I recently purchased this item from the US. I brought this item because I was fed up with the carrying my standard camcorder, even though it's new and small; it's still bulky compared to this gem.
The Flip UltraHD can be carried in my jeans pocket or my wife's handbag, it's so light you actually forget you're carrying a camcorder, it's also very easy to use, and it's the perfect "point and shoot" camcorder. The battery lasts for about 2 hours which is perfect considering you can record 120 minutes of footage. You also have a few buttons which starts and stops recording and offers some basic digital zoom options. As with any product you are always limited with digital zoom as oppose to optical zoom.
The Flip UltraHD also has an HDMI port, I connected this directly to my HDMI port on my 42" Plasma and I was surprised at how good the quality was, the clarity was superb. Night time recordings in limited light conditions were as expected - quite grainy.
The software is supplied and installed on the camcorder itself, once you plug it in your USB port, the software is installed, again just like the flip its very straight forward and easy to use. You have options to save the files on your computer, create video/DVD, Upload to YouTube or social networking sites, send video files via email. Create video greeting cards. The software will also let you trim your videos and create titles, credits for your videos, all done in a nice and easy to use Wizard function. The software can be updated by choosing automatic or on-demand option.
I haven't used the still photos function so cannot comment on this.
There were some bad points which I feel deserve a mention:
- The battery takes between 6-7 hours for a complete charge via USB, the camcorder occasionally complains that it has overheated; at this point you have to detach the camcorder and take the battery out for about 15 minutes before charging can be resumed. Normal AA batteries can be used.
- The Built in Flip out USB arm can cause problems as it does not swivel meaning in some cases you may have to hold on to the camcorder or leave it hanging off your desktop or laptop, this can be resolved by using a USB cable.
- When panning, the recording appears a little jittery, as it has no stabilisation built it, you need an extremely steady hand.
- The Flip UltraHD cannot replace a standard camcorder, nor is it suppose to, however it is the perfect addition to your video recording needs.
The product is also supplied with a soft pouch, however it would be worth while purchasing another product to protect the The Flip UltraHD.
Despite the negative points raised, the The Flip UltraHD still deserves 5/5 stars for quality and price.