Flip - Gizmodo

more about #flip
newgalactic: When I worked at Circuit City in college (1999), we were given a statistic that the average camcorder user uses their camcorder for 12 hours a year. ... more »
Eugenia: I highly disagree with what's concluded in this article. The Flip (and Kodak Z-series) cameras are the worst digirecorders one could buy. Want good p... more »
Ninety-9: My vote is still on the Kodak Zi8. Currently priced at $150 for a 1080p pocket camcorder, and it's got all the cool little things that makes us gadge... more »
Demonbird: Why buy the Mino HD when you can get a JVC Everio MS120, a traditional camcorder, for $20 more? more »
thePrototype: I would really recommend taking a look at previous gen cameras on eBay or CL, a lot of people buy them with good intentions and never use them. My hu... more »
Nick: i like this idea of co-opting articles from niche sites. is this just a christmas season sorta deal? more »
Ridley: I would have liked to see how the Flip HD compares to something like the Lumix DMC-ZS3 - a point and shoot also built for video. Or to see how the ca... more »
beekerstudios: you are inane and stupid: The only contender for me was the Panny, for the focus ring, but for $500 more I will be getting a 7D, and killing two birds with one stone. Not the s... more »
Col. Mustard: the HV40 from canon is excellent. $700, MiniDV, excellent in most light more »
Rob C: So where's the $300-400 model? What if we don't want a cheap mini like the Flip, but want something a little better without breaking the bank at $600? more »
Joe Stoner: If you're looking at spending $1300 on a consumer video camera, I really have to recommend taking a look at the previous generation of pro (or cheap d... more »
scoobydoo: This is what happens when you let Cisco screw around with consumer electronics. Just look how successful the Linksys media streamers were, or how gre... more »
Sirobin: I like how it says Cisco confirmed it, and yet this article is tagged "uncomfirmed"... more »
ilerrantriat: I don't see how the sliding form factor would look good on a video camera :/ more »
Christopher Powers: Nice you did the Nano in there but you left out the iPhone 3Gs... more »
iomatic, hey, I'm an idiot, but I'll comment anyway: Uh, just a minor point re: the Nano; VGA resolution would not explain color saturation ("dull" and "lifeless"), though it would explain lack of detail... more »
ifteetylatun: Key to the Kodak is an audio in jack to provide an external mic, can't be said how valuable this can be! more »
Ebichuman - イカせてみせます、今夜こそ！: I own a JVC Picsio, and I can concur on its crappiness. (Disclaimer : I got it with BicCamera gift cards, and that's the only mini cam they have). The... more »
NotSoSiniSter: do skulls mean "deadful"? #pocketcamcorderbattlemodo more »
Angelo Perera: I looked at all these cameras at a Best Buy store in minnesota and decided on buying the Zi8 simply due to the fact that it was the highest resolution... more »

#camcorders

The Best Camcorders You Can Buy on Every Budget
Kaitlyn Chantry is the editor-in-chief of CamcorderInfo.com. And she's been so kind as provide us with her favorite camcorders picks in every key price range. More »
#flip

FlipShare TV Hands-On
Flip's new companion hardware to their pocket camcorders is a logical extension of the Flip brand. It brings Flip-taken videos (and nothing else) to a TV, and while some may find its simplicity refreshing, others will find it limiting. More »
#rumor

Flip's Next Pocket Cam May Be a Wi-Fi Slider
Cisco, who makes the Battlemodo Champion Flip line of pocket camcorders, confirmed that next-gen Flips will have both Wi-Fi and a large sliding screen (though not touch), a significant departure in styling. I just hope they keep tactile buttons. [CrunchGear]
#battlemodo

Ultimate Pocket Camcorder Comparison
Pocket camcorders are a hot holiday gift, but due to their nearly identical feature sets, it can be tough to tell which is best—so I tested seven of these humble unitaskers to make your decision easier. You're welcome. More »
#review

Flip Mino HD Review: If it Ain't Broke...
Flip's followup to the successful, caveman-easy Mino HD is fundamentally the same product, slightly better. The improvements are welcome, but there are still some issues I wish Flip would address. More »
#flip

Next-Generation Flip MinoHD: Sleeker Design, Double the Memory
The newest Flip MinoHD was just announced, and it's a lot like the first-gen, but with upgrades all around. You've got double the memory, a much sleeker aluminum design, bigger screen and HDMI port. Sweet! More »
#flip

Unsightly Flip Video Remote Appears
It seems as if Flip Video is getting into some non-camcorder territory. My guess is that this Flip Video Remote that appeared on the FCC controls some sort of accompanying settop box. More »
#concepts

Crazy Long-Lens HD Cam Concept Makes Flips and Vados Self Conscious
I'd be ready to give in my Flip MinoHD for this ~~Pioneer~~ high-def camcorder concept in a second. The palm-sized device has been designed with a pivoting lens which can be maneuvered with touchscreen controls. More »
#review

Kodak Zi8 1080p Pocket Camcorder Review: Your Move, Flip
The gadget: A direct followup to the excellent Zi6 HD pocket cam, the Zi8 adds a 1080p 30fps mode, a lithium ion battery, image stabilization, HDMI-out and a mic jack. It's restyled too, and less pudgy. More »
#camcorders

Kodak Zi8 Wallops Flip With 1080p, Image Stabilizer and SD Slot
Kodak's almost-glimpsed product tease was indeed a new pocket cam, potentially their best yet. Launching with an MSRP of $180, it will overpower the Flip Ultra HD with 1080p recording, an electronic image stabilizer, SDHC card slot and other enhancements. More »
#camcorders

Zoom Q3: Finally A Flip-Type Pocket Cam With Decent Audio
Our Battlemodo showed that while cheap pocket camcorder video quality has come a long way, audio quality is usually abysmal. The Zoom Q3 aims to change that with TWO directional microphones that can be focused much like a lens zooms.
More »
#camcorders

Samsung Barges Into Flip Territory With HMX-U10 1080p Pocket Camcorder
Samsung has finally joined the illustrious, bulging ranks of Flip-imitating manufacturers, announcing the HMX-U10, a 1080p-recording, 10-megapixel-shooting compact camcorder set to land in September. More »
#ipodtouch

Ideas We Like: iPods With Cameras
Techcrunch is reporting, via "sources in Asia," that Apple is gobbling up huge numbers of camera sensors—the same ones used in the iPhone 3GS—for use in iPods. If Apple isn't really doing this, they should be. More »
#weird

Santa LeBron Gifts Unsuspecting Teammates With Flip Mino HD Cams
It's probably just the latest of King James's half-hourly endorsement contract fulfillments, but it's still slightly weird to see the 'Bron at the 2009 MVP rostrum pulling Flip cams out of a Best Buy bag. More »
#lightningreview

Flip UltraHD Camcorder Review
The Flip UltraHD is the true sequel to the cheap, crappy-but-good enough camcorder that's smuggled 13 percent of the market and was once our favorite cheap camcorder. More »
#editorial

The New Mantra of Tech: It's Good Enough
A few months ago, I sat in a think tank with a group of distinguished digital camera experts. We were talking about the future of cameras, what was to come. More »
#flipultrahd

Flip Ultra HD: Our Favorite Cheap Camcorder Goes HD
The most majorest problems with the Flip Mino HD are its squinty small screen and narrow lens, so seeing an HD rendition of our favorite cheap camcorder—the Flip Ultra HD—makes us happy. More »
#industry

Cisco Acquires Pure Digital, Makers of the Flip Video Cam, For $590 Million
Cisco is surely on to something: an enterprise mobile videophone? $500,000 internet backbone router with cute modular Flip video cam? Or maybe they just want a consumer horse besides Linksys in their stable that clearly has some legs: Flip's video cams have sparked a netbook-like fever, with everyone and their brother getting into the tiny HD camcorder game. The deal is expected to close by Cisco's fourth quarter of 09.
#dealzmodohack

Dealzmodo Hack: Overhaul Your Last-Gen BlackBerry
For most, cellphone trade shows mean carefree gadget porn. For some, they're an assault on beleaguered gadget egos. Last time we helped straggling WinMo users. Now, dear last-gen BlackBerry users, we're reaching out to you. More »
#camcorders

Creative Vado HD Pocket Camcorder Now Available
The latest entrant into the compact, cheap camcorder running crew currently spearheaded by the Flip and all of its variants is now available—the Creative Vado shoots 720p, has HDMI-out and costs $200.
#reviews

Flip MinoHD Lightning Review (So Easy, a Caveman Can Do It)
The Gadget: The Flip MinoHD, the most recognizable name in pocket camcorder's HD camera, it shoots 720p video on 4GB of built-in memory. More »
#camcorders

Flip Cam Gets a Hi-Def Upgrade With 720p Shooting MinoHD
Flip, the grandaddy of cheap camcorders, is the latest to join the hi-def video club with the release of the Flip MinoHD. The MinoHD joins the Zi6 and EZ300 in capturing 720p widescreen video, and it will save up to 60 minutes of footage on 4GB of built-in storage. Its the same size as the original Mino, and it has a 2-hour Li-ion battery—though with the way we've seen these HD cams suck down power, we're cautiously optimistic. The $230 camcorder comes in black or your own design, and while it's pricier than similar cams, Flip has a great reputation so we'll reserve judgment until we see it ourselves—which will be verrrrry soon. Stay tuned for a full review, fact sheet down below. [Flip] More »
#signoftheapocalypse

Best Buy is Looking For Black Friday VIPs To Start The Insanity In Style
Black Friday's going to be longer and crazier this year, thanks to The Troubles. We got the memo. But Best Buy is jumping in with both feet—with their Black Friday VIP program, they're looking for a few good crazies to arrive in a limo sipping mimosas at 25 major metro Best Buys around the country, bright and early at 4:30 AM for the rare privilege of buying up some "doorbusters" (limit four) before the ravaging hordes with faces smashed against glass outside. Do you have what it takes? More »
#flip

Flip Mino Now Available With Fully Customized Paintjob
Flip Mino, one of the best cheap camcorders money can buy, can now be personalized to your heart's delight. The new Flip site allows you to choose from hundreds of pre-made designs, upload your own image, or make a one-of-a-kind pattern using their awesomely trippy pattern generator to be printed on the camera's shell. Better still, you can share your designs with the Flip community, and any camera sold with your image will score you $10. If you're the giving kind, you can donate the proceeds to charity as well. But times are tough, and after dropping $180 on the Mino, your beer money fund looks like a worthy cause. [Flip]
#blackberrypearlflipreview

BlackBerry Pearl Flip Review
If it hadn't been leaked so damn much, the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 would be something of a surprise. Not simply because it's the first-ever clamshell BlackBerry, but the fact that RIM went in this direction at all, especially when you look at the rest of its new phones, with their clean, almost aerodynamic lines, and compare them to this beefy slab of a phone. Landing on T-Mobile today, the big-boned Pearl Flip is aimed at people graduating to their first smartphone, and it definitely has its own kind of charm. More »
#blackberry

RIM Opens Up About BlackBerry Pearl Flip Phone
RIM just got official on its BlackBerry Pearl Flip (aka the Kickstart). Still a kinda clumsy-looking piece, the Pearl Flip is just like the candybar Pearls, but you know, fliptastic, with an an external display for previewing incoming texts, emails and phone calls. Watch for it at T-Mobile soon. More »
#flipultra

Dr. Ashen Reviews The Flip Ultra and Creative Vado
Benny may have reviewed a bunch of cheap camcorders for our cheap camcorder Battlemodo, but he's much less British than we'd like. Good thing for us Dr. Ashen of Vii, PolyStation 3 and various other shitty gadget fame has decided to put two of them head-to-head. Spoiler alert: The Creative Vado sucks, even in the UK. Oh, and Ashen's couch is slightly dirtier than last time. [Dancing Yak - Thanks Sean!]
#camcorders

Kodak Zi6 Might Be Best Pocket Camcorder Yet
Kodak's first entry into the pocket camcorder pool, the Zi6, may be the new king of cams. My lab assistants and I have done more scientific research in the field of cheap-ass camcorders than anyone we can name off the top of our heads. In my expert opinion, this is a winner, ready to unseat Pure Digital's original Flip Ultra. Why? 720p HD video! More »
#pocketcamcorder

DXG-567V Camcorder is HD-recording, YouTube-ing Flip Cam Rival
DXG's new 567v looks designed to join Flip cam lookalikes in the YouTube camcorder game. But this candybar form-factor camera packs in a 5-megapixel CMOS sensor and records at 1280 x 720 pixels HD resolution at 30 frames per second: meaning it's far beyond YouTube's video requirements. Recording to SDHC cards, it also comes with all the cabling to connect it to your TV and has ArcSoft TotalMedia editing software in the box. Available now for $179. Press release below. More »
#reviews

The Ultimate Cheap Camcorder Battlemodo

Ever since the world caught wind of the Pure Digital Flip cam's success, super-cheap digital pocket camcorders have sprouted up everywhere. With everyone and their mother trying to become the next Lil Show Stoppa or Soulja Girl, people need a cheap and easy way to capture those magic moments. I tested six of these cams—from Creative, RCA/Audiovox, DXG and Pure Digital—all $180 or less. Here are samples of all of their videos in various conditions, and an overall look at how they stack up: More »
#camcorders

Flip Mino: Our First Footage (So Far, So Good)

I just got my hands on the Flip Mino and I'm impressed with it so far. It's way thinner than it's big brother Ultra, but remains almost the same height and width, which is good because it's not small enough to lose. The USB placement is well hidden on this design and I think it's positioned to fit in the slot more conveniently than the Ultra. As you can see in the video sample above, it takes solid video, adjusting from diffuse outdoor lighting to dimmer indoor lighting with ease, and without a lot of noise. The touch-sensitive buttons weren't sensitive enough for me at first, but after fiddling with them a bit they worked fine. Also, I'm still not sure which side of the Li-ion/AA debate I am on, but the thought of having to charge this thing for a full three hours when it runs out of battery doesn't excite me. I'll be testing it out more to let you know my full opinion, but in the meantime, so far, so good. Check out the gallery after the jump. [Flip Video]
#camcorders

Flip Mino: A Smaller, Better Flip Camcorder for $180
The Flip Mino, a pint-sized but more powerful companion to the so-easy-your-grandma-will-be-a-YouTube-star Ultra, is now official. We already saw the $180 mini-cam in a fuzzy picture, but now we know that although it carries 2GB of on-board flash for 60 minutes of VGA-quality recording like the Ultra, it's 40% smaller—a scant 4” x 2” x 0.6”. The Mino distances itself further by adding a Li-ion battery and a flat back-panel with touch-sensitive buttons (rather than the Ultra's AAs and push buttons). Check back shortly for a full hands-on; meanwhile, there's a spec-laden fact sheet and a gallery's worth of more shots after the jump. More »
#camcorders

Cheap Camcorder Showdown: Creative Vado Vs. Flip Ultra (Vado Looks Better, Flip Shoots Better)
On paper, Creative's Vado might outclass and out-spec the wildly successful Flip Ultra camcorder it very liberally (like crazy, PETA liberal) takes its cues from, but what about in the real world? Laptop Mag tosses 'em together and finds that while the Vado outpaces the older Flip most respects—it's cheaper, slimmer, more attractive and has a better layout and bigger LCD—the Flip wins where it counts: video quality. More »
#flipmino

New Flip Mino Mini-Camcorder Outed, Looks Incredibly Small
Creative might be not so creatively cloning the ultra-successful Flip camcorder with its own simplecam, but Pure Digital isn't sitting still. Spotted in a B&H catalog is a new mini-Flip, apparently called the Mino, that looks about as big as a candybar from this pic but it's hard to tell exactly. It's due June 4 for $180—a premium over the current Flip offerings (but what the Ultra cost originally), so hopefully it's got something special going on besides being puny. [Crave]
#camcorders

Creative Vado Official, Way Better Looking Than Flip
Creative today confirmed the existence of the Vado camcorder, one with specs almost exactly identical to the popular Flip, with VGA vid resolution and 2GB of internal flash memory for two hours of film, plus a $100 price tag. It works as a USB drive, but if you want, the optional software will give you instant YouTube posting and other features. We ran a phoney pic of the thing before—these pics here are the real deal. Jump for details. More »
#flip

Flip + Waterproof Casing = Rugged Cam You Won't Fear Losing
You don't give a shit if you lose or destroy it. Blam's fingers turn into sprouts of butter while frolicking in the ocean, especially if they're gripping expensive, ruggedized cameras that can otherwise withstand brutal acts of man and nature. Buttons are also hard to press. The Flip only has one you need, and with this cheap underwater housing, Blam could film dolphin sex with 10 Flips Matrix-style, or simply have a small army of semi-disposables ready to die for the price of a single higher end camera. (Cheap disposable cameras are different for you and me than for even budget Hollywood flicks, after all.) [Dethroner]
#flip

Creative Clones the Flip Camcorder: Why the Hell Are They Calling It Vado?
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.) More »
#videosharing

Flip Camcorder Stole 13% of Market, May Have Also Stolen Software
The Flip camcorder won our hearts with a stripped down, value priced approach to home video. However, a company called Advanced Video Technologies (AVT) has filed suit claiming that the company behind the Flip stole their patented Full Duplex Single Chip Video Codec compression software. Fortunately for consumers, AVT is not seeking to block sales of the Flip, but I bet they would love to get their hands on some of the gravy from that 13% share. [Reuters]
#whoa

Ultra-Basic Flip Video Camera Steals 13 Percent of Camcorder Market With Its Amazing Low-Light Performance?
The Flip camcorder is about as far from a pro camera as Mario is from an actual plumber. In his (mostly fawning) review of the latest version, David Pogue says that the camera's major "shocker" is that its low-light capabilities "trump even $1,000 camcorders." But there's another one buried in there: It has snagged a whopping 13 percent of the camcorder market. Are there untold armies of soccer moms running around with the Flip? Or is its super simple operation (and functionality) a quiet gadget revolution? [NYT]
#clips

This is What Your Gadgets Feel Like
Sure, we all hate blister packs, but what's it feel like from the other side of the plastic? Not good, my friends. You have this bright, blinding light, you're being held down and there's a guy in a hoodie having his way with you. Jason, I never want to see you in that sweatshirt again.

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