First Video Blog : Reviewing the Pure Digital Flip From a Vocano

Posted in Computers by Joe Tech on the May 17th, 2008

I don’t shoot much video, and the video I do capture is not of me when I can help it, but let’s face it. Video is taking over the web to a degree and I would be denying a new market opportunity if I didn’t at least poke at some online video. After some urging from Jim Kukral, I bought myself a Pure Digital Flip video camera and then headed to Jim’s site, OnlineVideoToolKit.com for some video tips. The video below is the the result of a Saturday out playing with my new toy. (Please look past my scratchy voice, shaky hand, and inability to remember where I am at any given time)

Having watched the video, it’s clear that I figured out a couple transitions and how to put the videos together with Microsoft Movie Maker, but I could use some practice handling the camera. Despite my clumsy newbie ways with a video camera, I managed to come up with something not too catastrophic, and that’s a testament to the Flip. So what’s my verdict? Let’s just break it down to the pros and the cons…

Pros
- Small and very light weight
- Much better video than I get with my still camera’s video recording
- Super fast to get going
- Super fast to get the video on my computer
- Cheap and easy video publishing solution

Cons
- Where’s the threaded tripod mount? (design flaw in my older version, it seems)
- Non-upgradeable memory
- USB interface is a bit clumsy without a cable

I bought the cheap version just to play around without putting a lot of money on the line. I spent about $72 (shipped) to buy mine on ebay. If you’re thinking about getting one, spend the extra money and get a 1GB or 2GB model, tripod-ready, with the extra features. Either way, I’m still pretty happy with it since I won’t need that much memory and the tripod and cable issues are easily fixed.

Now that I’ve jumped on the video band wagon for a test run, should I pack the camera (and my video blogging aspirations) into a box and hide it in my closet, or would you like to see more video blogs on JoeTech.com? Drop your thoughts in the comments area or post a video response on YouTube.

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Grace Wismer

Yes, theUSB interface is a little bit clumsy and not so convenient for us to use.

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flip video review

Cisco has bought out the company behind the flip video so we can be expecting to get a much better version. The HD mino 4gb is a great start.

flip video review's last blog post..Flip Video Review

Jim Kukral

Who still uses IE? Just Shawn? :) Geez, get a real browser.

Jim Kukral's last blog post..Audio: Do You Have A Losing Mentality?

Joe

Jim: Thanks. Moviemaker takes a couple minutes to figure out, but then it's pretty easy for simple editing. I think you're right. I may be addicted now.

Shawn: Thanks. I forgot that it looks all messed up in IE. Thanks for the reminder.

Shawn Collins

Very nice first effort - keep it up.

But how about aligning all of this text to the left? :-)

Shawn Collins's last blog post..Politics and Affiliate Marketing

Great first video. Nice work. How was using Moviemaker?

Now you're going to be addicted!

Jim Kukral's last blog post..Hero Marketing

Scott: Thanks

Tammy: I just might do a mix of both. I'm pretty camera shy, myself, but I had to test the thing out. =) You should try it. It's fun.

Tammy

That was cool. I think you should do both video and writing. I have always wanted to start video blogging, but I am sooooo darn camera shy! lol.

Tammy's last blog post..[FM82143-12]

Scott

Hey,
Cool little video.. I don't think I could ever do a video or blog with video. I'm just not a video kind of guy. Although it seems like more people are doing it, so saying that you might as well keep on doing it. :)

Scott's last blog post..Avon - Cynthia Rowley Giveaway