Gift Guide 09: Your Mama Likes the Flip Mino HD Camera

When Mom Central Canada offered me the chance to review the Flip MinoHD Camcorder, I leapt at the opportunity.  I have a nine month old daughter and I’d been using our digital camera to film her, and it recently began clicking loudly throughout every video.  So the idea of having a brand new camcorder, personalized, really appealed to me.  Although it took nearly a month to get to me due to some problems with Café Press (who handle the customization), it was well worth the wait.

I’ve video taped my review of the Flip. Maria has a Vanguard Flexible MiniTripod that she loves, and I’m eyeballing one myself.  I had to have my husband hold the Flip to tape this review, because when I tried to hold it myself, well… it wasn’t pretty, unless you consider looking up some Canadian chick’s nostrils to be a good way to use your time.  I think that for less than $4, that tripod would be great to have.

To summarize the points I make in the video, however, here are the things I love about it: it’s very small and lightweight — it weighs around 3 ounces and tucks easily into the pocket of my jeans.  It can be personalized, and everyone in my family who has seen my Flip thinks it is just perfect and adorable, which is a great feeling.  I love the video (1280×720 res, wide-screen format) and audio quality, and I think that the user interface on the camera itself is intuitive.

That said, the controls on the camera are very sensitive and I often find myself starting videos when I don’t intend to.  Video transfer onto computer is via bendable/breakable USB arm by default, although it’s possible to purchase a cord to transfer files that way.  And by far the most frustrating thing about the Flip has been saving videos onto the computer and then finding them for upload to other websites; there are no clear instructions on how to do this included with the camera, and even when I choose to “save” a video I have no idea where it goes; I have to save the video and THEN export it to a folder on my desktop which feels like it’s one step too many.

Overall, I think the Flip Mino HD is a great product and I really enjoy mine.  I’m hesitant to say that I love it, because of the above problems, but I think that anyone in the market for a new camcorder should definitely look into the Flip line of products.

Inside movies

• Cocktail release

About the author:  Tatiana is a proud geek, aspiring novelist, and hobbyist chef. Read more from this author.