Customer Reviews

FlipShare TV

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I purchased this item as a gift for a technically challenged family member who was also receiving a Flip UltraHD as a gift. The goal was to move them from the tape camcorder world to the digital world without heavy reliance on PC knowledge. This seemed like the logical answer as Flip has executed the download to PC with 'one-click' simplicity and I figured Flipshare TV would offer that same 'one-click' ease to TV viewing. I was wrong!

Installation: Everything was setup and installed within 5-10 minutes. Software loaded to my PC with ease, autoloading from the USB Key. One complaint about the TV module setup is that they only provide the RCA cables which have at best a mediocre clarity for that type of implementation. They probably figured they could cheap out hear since most people would opt for the HDMI interface...considering their newer camcorders record in HD. If that's the idea...then include the HDMI cable!

Connectivity: This was the huge bummer. I expected this to work like my local home network where I could have my PC in one room and the TV in another room. But it tells you right in the instructions to keep the USB Key and TV module unobstructed, and away from large metal objects (such as flat screen TVs) and other wireless devices...are you kidding me! So they're basically saying dont plan on using this unless you have all modern electronics in your house in another room...real practical! I was able to finally get the wireless connection working by moving the TV module within 10 feet of the USB key...it might be wireless...but what's the point at that range!

Ease of use: Once I finally got it working the software was easy to use and you could flip through your movies with ease. I didnt get so far as using the channels as I decided to return this product.

Summary: Cisco (owners of Pure Digital...makers of Flip products) should be ashamed for letting this "wireless" product go out the door. You're a networking company!

So as expected this flipshareTV was easy to set up and worked right out of the box. What was not expected was how amazing it was to see my videos on TV for the first time. I now have a few Flip cams, and I find I show my friends and family my videos by (a) showing people videos on the small screen of my Flip, or (b) sometimes sending clips via email using the Flip software, or (c) most often uploading them directly to Facebook from the Flip software. (If you want to share the full-size file, btw, the best way is to export from the flip software and use [...].) Anyway, the bottom line is I usually share my videos in a way that you can only see them on a small screen. I've never connected my Flip to my TV. Not sure why. So I have to say I don't have a prior experience to compare FlipShareTV to, but it is AMAZING to see family videos on a flatscreen TV. They look crystal clear, the stream perfectly - better than on my computer - and look like real HD as promised. Even the videos streamed from the Internet instead of laptop looked great. Only negative to report is my laptop lost synch with the flipshareTV box when I moved the laptop to another room across the house. But that's not really surprising. Bottom line is I can't emphasize how much fun it is to see your kids and friends on TV.

First the good news.

I was able to set this system up and start watching videos in less than 30 minutes. (15 of those minutes was spent running to radio Shack to buy a HDMI cable.)
The video quality and sound were outstanding.

Now the bad.

The receiver cannot be more then 7 feet from USB fob. If you are using a laptop, in the same room, you will be beyond pleased at the results. If your desk top is in another room, forget it.
As other reviewers have stated, why on earth would a company make such a low powered system? Additionally, the cost for the,not included, HDMI cable is outrageous. And, if you need to share a single HDMI slot you'll need an HDMI splitter. The splitter and two cables cost almost as much as the device that won't work from my desktop.
It's going back

I purchased this product hoping to be able to share the videos on my PC in one room with my big screen in another room, same floor, less than 30 feet away, wood construction home and nothing large and metallic in the way. Reading the press and the marketing on this product one would conclude that what I wanted to do was a reasonable thing to be accomplished by the Flip Share TV. Oops. the wireless network USB key has barely enough power output to reach line of sight 20 feet with consistent video streaming. I mean I put it on a notebook, sat in the same room and it could barely maintain signal between the units...shame on Flip/Cisco!! Well try and talk to tech support and they say moronic things like "it is impossible to tell what could be happening based on the type of construction in your home..." etc. and then have the gall to ask if this support answer was helpful! Pathetic! If you are offering a wireless...the key here is WIRELESS!!!...you should have enough power output to actually BE wireless. Sitting with a notebook, 5 feet from the TV is simply stupid and a poor excuse for WIRELESS. Oh wait it gets better...I purchased a wireless extender hoping that I could obtain the WAP encryption code in order to simply boost the pathetic signal and guess what...nope, the WAP is proprietary and therefore not available. But "I hope this answer was helpful"!!! No you idiots, this is not a helpful answer. Tell me how I can overcome this poor excuse of a wireless product so I do not have to return it.
Bottom line is this...buy someone else's product and NOT Flip. They have image stabilization and god willing their tech support actually has graduated from some sort of technical school AND had some people skills. This is company that does not deserve to be in business when there are so many other options out there. Do not buy this product. (by the way, we like the video unit and use it all the time but it is the support...or lack thereof for image stabilization...and their supporting technology that completely sucks.

Save your money and buy something else that you would get more use from. This isn't a necessary flip accessory. We sent it back after trying it just once. Not quite what we thought it was or was capable of doing.

I was looking forward to Flip TV because I own Flip Camera for about a year now. Wouldn't it be great not having my laptop connected
to TV via HDMI cable every time I wanted to watch a video from my laptop on my HD capable LG 50" TV. So I got this product, installed it it took several hours moving the laptop close to Flip TV, plugging unplugging cables etc. So finally after software upgrade the blue light behind the Flip TV is finally on and I was able to "see" my videos in Flip Share. But what if you want to import videos other than made by Flip Camera? Yes, the feature is there but for some reason it can't import certain videos with different speed etc, strange? Kind of hassle why the limitation? I wanted a feature where I can just play any video from my laptop on my FlipTV. You have the share function there. Why not give share access to desktop? I guess it's too much to ask. Just like the Flip Camera is a nice little camera but don't take any videos if lighting is not perfect otherwise your picture quality is not good. Oh yes, don't import your still pictures, they look awful! I think you can view the same pictures much better, using WII console than what I saw on Flip TV. Very disappointing. Not ready for prime time yet!!!!!

I bought the FlipShare TV for my wife for Christmas. She has and loves her Flip
Video HD Recorder. I was concerned because she is electronically challenged (think Any Key). The FS TV is the easiest piece of electronics to install I've ever experienced. She is able to bring her laptop into the TV viewing room, plug the sender unit into her laptop and the rest is automatic. Couldn't be easier!

This is a great idea with "good" execution. A great product would have software that would allow the "broadcast" of all video, not just the proprietary Flip imagery. And it would be great if the Flip conversion software worked with all common formats. It doesn't for my Kodak problems, no matter which converters I run them through. It is also a bit of an inconvenience to get the thing fired up. Part of that is the computer's processor...mine is old, slow and anemic by today's standards. Nonetheless, it may take several minutes for the share hardware to boot up and accept the signal.

That all said, it works wonderfully well when it gets "warmed up." The HD quality is much better than I anticipated from the Flip Mineo HD and this gadget. When it's humming, it's an A+. It works great as a "slide projector", too. My bottom line is I'm willing to put up with its foibles for the quality of the outcome. Helps to get a good price, too, as Cisco is ending manufacturer support in about two years.

The FlipShareTV device consists of a wireless communication link between your TV set and any one of your home computers. By cabling your FlipShareTV to your TV set via an HDMI cable (not included)and having your FlipShare videos stored in your home computer you can select videos to be played on your TV set. The video selected must be stored on a computer within wireless range of the TV set.

A remote control for the wireless communications link to communicate with your computer and a USB "key" (supplied) must be plugged into a USB port on the computer. This completes the link from the TV and the FlipShareTV device to the computer and its store of videos. In addition to videos stored on the local computer, FlipShareTV also allows you to log into one of your Flip Channels and also select videos from there for viewing on your TV.

Using this device allows you to access all of your videos rather than just the ones that might be on your Flip video-cam. Carrying your FlipShareTV, an HDMI cable and a laptop computer makes you ready to show your videos on any HD TV.

Flip does not make it easy to create a dvd that will play on a stamdard dvd player. Every way I've created one, including their own software, will only play on PC's. So now they want people to spend additional dollars for a product to play the videos on tv? I love my flip ultra camcorder, but am very disappointed that I can't copy the videos onto dvd's and remove them from my PC.