Gizmodo
The most impressive thing about the ultra-basic Flip camcorder (to me anyway) is that it's managed to steal 13 percent of the camcorder market. Creative is hoping to bottle some of that magic with a $100 Flip clone called Vado (which sounds more like a failed Star Wars character than a cheapo camcorder). The leaked specs are barely discernible from the Flip Ultra's. (To be super duper clear, this a bad Photoshop of the Flip Ultra, not Creative's product.)
According to J&R's spec sheet, it's got VGA res, 2GB storage, solid low-light performance, direct YouTube/Photobuck upload, 2x digital zoom and a USB dongle connector, etc. Its only points of difference are a slightly larger 2-inch screen, more compression (two hours of vid will fit on its 2GB, the Flip only promises an hour) and a smaller palette of colors, just silver and pink. No pictures of this thing yet (it probably won't look like this horrible Photoshop), but it might do well, if only thanks to the power of confusion—the people purportedly picking up the Flip aren't the most discerning crowd, and the weird, dark and vaguely sci-fiish name would be a turnoff for soccer moms. Flip sounds more fun. [JR via Gadget Lab]
Comments
As long as it comes in the beautiful shade of pink, someone will buy it.
hmmm wondering if the flip is worth it.....dunno if i would use a camcorder, but with a flip, i may use it more because I won't be too scared of fucking it up....so i will be more inclined to take it out on hilarious endeavors
Pure Digital is gonna flip out!!
Perfect for making those special 420 home videos to share with unwitting consumers
@Monty: Maybe you want the iPod white instead?
As long as they support Mac OS X 10.5 (aka Leopard). Here is my letter from Flip Support; I just bought a Flip Video Camera.
Thank you for contacting us.
The Flip Video camera does not support Mac OSX Leopard (OSX 10.5.x), so we cannot guarantee that the Flip Video program will have full functionality. However, you should still be able to access your videos in order to play and save them.
We are working on adding Leopard support in future versions of our software and camcorders. We are also hoping to provide an upgrade to current Flip Video owners, although we do not yet have a release date.
While we do not technically support Leopard, we have an update that allows for smooth functionality of your Flip Video camcorder on Leopard. It would be beneficial to upgrade your camcorder on another computer using this link: [www.theflip.com] You can then try to run the program on your Mac.
We apologize for any inconvenience, and hope you won't hesitate to contact us further.
Thank you,
Flip Video Support
Pure Digital Technologies
Vado is the first person singular conjugation of andare or to go. In Italian, a subject isn't always necessary, so it means "I go."
@tomhormby: I'm going to have to side with Buchanan on this one nonetheless: It sounds exactly like how my kids would pronounce the name of the Sith lord when they were little: Dawf Vado
That's not a real image right? because I'm sure it's not that much of a blatant ripoff.
Pure Digital also makes the $30 one-use camcorder sold at CVS. Though made to be recycled and without a readily accessible data port, it is easily hacked and totally reusable. The video is pretty good. Helluva investment.
It's the new choice of UFO hunters everywhere.
Stay away from Creative crap. Ever since they strayed away from the add-on audio card biz they have been producing an endless supply of junk.
First there was that video card fiasco 10 years ago. The Voodoo Rush. That think stunk to high heaven and Creative eventually gave people an Orchid Voodoo card as a replacement. They defended the sucky performance of that thing till they were blue in the face.
Then there was the first Creative MPEG player. Fantastic concept! I loved it the first time I saw one while on a sailing cruise in the Mediteranean. Then I got one. Still have it. The "rechageable" batteries sucked big time. This thing was the size of the original Sony Diskman and ate batteries like snack food at a Hemp festival. Oh and if you plugged in into the wall wart the batteries got extermely hot. Once again Creative defended their crap to the bitter end.
If you want a Flip, get a Flip and be done with it. Don't get a Creative knock-off. You know it used to be that the Chinese were king of the crappy knock-off product engineering but I think Creative is giving them a run for the money.
@MrBlahBlah: I got a flip about a month ago and love it. Really easy to take everywhere and use for a quick video. Good investment, as long as you don't lose track of it's purpose. I am sure I will get some hilarious videos with it when I get to Korea next month. Soju and just about everybody=antics you probably won't remember in the morning.
i would love it if they slowly increased the specs without increasing the price
Wait, VGA resolution? That's pretty damn weak for a $100 camera, isn't it?
maybe creative will ship their cam to europe - I would buy it since flip does not ship outside US. Which totally blows :(
Well, if it sells internationally it'll be better than the flip. Or at least it'll be available...
Give me 720p@30fps or give me death.
They need to make it in shiny black and call it the Darth Vado.
OK, I got me coat, don't push!
VGA isn't awful. 640x480 vs. 720x480 for NTSC. My home videos don't ever get shown full-screen on a 40" TV, so 720p is overkill for my uses. YMMV, of course...but I just want a camera that gets decent low-light performance, can produce clean video for web display/sending to grandparents, and is small enough to pack along with my dSLR, lenses, flashes, etc. The flip weighs less than any one of the four to six lenses I've got on an average photo outing...
Now on Newegg for $83:
[www.newegg.com]
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