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===> PLEASE READ IMPORTANT UPDATES AT THE END OF THIS REPORT (which is as I wrote it on October 28, 2010) AND CONSIDER CAREFULLY BEFORE BUYING AN 'ORPHAN' PRODUCT <===

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This Flip MinoHD Video Camera - Black, 8 GB, 2 Hours (3rd Generation) NEWEST MODEL is well-constructed and takes decent video and sound. It was offered to me by Amazon Vine and I wanted to obtain it to see why it has been stated that Flip Video 'rules' the pocket camcorder field.

Unfortunately I am very disappointed with this model for the following reasons:

1. It offers only one level of picture quality: 720P [1280 x 720 60fps H.264/AVC with an MP4 file extension]; while this is good, the files obtained are quite large - I took just 143 seconds of video and the total file size is 169.9 MB. A person could convert this to something smaller if desired but that is, at the very least, time-consuming and I think that many persons for whom this camcorder is intended might be intimidated by the necessity of doing this. A choice should be offered as it is on other similarly-priced pocket camcorders.

2. It does not take still pictures. If you have a Microsoft Windows or Mac-equipped computer, you can extract stills from your videos using the free included software - but, again, this is an extra and time-consuming step and may also be intimidating for some.

3. Its USB connector is very badly designed; unless you have one laying about, you MUST purchase an AmazonBasics USB 2.0 A-Male to A-Female Extension Cable (9.8 Feet / 3.0 Meters) or similar. If you attach the camcorder directly to your computer, you will find that the weight of the camcorder puts an inordinate strain on the USB port as well as the USB connector on the camcorder.

4. I appreciate that the camcorder comes with a cloth bag as standard but this bag offers no real protection to the camcorder nor any means of attaching it to a belt or other connection point. The bag could have been much better designed and I'm sure that many, if not most, people will want to buy an after-market case.

---> The following is the most important design defect, in my opinion, and would be a 'deal-breaker' for me:

5. This camcorder uses a built-in rechargeable battery instead of a user-replaceable one. Not only that, its battery life appears to be somewhat short and the camcorder CANNOT be operated when connected to either AC or a USB port (these can be used only for recharging the battery).

I did not know that it came with such a battery prior to ordering it and, had I known, I would NEVER have ordered it!

What does this mean to the user? It means that, if you want to take video for an extended period of time and your battery goes flat, you will have to wait while you recharge it, possibly missing some situations you would have liked to capture.

Just imagine having that happen during the middle of recording a wedding ceremony and reception, or your daughter's first dance recital, or your son's first school play, or your children opening their Christmas presents ...

And don't think "it can't happen to me" - oh yes it can!

I can't stress enough that this is a MAJOR disadvantage and is the main reason for my disappointment with this unit.

In addition, these built-in rechargeable batteries have a finite and relatively short service life, generally about three or four years. After that, you will either have to send the camcorder back to the manufacturer (at a high cost including shipping) for battery replacement or, more likely, you will just discard it.

In other words, after only a few years, you will probably have just an expensive paperweight.

If this were some twenty-dollar 'wonder' the defects I list above might be acceptable (even the short battery life in use; at twenty dollars you could afford to buy two, using one while the other is recharging).

But this camcorder costs TEN TIMES that! And at that price it does not offer good value for money, again in my opinion.

So for whom is this camcorder intended? As it is extremely easy to set up (with few choices to have to consider in its menu) and very easy-to-use when 'filming,' it may be fine for someone's great-grandmother (no offense intended) or for someone who is completely technophobic. A wealthy person could buy one for a small child as a first camcorder. After all, as I stated, it does produce decent video and sound (stereo, by the way).

But at its price it faces formidable competition, two of which I own (both courtesy of Amazon Vine): the Creative Labs Vado HD Pocket Video Camcorder 3rd Generation,120 Minutes (Black) - NEWEST MODEL and the Kodak PlaySport (Zx3) HD Waterproof Pocket Video Camera (Black) NEWEST MODEL. both of which I consider to be five-star products.

Neither of those two have any of the functional shortcomings of the Flip MinoHD; they both feature relatively inexpensive user-replaceable batteries (I have bought spares for both) and you can buy an external charger for them. Thus you can recharge one battery while using the camcorder with the other, something you CANNOT do with this Flip model. (If you are interested in further details about either or both of these two, I refer you to my and others' reviews on Amazon's product detail pages.)

In addition they offer the user a choice of multiple levels of video quality (three levels in the case of the Creative, four with the Kodak). Plus both can take still pictures. And the Creative's low-light performance is exemplary, mostly due, I think, to its very fast f2.0 lens.

The Flip does not use a media card; it holds about two hours of video. The Creative also does not use a media card; via its three quality options, it holds from one to four hours of video (at the Flip's quality level, the Creative also holds about two hours - but with HALF the file size!). The Kodak does use a media card and it is an absolutely necessary option; at the same video quality level as the Flip, a 16 GB SD card holds over four hours and twenty minutes of video. Transferring the video to a computer is easy with all of them; some may find removing an SD card and inserting it into your computer's card reader to be somewhat more convenient than needing to physically attach the entire unit to a USB port, but that's a matter of personal preference and would not affect my own choice in any way (though the necessity of buying an SD card is indeed an extra expense).

At the same level of video quality, the images produced by all three are similar. But, if you wish, you can take full 1080P video with the Kodak. And you can take VGA-format [640 x 480] video with the Creative (this size is appropriate for placing videos on YouTube).

While this Flip Video camcorder has an image stabilization circuit, it appears to do little; the images produced by all three, when taken at the same quality level the Flip offers, are practically the same (except under those low-light situations where the Creative REALLY shines; if low-light performance is important to you, I believe that the Creative Vado is the best one to buy).

You will see a number of videos taken with the Flip MinoHD contained in reviews here; I do not say that this camcorder cannot produce fine videos - it certainly can, but it won't do so for long! Once the battery goes, goodbye Flip! (In the reviews for the other two camcorders you can also see some of their video examples and you will see that there are no real differences in overall picture quality.)

I do like the fact that the controls light up on the Flip when the camcorder is in use - but I wish there were some way to turn off the lights when they're not necessary; they do drain the battery unnecessarily. They would be helpful only at night or in a dark room.

All in all, I find the Flip MinoHD to be an unsatisfactory product, at least for me. In order to make it 'easy to use,' Cisco (Flip) has left off too many features. Since the other two cost no more (when tricked out with recommended accessories), I suggest that anyone interested in such a pocket camcorder investigate them. They are just as easy to use as this Flip but they offer more operational choices for the user should s/he desire to take advantage of them.

While I have purchased many accessories for the Creative and the Kodak (thus bringing their overall price to the same level as the Flip MinoHD with no accessories), I have no intentions of buying anything extra for this Flip as it will become useless in just a few years. (Of course, as I own it and did not pay for it, I'll use it from time to time until it does 'die' completely.)

In conclusion, let me state that, as I said, this camcorder DOES produce excellent quality video with very good sound quality and it IS very easy to use. I think that some people will be completely satisfied with it. HOWEVER for all the functional reasons I mentioned above (especially in comparison with the two lower-priced competitors I own) but primarily because of the fact that a user will NEVER know on any given day whether s/he will have enough power to be able to record all that s/he would want, I am sorry to say that I CANNOT give this Flip camcorder my recommendation. I wish it were otherwise.

Thank you for reading my opinions and I hope they have been of some interest to you.

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Important Update: Tuesday, April 12, 2011

CISCO TO RESTRUCTURE, FLIP SHUTTERED

By Greg Tarr -- TWICE [This Week in Consumer Electronics] Magazine, 4/12/2011

San Francisco - Cisco said Tuesday it will shut down its Flip pocket camcorder operation, just two years after acquiring the one-time disruptive camcorder trendsetter, then called Pure Digital Technology.

In a statement, Cisco said it will exit aspects of its consumer businesses, including the Flip unit.

Cisco CEO John Chambers recently disclosed problems with the company related to slow decisions, among other factors.

Cisco acquired Flip maker Pure Digital Technology in 2009 in a stock deal valued at around $590 million. Since its market entry in 2007, the company had achieved huge market share gains in the competitive digital camcorder category, offering an easy-to-use pocket-sized model that sold at a fraction of the price of competitive offerings.

Though most camcorder makers responded with similar pocket-sized models of their own, the popularity of the diminutive point-and-shoots shaved even more margin from a category that was already compressed by price competition.

As part of the restructuring, Cisco said it will cut about 550 jobs.

===> I recommend that even those who are still interested in this model do NOT pay any amount near full price. It and its manufacturer are now "orphans" and service, if any is available after a year or two, will be increasingly difficult to find and it will be expensive; this is my opinion.

Frankly, also in my opinion, this camcorder is now worth about twenty dollars and, at that price, purchasing two of them would not be imprudent. But I myself wouldn't pay even one cent more.

As I state in my review, I think that most people would be better served by the Kodak or Creative models I mention.

I again thank everyone who has read and considered my remarks.

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A Second Important Update: Tuesday, April 26, 2011

===> Here is the latest press release from Cisco (Flip):

FLIP TRANSITION PLANS EMERGE

By Greg Tarr -- TWICE [This Week in Consumer Electronics], 4/25/2011

San Francisco - Cisco issued a statement Friday outlining its transition plans supporting its Flip camcorder business, which is being shut down.

A company spokesman told TWICE that "account teams are meeting with our channel partners to discuss the transition plan and selling inventory."

According to a statement posted on the company's website, "Cisco will continue its focus and commitment to deliver best in class solutions that extend the network as a platform, from businesses into the home through its Linksys products and consumer TelePresence solutions."

As for Flip, the company "will continue to provide technical support for Flip video cameras until Dec. 31, 2013 and Flip cameras will be available through our online and in-store retail partners as well as our Flip store while supplies last."

The company said it will continue to support consumers who purchased a Flip camera within the terms of its 1-year warranty. Issues not covered by the warranty or that are beyond the warranty period will continue to supported "for a nominal fee" until Dec 31, 2013.

E-support will also continue to be complimentary and available until that date.

Details and updates about support, service and the warranty policy are posted on the company web site.

The FlipShare software service will continue to be fully functional and will be supported until Dec. 31, 2013.

After that time Cisco will no longer support the application online though it may remain functional as software for offloading videos, editing, organizing and archiving.

Additionally, video sharing will no longer be supported past Dec. 31, 2013.

The company said it will continue selling Flip cameras through online and in-store retailers as well as through the Flip store, while supplies last.

Orders for customized Flip models will also remain available for a limited time on the Flip website.

===> Now isn't that 'nice' of them? December 31, 2013. They'll support a one hundred fifty plus dollar item for two and one-half years. After that, you're on your own.

Twenty dollars: that would be my firm target price for this camcorder. Twenty dollars and one cent? Nuts! Twenty dollars and not a cent more should be the firm close-out price. To me that would be all it would be worth. (I'm sorry for Amazon and other retail dealers who have paid full wholesale price for this unit. I should HOPE that Cisco will compensate them fully - but I'll bet they won't!)

If you buy it at that close-out price and it breaks (after the warranty period), you could afford to just throw it away; I certainly would not pay Cisco's 'nominal fee' for any repairs.

You may feel differently about this model and this brand and it is your right to do so. But I suggest that ANYONE considering ANY Flip model camcorder think long and hard about buying an 'orphan.' If you can get it 'cheap,' well, if that's what you want, go ahead. But I recommend that NO ONE should pay 'serious' money for these products.

Other manufacturers make better (in my opinion) camcorders and, especially in the case of Creative and (hopefully) Kodak, they will be around for quite some time to support their products.

Thanks again for reading this and for considering my opinions.