Flip Video Camcorder: 60-Minutes (White)
by Flip Video
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List Price: 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 Video Camcorder: 60-Minutes (White)
Customer Review: Flop-Video redeemed
Summary: 3 Stars
Original review: I was pretty excited about this little gadget taking it out of the box - using it for the first time was pretty intuitive with very little instruction. Playing videos on the tv was easy although I would recommend viewing them on the computer - a little jerky for TV viewing.
We broke down when we tried to connect to our computer. This is not plug-n-play for everyone! Despite having all the system requirements and showing a connection through the USB port, we could not get the system to show us the flip-video icon to load the program. The instructions are very vague. Even the 23 page FAQ on the website didn't give much detail at all. I emailed an inquiry to them - hopefully they will respond quickly with a workable solution.
Update: Customer service was prompt and courteous in responding although each of our interactions except for one took 24 hours turnaround time. One recommendation at a time, they suggested reinstalling, checking USB ports, disabling USB2 ports, and trying to install the camera on a different computer to check to see if problem was the camera. After a lot of digging and experimenting on our own, we figured out that on installing, the camera program was trying to map itself to a drive that already existed on our network. It could not see any other drives except those on the local computer. We remapped the network drive and allowed the camera to choose the drive it wanted on the local computer. We're up and running.
We took the camera in to have a DVD made of our video which was pretty easy although Wolf Camera needed 24 hours to process. The DVD is easy to work with but we noticed that it won't share videos with the standard WindowsXP video editing software.
Customer Review: So Far So Good
Summary: 4 Stars
I just got this yesterday and have only dabbled around with it. But, so far I like it a lot. It says something on the packaging about getting DVDs made at a store. I'm hoping that's not the case and I can burn my own DVDs off my computer at home. I haven't gotten that far into it yet.
The downloaded computer program which comes with the camcorder took me a few minutes to understand - at first the playback of my video was in a tiny square, but I kept clicking until I figured out how to get it full screen. And full screen was grainy - especially on the zoomed parts. The "zoom" function is not what I hoped for. All of my zoomed video was blurry so I will probably not use that function much at all. The camcorder seems to adjust quickly and accurately to changes in lighting. I went from a rather dark area in my house to full blazing sunlight coming in through the windows then back to dark and it handled the change nicely. Also, I video taped some outside and yesterday was a very windy day. I heard a lot of wind rush in the playback but, it was windier than usual so hopefully the wind rush sound is not typical.
Overall, it's a nice little gadget. A heck of a lot easier to use than my other camcorder (tape) but I still have more testing to do on it. I like the simple buttons on the back, the screen has great color, and it's pretty much dummy-proof. Lightweight and very easy to take. I have to balance the camcorder on a book when I have it attached via USB port to my desktop PC. As many others have stated, the flip out USB connector seems delicate and I don't dare let it hold itself without some support. My old high-school Spanish dictionary has finally come in handy!
Customer Review: Flip isn't just for Windos & Mac
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought the 1 GB version of this camera. I'm pleased with it.
Its storage is Solid State! No tapes to jam, skip, or distort!
The worst disadvantage is that it doesn't have a tripod socket.
The frame size is small compared with 5 megapixel still cameras, but it's pretty good compared with VHS resolution.
You can copy movies to your computer, burn them on data disks, and later copy them back to the camera and hook it up to a TV.
If Linux, GNU, and free software are your bag, this camera attaches to your USB port and just looks like a flash disk drive to Linux.
Do not be put off by its lack of software for you.
The copy, drag, delete, and rename operations do just what you'd expect.(*)
I replaced Windows with MEPIS on a friend's discarded laptop, <500 MHz, 128 MB RAM, and successfully copied from the camera to it, and then saved the files to a 4 GB USB stick. The process would of course have been faster with a USB 2.0 port. But this supplies me with a highly portable five-hour movie storage capability!
Windows and Mac OS X users are supplied with editing software in the camera, but DVD production is not provided.
The .AVI files are a somewhat proprietary variant of MPEG-2. Various free software (GNU/Linux/X-Windows) distributions have editing software for this, and DVDAuthor is available to run on Linux and create playable DVD movies - as distinct from collections of data burned on DVD or CD, that you can play on your computer.
(*)The camera only recognises names with a certain pattern, so you might make some folders or movies invisible to it. You might even want to do so.
Customer Review: Coolest little video camera!
Summary: 5 Stars
This little video camera is amazing! It's perfect for everyday use. I've had so much fun capturing family moments over the past month. It's so simple to use and I was totally blown away at the quality when I viewed the video on the computer and the television. Honestly, this is a "no-brainer" when it comes to using it. We are going to get one for all the members in the family for Christmas gifts because the cost is only a little over $100. And, it's so easy to use, even our 6 yr old has no problem using it! I would suggest getting the 60 minute camera instead of the 30 minute camera, though. It's handy to have a full hour of recording available. Uploading and sending video is a snap, too! If you are wanting to make a quality video of a particularly special moment like a wedding, then, I would use a high dollar video recorder. But, to capture fun memories of the kids and family, vacation moments, school functions, everyday life experiences, THIS is THE camera to get! With a larger, heavier camera, I'd end up not recording a lot of family events. With this small camera, I've almost become annoying to the family by recording so much! ha ha Also, it is so small that it fits in your purse or pocket. Plus the handy carrying strap assures you that you won't drop it! Additionally, I like to carry a couple of extra AA batteries along. Although the batteries seem to last I long time in the camera, it comes with a handy carrying bag that easily fits several extra batteries in the bottom so you're never without. Anyway, I can't say enough about this little camera. One of the best finds I've stumbled on to in a long time!Customer Review: Super easy and fun little gadget.
Summary: 4 Stars
Get this camera if you want something that is easy and fun to use. I've been waiting for a long time for a camera that videotapes 'straight on' rather than looking through a side viewfinder like all the other brands. When I saw this, I couldn't wait to get one! And the price is hard to argue with.
It seems pretty sturdy, and I've had some fun letting my little cousins (age 5 and 3) play around with it - they mostly catch video of the floor and the dog, but they are highly entertained by it, and that's my main goal.
I've also managed to get some nice shots of special performances and interviews in theatres that will remain unnamed - because it looks enough like an ipod or a regular camera that it isn't totally obvious you are videotaping.
The only reason I am not giving it a 5 is because it takes a lot longer to upload video to the web than I expected. I am still not sure if this is just the way things are - since I had never uploaded before, I cannot tell if this is due to the camera or to my wireless connection. The video quality when uploaded is better if you transfer the files to iMovie first; if you upload directly from camera the image seems to skip a little during playback.
Things I hope they will add/change for the next version: a removable memory card so I can record more than one hour, and a hole in the bottom for a tripod to go - I know, it's a small and light camera, but sometimes it is hard to hold it still, especially if you are using it to interview someone for a long period of time. That said, I didn't really expect all that from such a neat new gadget.