Flip Mino Video Camera - Black, 2 GB,1 Hour (1st Generation) OLD MODEL
by Flip Video
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List Price: Our Price: $40.00 You Save: $109.99 (73%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Digital Camera See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Flip Mino Video Camera - Black, 2 GB,1 Hour (1st Generation) OLD MODEL
Customer Review: Stay Away from this Toy!
Summary: 1 Stars
If you are used to the quality of other reputable brand names, stay away from this toy. I used many cameras and camcorders for years without a single defect. This toy stopped working after 3 months. It just won't power on.
Customer support staff are responsive but not helpful. The only advice they have is "reset and recharge the camera" and they keep going round in circle! They also give all sorts of excuses to avoid replacing the defective camera.
Yes, this product has some interesting features, such as the form factor and ease of use, but what good would this do if the quality is poor?! This camera has many other problems as well; the buttons (except for the power button) are touch based and extremely sensitive and can drive you nuts. The quality of the video is not as good as you would expect it to be. Many point and shoot cameras and even mobile phones can produce better videos. The screen is so small, to the extent that you feel like using a magnifying glass to preview your shots! Your mobile phone would most probably have a larger and more superior screen.
If you take this camera in your vacation you would be forced to take your laptop with you, because you would need it to re-charge the camera (through the USB port) as well as downloading the video when it gets full. As this camera doesn't have re-charge cable and there is no slot for exchangeable memory cards. If you are like me, I like to travel light in my vacation. I certainly don't like to take my laptop with me (my BlackBerry would be enough to check my email.)
In addition, all camcorders I used can directly be connected to DVD recorders. I find this to be the easiest way to save and share my videos. This camera cannot be recognized by DVD recorders. You have to take the tedious way of using PC software to create your own DVD. This can be complicated and time consuming.
I find it strange for this camera not to have still picture capabilities, as you would most probably need to take still pictures while you are shooting your video. This means that you will have to carry your still camera along. This will negate the advantage of being a pocket size camera. At this day in age you can hardly find a video camera, still camera, or even a mobile phone that doesn't have both video and still picture features. Even my kids' toy camera has both features!
It seems that the manufacturer of this camera had to cut corners and make so many compromises to come up with this interesting form factor. This might explain why the major players didn't follow suit and produce similar camera. I don't think they would be willing to make such compromises.
Customer Review: Very compact and easy to use camcorder
Summary: 5 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I have used the Flip Video Ultra Series Camcorder, 60-Minutes (White) and thought it was great. But now after using the Flip Video Mino Series Camcorder I can easily report that I prefer it. The Mino is lot thinner and smaller than Ultra Series, weighing just over three ounces. The touch video screen makes it much easier to use and it comes with a rechargeable battery that powers up automatically while plugged into your computer. Though I do not see a way to replace the batteries at the end of there useful life. And there is no mute button, so what you hear, you record.
The Mino is perfect for recording up to one-hour worth of video and looks great in black. It is perfect for families who want to share videos. I found that the sound quality is ok. The zoom is adequate but not great. And the picture quality is good for its price, Full VGA quality. The better the lighting you have, the better the quality of the video taken. It even looks good when watched on a TV screen. No sense lugging around a camcorder when you can carry this very light and small video camera that fits in your shirt pocket.
Downloading the videos to a computer is simple and it keeps with some pre-loaded software, which makes it easy for you to edit, email, save, and make photos from the videos. The editing is very basic; it lets you trim some off the front and back of what you recorded. And it is set up to link right into You Tube. I was able to make a video in just seconds after taking it out of the box.
The Flip Video Mino Series Camcorder has the ability to be mounted on a tripod as well as an action mount that can both be bought separately. But the 1-hour of video is all it can hold, which is more than enough for me. It does not have the ability to have the memory upgraded.
Just to summarize this video camera is very light and easy to use. It is so easy to use that no instruction manual is necessary and I am not electronic savvy. It comes with all you need, including TV connector cable, carrying case, wrist strap and even the installed rechargeable batteries. This is all you need to share video with your family at a low cost. It even comes in a box that looks like it came from a jewelry store.
Customer Review: I like it
Summary: 4 Stars
I wanted to get a camcorder to share videos with family without having to spend a lot of money and one I could hook up to the computer and upload without a lot of hassle. 60 minutes helps from not recording junk. LOL. The picture is pretty clear. The better your lighting the better your pictures. When I hooked it up to the computer a message came up telling me there was a software upgrade available. I did the upgrade and then every time I went to the software it would shut the browser immediately. I finally gave up and took the upgrade off. It worked then.
I put the upgraded software on my laptop so I can tell you the differences there too. The software that comes with the camera has a program where you can make a video with effects. It took a video I made, put some funky special effects and music to my video and was awesome. The new software will put music to your video but will not make as nice a video as the older software. The newer version has a different interface and looks nicer but the older version does more. Go figure.
I wrote to the company and told them what happened when I updated the software on my desktop. I included the specs of the computer and they wrote me back the next day and told me that the desktop did not have a processor big enough to handle the new software. I actually like the older version better so I am okay with that. I did appreciate the quick response.
The only con of this camcorder is that there is no zoom. I would have liked to be able to zoom in. It is small enough to put in your pocket. I use the waterproof/dust proof case and it is still manageable.
I also thought when I got the camera I could order skins for it later to change the look of the camera. I did not realize you have to send your design to FLIP when you order the camera and it comes with the new design. I was disappointed in that. I am not sure if I can send it to them to change the design or not since I did buy it from Amazon.
Oh I forgot 2 last things. After you make a custom video you have the option to create a link and mail it to someone. For some reason it takes 1-2 DAYS for them to get the link for your video.
Lastly I got the FLIP USB cables since my computer is sitting on the floor. I had to put 3 of the cables together to make them reach the top of the desk. Good thing they come with 3 together. I also use the cables on the laptop because it feels too flimsy plugged directly into the computer.
Customer Review: It does what it is supposed to do.
Summary: 4 Stars
The Flip Mino is small--very small and very light weight. It fits comfortably in my pocket and isn't a bother to tote around for hours at a time. The soft pouch that comes with it is very handy and can double as a cloth for wiping fingerprints and smudges off of the unit and screen.
The video quality is good--like a VHS tape that's been used over-and-over again, but with pixely artifacts, rather than a drifting image and fuzz. If you keep the camera still and if the subject of the shot isn't moving too much and if the lighting is decent, the image quality is really quite good--I would compare it to standard definition television. Overall, it's better than your average YouTube video. And though the image does become grainy in low light, it's still suitable for capturing candid moments.
The sound quality is also good and the microphone is suitably sensitive. It picks up quiet speech without too much background noise and there is never a hiss or buzz.
I put together a 30 minute video for SLG Publishing that was shot entirely with the Flip Mino at Comic-con International 2008. I used my MacBook Pro (the newest 15 inch version--purchased in May of 2008) and I edited the video with iMovie. I had to install the Flip video codec that came on the camera's flash drive and I updated iMovie to the latest version of the software, 7.1.4. After taking these steps, everything worked great. I found that the best way to manage the video was to import it using iPhoto (my MacBook Pro recognized the Flip as a camera and automatically opened iPhoto to import the video). iMovie will then add the video to its library for editing.
Overall, my experience with the Flip Mino has been very possitive. It works as it is supposed to and that's really what I want when I buy electronics.
Here's a link to the first part of the video that I made. It might help you to see what the video quality looks like. However, the video has been compressed a second time and is not indicative of the native video quality of the flip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTnhGmzr8V4 (If you click the link to watch the video in high quality, that pretty much looks like the original video).
Customer Review: not as good as many say
Summary: 3 Stars
they overwhelming amount of positive feedback made me give the mino a try. yes, the size factor is great, and no, the video quality is not. its more on par with what you get with your average webcam. only when shooting in bright daylight is the result acceptable.
i am the kind of guy who likes videos but doesn't like to carry around a bulky camera, and i remember really bulky, like back in the 80s when camcorders were big like professional ones the news crews use.
pro:
low price. the mino fits easily into any shirt pocket. it is very easy to operate, good battery life and adequate built in memory (2gb=1 hour). built in usb port is ingenious, no need to carry around a separate cable. decent software for windows users (mac version severely limited)
con:
buttons other than record button are touch activated, and go off way to easily. you will constantly hit the forward, reverse, zoom etc. areas by mistake.
the display is sharp but very tiny, anybody over 40 will need to have their reading glasses with them to make out anything.
low light sensitivity is poor, but this is a problem with all cheap camcorders. but you will notice major degradation of video quality.
the digital zoom is practically useless. the picture quality looks markedly worse when used. better not to use
in the very annoying department: each video clip would start playback with a noticeable little jump/jerk.
conclusion:
i would really only recommend the mino to those who want to put short video clips on the web/youtube or where the form factor is the major issue. when i ordered the mino i thought that there couldnt be anything else in this price category but as i found out after a few days there are several alternatives, mainly the aiptek a-hd 1080p and similar models. its slightly bulkier and looks more like a conventional camcorder, also no comparison to a $1000 sony but the video quality is much, much better. we are talking 720p and 1080p here. check them out.