Plus, a good charger recharges NiMH batteries in about 30 minutes, not the several hours it may take using the USB arm. This is much better than waiting for hours with a USB arm plugged into your computer. When a pair of batteries runs out of juice in your Flip, just swap them for a charged pair, and get right back to shooting video.
FLIP VIDEO CAMERA ULTRA HD PORTABLE
They will last longer than your Flip battery pack, and you can use them in your digital cameras, portable radios, remote controls - anything that takes a AA battery. You can recharge them over and over again for years (some say 5 years). Yes, using ordinary AA batteries could quickly bankrupt you, but rechargeable NiMH batteries (I really like the Rayovac Hybrids) are very inexpensive in the long run. Instead, use rechargeable AA batteries in your Flip from now on. Simply remove the Flip battery pack and stick it in a junk drawer or something. A smart person like you probably already owns a good NiMH AA battery charger - such as the La Crosse Technology BC-9009 AlphaPower Battery Charger. Best battery fix: Use rechargeable AA batteriesĪs fun as this camcorder is, charging the silly Flip battery pack via the Flip’s USB arm is a colossal waste of time and effort. The USB arm is also how you can charge the special battery pack included with the camera, shown here.
FLIP VIDEO CAMERA ULTRA HD 720P
It mounts as a drive on your desktop, and includes some favorably-reviewed software called FlipShare I will most likely never use because I have iMovie, which imports the Flip’s 720p MP4 files effortlessly. Amy loves the complete lack of technical adjustments.Īs you can see on the top left of the device, there’s a USB arm that flips out to connect the camcorder to your computer. Four navigation buttons around it allow you to flip through your recorded clips, with two more buttons for deleting and approving things. You push the big red “easy button” to record, and push it again to stop. So far, after playing with it for a couple of days, I am very happy with this little gizmo. This is one of our very first Flip Ultra HD videos clips, shot on Saturday afternoon.
Plus, the Ultra HD holds up to two hours of video, and it can take AA batteries, including rechargeable NiMHs. Yes, this camera is bigger than the Mino (I have seen it described elsewhere as a “fatass”), but as you can tell above, it’s still plenty portable.
Then, about a month ago, Flip upgraded their Ultra model to HD, pretty much sealing my decision. Nevertheless, Andy Ihnatko shows that the Flip’s video is clearly superior - and that is, after all, the camera’s main function.
Also, the audio from the Kodak Zi6 seemed much richer. On the other hand, the Kodak Zi6 uses SDHC memory cards (sold separately) and takes AA batteries, including the rechargeable NiMHs we love so well. I did not love that the Flip Mino HD has an internal battery and only one hour of internal storage. I was amazed to see the quality of the 720p video that a very small, $200 camera can produce. I had been lusting after something like this since reading Andy Ihnatko’s Flip Mino HD versus Kodak Zi6 showcase showdown last November.