that price, and use Google Checkout to knock another $5 off.) It has dual HDMI inputs, so you can plug in your Blu-ray player and your game console! Drooooool.

Wayne A. Spring might be wishing he had better privacy settings on his Facebook page.

According to the Associated Press, Spring, in an attack of hubris, madness, or merely Saints fandom, told his socially-networking nearest and dearest that they could come and shoot his TV if the Saints beat the Washington Redskins last Sunday.

Yes, I said "beat," because Spring is a longtime, long-suffering fan of one of the NFL's more spirited and unfortunate franchises.

"I was a Saints fan, but used to be they never could win, and I admit I was a fair-weather fan," Spring told the AP.

The Saints won in overtime, 33-30. And as soon as the winning field goal pierced the uprights, Spring's ears were pierced by the sounds of his ringing phone.

Around a dozen equally sane Saints fans turned up with beer and guns. The resulting video has already caused something of a stir on YouTube. So please enjoy the merriment and the fact that Spring, who owns a medical staffing company, will apparently be watching the Saints on a small black-and-white screen this weekend.

Sometimes, it seems, electronics just don't get the respect they deserve.

The Zoom Q3 camcorder brings quality audio to the solid-state video camera market.

(Credit: Donald Bell/CNET)

Update: CNET's full review of the Zoom Q3 is now available.

As the audiophile's answer to the Flip camcorder craze, the Zoom Q3 ($249) takes a basic pocket video camera and bestows it with a high-quality stereo microphone and advanced audio-recording options. After a weekend playing with the Q3 and testing its audio and video capabilities against the Flip Ultra HD, I have a few initial observations to share.

The media-rich LG PS80 is also one of the most stylish plasmas we've seen this year.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

When LG announced its LG PS80 series of plasma TVs at CES 2009, the series earned one of our three nominations for Best of CES in the TV category. We've already reviewed the other two nominees--Panasonic's G10 plasmas and Vizio's VF551XVT LED-based LCD--and both scored higher than the PS80. It's not that we're disappointed in the interactive features that originally caused us to nominate the LG. Those include built-in Netflix streaming, which is still an LG exclusive (at least until Sony turns its own version on, or Samsung or Vizio step up), Yahoo Widgets, and YouTube capability. Since then LG has also added the high-definition eye candy of Vudu's on-demand video rental service. Those interactive add-ons work great, and combined with LG's picture adjustment prowess they comprise the most impressive features list seen on any plasma this year.

Unfortunately for the PS80, its picture quality impressed us less. Its lighter black levels are the main culprit, abetted by it below-par video processing and even minor image retention--all areas that other plasma TVs outperform the LG. On the other hand its color accuracy is still very good, and of course it enjoys the off-angle fidelity of plasma that easily trounces any LCD. Armed with superb style and that stellar features list, the LG PS80 might still appeal to people willing to focus less on picture quality than on built-in content options.

Read the full review of the LG PS80 series.

LG PS80 series--photos

The last time I found a Blu-ray player with BD-Live support in this price range, it was a refurbished Sony model that sold out in about 10 minutes.

Right now, Amazon has an even better deal: a new Panasonic DMP-BD60 Blu-ray player for $128.23 shipped. Regular price: $250.

This player not only supports Profile 2.0 (meaning it can play the BD-Live features found on some discs), but also performs such nifty tricks as streaming Amazon On Demand and YouTube video, accessing your PicasaWeb photos, and fetching weather and stock reports.

You'll need a wired Ethernet connection to take advantage of these goodies; the DMP-BD60 has no Wi-Fi capabilities.

You'll want to read CNET's review of the player (and/or watch the above video), which is mostly positive but concludes with a mere three-star rating.

Apparently users don't agree with the criticisms, having rated it four stars out of five on average. And on Amazon's product page, the DMP-BD60 averaged 4.5 stars.

In other words, this high-end Blu-ray player rocks. And it's unheard-of to find so many advanced features for just $128. If it supported Netflix streaming, I'd call it a must-buy. As it stands, it's a must-consider.

You think your job is hard? I had to narrow down three potential deals for today. Three!

Woot.com's refurbished 10.1-inch Acer netbook for $229.99 (plus $5 shipping) was a strong contender, but I know lots of you visit Woot already--and many more of you are sick of Netbooks. (Awesome, awesome deal, though.)

Then I considered the refurbished 2GB Sansa Clip MP3 player: $19.99 shipped at Buy.com. Mighty sweet.

Ultimately, I settled on the Creative Labs Vado pocket camcorder, which Dell has for $39.99 shipped.

Although this isn't the newer HD model, it's perfectly good for shooting YouTube-ready, VGA-quality video. And it can hold up to 60 minutes of it at the high-quality setting or 2 hours at "SP."

I love these little camcorders, which are easy to toss in a pocket, glove box, or wherever for capturing life's little moments.

CNET had mostly good things to say about the Vado, which is noteworthy for its built-in USB connector, onboard software, and one-touch uploading to YouTube.

This is a new unit, not a refurb, so it comes with a full one-year warranty. It regularly sells for at least $85, so $40 shipped is hard to beat. Great gift item!

Dell deals often expire or sell out without warning, so if this sounds good to you, act fast. (And if it does sell out, well, you've got the aforementioned runners-up. See? I'm always thinking ahead. Well, starting now, I am.)

(Credit: Smarty Pants)

Kids may gobble up junk food, but it seems they love playing with Nintendo devices even more.

Out of the 100 most loved brands for America's children and tweens, the Nintendo Wii and DS scored the first and second spots, according to a report by research firm Smarty Pants.

The survey "Young Love" found that even tempting snacks like Oreos and M&Ms trailed behind the Nintendo gear, taking the third and fifth spots in the list, respectively. Other techie items loved by 6- to 12-year-olds included the iPod at number 12, Sony's Playstation at 14, YouTube at 36, and Microsoft's Xbox at 42.

Kids participate in more than $500 billion in consumer spending each year, according to Smarty Pants, and their parents consider their favorites when buying everything from snacks to entertainment, both of which popped up heavily on the list.

"From Crayola to iPod, kids' most loved brands are familiar, iconic brands that delight kids and parents with variety, value, family-friendly content, and simple pleasures," Smarty Pants President Wynne Tyree said in a statement. "Interestingly, the top brands are not traditional 'for kids only' brands; in fact, many are not marketed directly to kids."

To compile the report, Smarty Pants questioned 4,700 American kids and their parents online over a period of nine months. Covered in the survey were more than 260 consumer brands across 20 different product categories.

The brands that kids liked most, said SmartyPants, were the ones that offered high-quality family time, age-appropriate content, parent-approved indulgence, variety/choice, "cool" accessibility, and chatter-worthy advertising.

It's great that the Nano now has a video camera, but it really should've been able to do HD.

In the course of testing standard-definition camcorders, more often than not, I stumble upon a user review where the person complains that their cell phone takes better video than--insert model name here. Sadly, that appraisal is probably not far from the truth.

For example, the recently reviewed Sony Handycam DCR-SX41 and Samsung SMX-F34 flash-based camcorders are no great shakes in the video department. I have used smaller, cheaper devices that take as good or better video than these camcorders. The only things they really offer are megazoom lenses, compact, lightweight bodies, and better controls and shooting options--all at sub-$300 prices. However, does any of that matter if the video isn't nice looking, is all soft and fuzzy, and loaded with blocky compression artifacts and noise?

Granted, there are a few advantages to SD digital video, though. The files are smaller than HD files, for one. They're also less taxing on computer resources, so editing and viewing them on even a basic laptop or desktop is possible. Plus, the quality is generally so mediocre that the movies are perfect for sharing online at small sizes where imperfections are less visible or cared about.

All of these things can be addressed by changing settings on any HD camcorder that's available, though, and buying an HD model gives you the headroom to take advantage of the higher-resolution capabilities should you eventually want to use them.

At this point, it's feeling like the only reason manufacturers still make SD camcorders are for up-selling consumers to HD models. This goes for YouTube-type minicamcorders, too. Case in point, the Flip family of pocket camcorders currently has four models: two HD, two SD. The price difference between SD and HD: $50.

The fifth-generation Nano with its built-in 640x480-pixel resolution video camera seems like an eventual up-sell opportunity, too. Apple's giving consumers VGA video now, letting them see how crappy it looks, and then next year it can get them to buy a Touch with an HD camera in it.

So yes, it's time for standard-definition camcorders--in all of their various form factors--to just die. The industry-standard minimum should be 720p at this point and just give consumers an easy, fast, one-button-press way to drop the resolution to VGA if need be. If companies such as Pure Digital, Kodak, and Creative can do it inexpensively, why can't the other companies?

The main menu of the YouTube client on Samsung's Blu-ray players.

(Credit: CNET)

Add YouTube the growing list of streaming media services supported by Samsung Blu-ray players. Effective immediately, Google's megapopular online video site will be added to the Samsung's current 2009 (and future) Blu-ray players via a free firmware update. The update also adds support for playback of MKV files. (A placeholder button has been added for the previously announced Blockbuster video-on-demand service streaming service as well; it's still on track to be added later this year.)

We were able to run the automatic firmware update on our Samsung BD-P3600 review sample quickly and painlessly. The YouTube main menu (shown above) looks different from the Yahoo Widget-ized version you'll find on Samsung TVs, but it's otherwise pretty similar to the YouTube experience on other electronics products. Our only beef was--just like other non-PC YouTube players--it doesn't stream YouTube's HD content.

Its MKV support was also good. We played back an MKV-wrapped AVC file (1.37GB, 1,024x550-pixel resolution) from a USB thumbdrive. Aside from a slight stutter at the very beginning, playback was smooth and problem-free, and we had no problems using fast-forward and rewind. (For the uninformed: MKV support is a favorite of digital media geeks who get their HD movies from more unconventional sources, such as BitTorrent.)

The YouTube upgrade was first mentioned just yesterday at Samsung's IFA news conference in Berlin. It's available on all three current 2009 Blu-ray players: the BD-P1600, BD-P3600, and BD-P4600. Those services join Netflix and Pandora that are already available on the players. For those keeping score at home, this upgrade makes the Samsung Blu-ray players more competitive with the excellent LG BD390.

Separately, a Samsung representative has confirmed to CNET that YouTube and Blockbuster support will also be rolled out to the company's 2009 Blu-ray home theater systems (HT-BD1250, HT-BD7200, HT-BD8200, HT-BD3252) later this year, but no date has yet been specified.

This post has been updated from its original version to include hands-on testing of the software upgrade and additional information. Also, the state of the Blockbuster service has been clarified. CNET's David Katzmaier and Matthew Moskovciak contributed to this report.