Flip Camcorder

[DisneyQueen1320]

Hi,
I really need a camcorder, but I don't know what to choose. I don't want to spend a lot of money, but I want quality.

The flip camcorder looks kinda cool, but I'm worried about the quality. If anyone has any thoughts or where I can buy this cheap, I will be so grateful.

Thanks

 

[AInWonderland]

I bought my son one of these for his 13th birthday last year at Best Buy for around $100. He enjoyed using it with his friends. We took it on our trip to Disney last week and I primarily used it . I wanted to make little clips that I could use with pictures to make a movie with Windows Movie Maker. It was very user friendly, and I thought the quality was good for what I wanted.

 

[averill94]

I think the quality is great for the price! Bought one for our son and we all use it. It is so user friendly. That is the only cam corder we use now!

 

[java]

Only problem is you can't change the battery. So when it dies - it really dies. (meaning it will no longer take a charge- you can't just change a battery.)
But for the price it's a great camera. His lasted about 2 years with constant use.

 

[dsilva51]

Only problem is you can't change the battery. So when it dies - it really dies. (meaning it will no longer take a charge- you can't just change a battery.)
But for the price it's a great camera. His lasted about 2 years with constant use.

Thanks for the info! I didn't know that, as my daughter is getting one in a few weeks for her bday!

 

[DawnM]

I looked at the flip but I wanted something that held a memory card, not internal memory. I also wanted a strong battery.

I opted for the Kodak Playsport. It is waterproof too!

We took it the local waterpark this week and it works great.

Dawn

 

[seashoreCM]

I looked at the flip but I wanted something that held a memory card, not internal memory.

Very true. You must bring your laptop to offload the Flip when it gets full. No one in town (WDW and environs in the case of a Disney trip) can burn a DVD for you.

 

[I_heart_Tinkerbell]

Thanks for the info I too have been looking for a camcorder and you all have good advice

 

[dsilva51]

Very true. You must bring your laptop to offload the Flip when it gets full. No one in town (WDW and environs in the case of a Disney trip) can burn a DVD for you.

Can you burn a dvd off it at all????

 

[The Iron Giant]

Only problem is you can't change the battery. So when it dies - it really dies. (meaning it will no longer take a charge- you can't just change a battery.)
But for the price it's a great camera. His lasted about 2 years with constant use.

Nope.

The flip comes a with rechargeable battery but you can use AA batteries with it also.

 

[The Iron Giant]

Very true. You must bring your laptop to offload the Flip when it gets full. No one in town (WDW and environs in the case of a Disney trip) can burn a DVD for you.

The new flip holds two hours of video which should be plenty for most vacations.

 

[The Iron Giant]

Hi,
I really need a camcorder, but I don't know what to choose. I don't want to spend a lot of money, but I want quality.

The flip camcorder looks kinda cool, but I'm worried about the quality. If anyone has any thoughts or where I can buy this cheap, I will be so grateful.

Thanks

The new flip is HD video so the quality is very good.

Downside is there no image stabilizer so you need to hold it still when taking videos.

 

[njsweetP]

I looked at the flip but I wanted something that held a memory card, not internal memory. I also wanted a strong battery.

I opted for the Kodak Playsport. It is waterproof too!

We took it the local waterpark this week and it works great.

Dawn

This looks like a great little camcorder! Now I must do some price comparisons - what is the average price for one of these? I looked at Amazon and it was $128 or so. I don't know if that's a good price or not.

thanks!

 

[mjkacmom]

Be careful when it is charging - my knee ran into it when it was attached to my computer, and it broke.

 

[ajh88]

We just got a Flip and have had TERRIBLE luck with it. Actually, I haven't been able to record a video at all because the dang thing doesn't work. Brand new out of the box and it doesn't work. I was really excited about it and we were thinking of getting one for DSS for Christmas, but we won't be wasting our money. It has a lot of good reviews and obviously many people have luck with them, but we have not. Not to mention that customer service has been less then helpful (I've had 4 different people give me the SAME advice on how to "fix" the problem - take the batteries out and leave it off for 72 hours - even after I tell them I've already done that).

IMHO, the Flip might be great if you want to shoot a bunch of short videos (a la YouTube), but personally I would never have it as my "go-to" camcorder for important events. The newer HD models may have higher quality, but for about $100 more, you could get a camcorder that doesn't have the limitations of the Flip (such as battery life and limited memory capacity).

We have had our older model Sony Handycam for over 4 years now and we love it - it was under $300 when we got it and we purchased extras slowly over time (more batteries, chargers, etc.). It is small enough to fit in DH's "belly bag" or in my Bagallini when we are at the World and it is durable to boot.

And OT - IronGiant, you nearly made me shoot milk out my nose - I think my DH would keel over if I told him we only had 2 hours of recording time for vacation. I think we typically end up with about 30 2-hour tapes! He edits them down a lot after we get home, but he is a recording maniac!

ETA: That Kodak camera does look great - I will have to look into one of those instead!

 

[dex08]

I looked at the flip but I wanted something that held a memory card, not internal memory. I also wanted a strong battery.

I opted for the Kodak Playsport. It is waterproof too!

We took it the local waterpark this week and it works great.

Dawn

We also got the Kodak Playsport. We opted for this over the Flip because it's waterproof, can record in full 1080p and Flip can only record in 720p, and we got an extra battery for it and it uses SD memory cards instead of built in memory.

 

[luvmy3]

I gave my dd a flip last year and she uses it for You Tube videos and for that it is Okay. She has the 4GB non HD one and it does take AA batteries. It holds 2 hours of video but like others have said you need to dump them onto your computer and if you forget there is no option for an SD card. Personally I wouldn't use one exclusively for my vacation. DD has asked for a "real" video camera so even she isn't thrilled with it and all she uses it for is to film her Webkinz and LPS movies

 

[amberlynnhawkins]

A friend at work (I work at a TV news station) has a Flip & says it's pretty good, but if you don't mind spending a little more, he really recommends a Kodak Zi8. It's very similiar to a Flip, fairly comparable in price (though a little more), easy to use, and it will hold a memory chip AND internal memory. Not to mention, he said the quality is MUCH better than a Flip -- especially for no more than the price difference. Right now, Amazon has it on sale for $129 and it qualifies for free shipping.

Here's a link for more info:
http://www.amazon.com/Kodak-Pocket-Video-Camera-Raspberry/dp/B002HOQ08S

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

Another vote for the Kodak Playsport! We spend a lot of our summer on the water and we bought one of these a couple of months ago! GREAT for vacations. Not only is it waterproof, you can actually film underwater. HD, to boot!



Make sure you get a FAST SD card (Class 6 or higher, I use a 10) - to avoid stop/start/record delays.

The power cord connecter has the same plug that fits my cell phone, too (not the standard mini USB) so that's one less charging cord to take on vacation!

 

[SnowWhite1]

I have been trying to research these "minis" for awhile now as we thought we'd like one for DW rather than hauling our bigger one. I was thinking that the Kodak looked pretty good, and now it's great to hear that people really like it. Thanks for helping make my decision easier. I like the idea of being able to have a memory card rather than having to dump it each time it's full. Cool.