You seem to be pretty happy with the UltraHD, any specific reason for 3 stars though?

I started out with the first gen Ultra, and then just recently bought a MinoHD. Having used the MinoHD for a couple weeks now, I find that I don't like the control placement or the touch controls of the MinoHD as much as on the Ultra. I found myself wishing that Pure Digital offered an HD version of my 1G Ultra, and here it is, but with NiMH AAs with USB charging capabilities as well as HDMI output, stereo audio, h.264 codec instead of 3ivx, and double the memory of the MinoHD.

So for 1G Ultra owners considering the change to high-def, this may actually be a preferred option to the MinoHD. In fact, I'm seriously considering taking back the MinoHD and getting this instead.

Overall, I am pleased with the UltraHD. However, I gave it 3 stars because I think they should have reduced the form factor of the UltraHD so it's a closer match to the MinoHD. The difference in size and compactness between the two is fairly noticeable. Again though, I think much of my bias is due to having owned a MinoHD. Also, one thing I recently noticed about the UltraHD was how much better the sound quality is - the mino is mono and the UltraHD is stereo. Take a look at this video that someone posted on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/4562481). Especially when listening through headphones, the difference it quite remarkable!

My rating is probably closer to 3.5 stars, but unfortunately Amazon rating system doesn't all for it.

I agree, the touch controls on the MinoHD are a little more cumbersome to use. It was more noticeable whenever I went to delete a video I had to fumble around a bit to hit the right button and sometimes the touch pad would fail to recognize a response. The biggest thing the MinoHD has going for it is it's small/compact size (e.g. the wow factor). I'm hoping they introduce a revised MinoHD with all the same features as the UltraHD (stereo sound, HDMI, replaceable battery, larger screen, etc). That's the ticket! In the meantime, I think the UltraHD is probably the better choice all around, especially if you're upgrading from a first gen ultra.

I own 2 of these little beasties, the HD and the UltraHD, but regardless of all the cool little features and decent video quality, stabalization is still huge issue. It's fine for locked off tripod shots which is where I use it 99% of the time, but as a handheld camera it's quite useless if you use it while you're walking or in a moving boat or car or just about anywhere else you would want to use it because of the size. I have to give it a 2 for the stabilization issue, but a 5 for quality and convenience.

In the time since I posted my last response, I've done quite a bit more recording with my MinoHD, and I would have to agree greatly regarding your comment about stabilization being a huge issue. I didn't think that it would bother me too much, but it the fact is that the picture is entirely too jittery. Most of my recording is done hand-held while walking (or running) around trying to catch my 18 month old son in action. Even when I'm standing still and panning around, the jitteriness of the picture is still evident. If the conditions are right, I can actually feel the onset of motion sickness when watching the clips on my 24" monitor. So I'm changing my thoughts to seriously just taking back the MinoHD and sticking with my SD FlipVideo Ultra (Gen 1).

At the risk of hijacking this thread, I've also considered buying a digital still camera with HD movie capabilities, but I have yet to find one that doesn't have issues of its own. I've looked at Canon's SD780IS, SD960IS and SX200IS; Sony's DSC-T90 and T900; and Panasonic's Lumix ZS3. The Canon's only allow optical zooming before actually recording, but then only allow digital zooming once in record mode. Additionally, they lock the focus when recording, so if your subject moves or you pan to something closer or further away, you'll lose focus -- for some reason it doesn't seem to be as forgiving as the Flips' fixed focus setups. I can get over the zoom, but the focus lock baffles me. The Sony would be perfect if, as it zooms optically and actively focuses while recording, but its menu system is absolutely abominable (in all fairness, this may have been due to the fact that I was looking at a floor model whose settings may have been messed up by previous browsers). The Panasonic records to AVCHD files which isn't compatible with iMovie '09, and it simply isn't as pocketable as any of the other cameras, including the Flips. It's a shame, too, because with the optical image stabilization, the video clips are all very impressive.

Of all the DSCs, I would probably be inclined to go with the Canon SD780IS and just optically zoom to full wide angle and start recording focused as far away as possible to get the infinity focal range. It's a VERY pocketable camera, and I've always had good experiences with the PowerShot line as far as digital stills. The Sony probably would also be a good candidate if you're primarily interested in optical stabilization -- just set it up for movie recording and leave it in that mode, because any trip into the menu system will probably result in frustration.

But since I'm more interested in video, I am now looking at the Aiptek Action HD GVS, which features a 5X optical zoom and gyroscopic stabilization. I'm not sure if the gyroscopic stabilization is as good as optical image stabilization, so I'm trying to find one locally that I can look at. Or maybe I'll just order it from http://Amazon.com and hope I don't have to return it.

Could you please tell me if you find a difference in the sound quality of both? I tried both but somehow find the sound quality in the Mino better, inspite of that i am inclining to buy the ultra. Maybe you can make my decission easier. Please tell me if you notice a difference. Thanks

The UltraHD is equipped with a built in stereo mic, the Mino has a mono mic, so yes, the sound quality is better with the UltraHD. It's more noticeable when you playback the video on your computer with headphones on.

Curious. If you were to purchase one for the best long term quality, ie needing to put together a presenation for oral history documentation, which would you go with?

Does the Flip have an external mic hole?