For those waiting to see what Flip Video will have for the holiday season, the company is about to ship an upgraded, "premium" version of its MinoHD pocket camcorder for $229.99.
In a nod to Apple, the new model is called the MinoHD, second-generation, and features a brushed metal body, double the internal memory (8GB vs. 4GB), a larger, 2-inch LCD, and an HDMI connection, though no cable is included.
Flip's designers have also rounded off the corners of the unit (it does look sleeker) and tweaked the FlipShare software package to include direct uploads to Facebook (MySpace and YouTube links were already available) and a new Movie Magic mode that takes your clips and automatically arranges them into a "movie."
Other than that, nothing else has changed. Like its older sibling, this model offers 720p video capture and two hours of battery life from its integrated lithium-ion battery. Flip Video has yet to add the electronic image stabilization or macro mode found on Kodak's Zi8, which also features 1080p capture.
The new MinoHD is available in silver or you can get a custom finish at no extra charge if you order the unit from the Flip website. Meanwhile, the original MinoHD ($199.99) remains on sale along with the standard-def Mino ($149.99).
We've been playing around with the new model for a couple of days and it's definitely nicer, though we can't say it's a huge upgrade. If the difference in price was really only $30, we'd say go for this guy, but we're seeing the original MinoHD discounted to around $170 online, which may create a buying dilemma.
Read the CNET review of the Flip MinoHD (second generation).
Comments?
(Credit:
Creative)
Several people have e-mailed me wondering when we'd have our review up of the Creative Vado HD mini camcorder. Well, now it's up, and the big question everyone is asking is whether it's better than the Flip Video Mino HD. The short answer is yes--and no.
Basically, the Vado HD's video quality isn't quite as good the Mino HD's. But its feature set is superior. So, it's a tough call.
Amazon is selling the Vado HD for $200.
(Credit: Amazon)Things are heating up in the HD mini camcorder space as Creative gets set to release its new Vado HD next week. The camcorder retains many of the design traits of the original Vado but it doesn't share the exact same body. However, it does have something that neither the Kodak Zi6 nor the Flip Video Mino HD has: an HDMI connection (plus an included cable) for outputting 1080i video to your HDTV. And it comes with 8GB of built-in memory--all for around $200.
In our review of the Vado, we knocked it a bit for being pretty no frills, and Creative seems to have taken that to heart. Along with the HDMI cable, it's throwing in a protective case and a real software package for tweaking your videos after you shoot them. Like the Mino HD, it captures H.264 AVI videos at 30fps with a 1,280x720 CMOS sensor and gives you about 2 hours of battery life from its removable rechargeable battery. You can also shoot 640x480 VGA video if you want.
On paper, the Vado HD looks good, but the big question is, how will its video quality compare to that of the Mino HD and Zi6? We'll be getting a review sample shortly, so we'll hopefully have a full review up by early next week. The Vado HD lists for $229, but Amazon is taking preorders at $200 and we expect the price to stay there.
Comments anyone?
The Mino HD looks identical to the regular Mino.
(Credit: Pure Digital Technologies)With Kodak and RCA putting out so-called HD versions of their YouTube-friendly mini camcorders, we knew it was only a matter of time before Pure Digital Technologies, the maker of Flip Video mini camcorders, put out an HD model of its own.
Calling it the "world's smallest HD camcorder," the $229 Flip Mino HD looks identical to the standard-definition Flip Mino. It weighs just over 3 ounces, boasts 720p resolution, and has 4GB of memory that allows for 60 minutes of recording time. The release also says that the Flip Mino HD features "all-new built-in FlipShare software for easy saving, organizing and sharing of video from your computer." We're not sure how it's different from the software on the existing Mino, but when we get more details, we'll let you know.
Like the standard Mino, you'll be able to customize the look of the Mino HD at theflip.com/store. I did an earlier post on the whole customization thing, and the one drawback is that while the service is free, you do pay the full $229 list price for the product. Most likely, the Mino HD will retail for less on Amazon and other online stores--I'd guess $199.
We'll be getting a review unit in the next few days and have a review up soon. Naturally, we're curious to see just how good the video quality is. In reviewing Kodak's Zi6, we had this to say: "The Kodak Zi6 is technically an HD camcorder the way a tomato is technically a fruit: it meets the definition, but doesn't deliver the experience. True, the Zi6 records video in 1,280x720-pixel resolution at both 30 frames per second and 60fps--720p resolution--which technically qualifies it as an HD camcorder, but a lot of factors go into creating an image, not just a CMOS sensor capable of capturing an image at a certain resolution and frame rate." We expect to have a similar experience with the Mino HD, but Pure Digital Technologies has managed to keep the video quality of its mini camcorders slightly ahead of the pack, so maybe the same will prove true here.
Any comments?
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