Review: A weekend with the Flip UltraHD

I spent the weekend with Pure Digital's new Flip UltraHD. It looks and feels a lot like the first-gen Flip Ultra, except it's high-def (720 pixels), has an HDMI output (really), and 16:9 widescreen. At 4.25" x 2.19" x 1.17", it's slightly bigger than the first-gen Flip Ultra and a lot bigger than the sleek MinoHD. The footprint isn't the only aspect that's bigger: instead of a 1.5" screen, the UltraHD has a vivid 2-incher. It also boasts 8 gigs of memory -- double that of the MinoHD and 4x the first-gen Ultra. It runs on two AA batteries (unlike the Mino) and costs $200 (not bad, but pricier than pocket cams from competitors like Kodak).

It was a lovely Northern California weekend, and I took these two video clips to test it in different conditions. The first (above) is of Steven after he got bonked in the head by his own surfboard, and the second (below) is of a fire pit at my friend's BBQ. I took side-by-side clips using my old Sanyo Xacti. The Flip dominated at canceling out wind noise at the beach. But when the sun set and we were sitting around a fire pit, the Flip didn't do so hot. The non-HD, 6-megapixel Xacti actually did a better job capturing the flames.

I did find, though, that I was much more inclined to pull the Flip out of my bag than the Xacti -- mainly because it's still one of the simplest, most user-friendly pocketcams out there. With little practice, I was able to navigate the controls without even looking. Since I knew I could go home and plug it into my laptop and TV without dealing with a cable or dock, I found myself reaching for it first by Sunday.

Source:http://gadgets.boingboing.net