Flip video recorder

The Flip video recorder is a compact little device that makes recording videos a snap. Bundled with the device is software that streamlines the process of publishing or sharing your videos.

The Flip makes a great companion when you’d like to capture a moment, but there are some aspects that could be improved.

Device itself

The device is not too large, and the video quality is excellent. It’s also a cinch to start recording a video - just flip it on and press the record button. No confusing menus or extra steps required.

The Flip requires standard AA batteries and no A/C adapter, which is a big drawback. The battery section takes up much of the “bulk” of the device, and could be made more compact by including a rechargeable battery, and/or an A/C adapter.

Videos recorded on your Flip are saved individually, and you can keep recording until you use up the allotted minutes.

To connect a Flip to a computer, you simply flip out the “USB arm.”

This feature looks useful, and is a compact way to hide the connectivity, but in practice it’s a rather awkward process. Trying to plug it into USB ports on a desktop or laptop computer is more difficult than it should be.

Connecting the device to your computer can be a challenge if your computer’s USB ports are very close together, which is usually the case on laptops.

As you can see, the Flip blocks access for all other connectivity.

It’s wise to consider a USB extension cable, if you don’t want to be bothered to unplug all other devices before plugging in the Flip.

Software

The Flip includes software on the device itself. When you connect it to a computer, you can either launch the software from the device, or save the program to your hard drive, and launch it from there.

The included software is very basic, but it gets the job done.

The software does two things:

1. Formats the video for your intended use.
2. Streamlines the process of publishing or sharing your videos.

You have three options when deciding how to share or publish your videos.

1. Private email sharing
2. Create an online video greeting card
3. Other public online sharing

Private email sharing

Private email sharing is achieved by uploading your video to AOL Video, which your recipient then receives a link to view. This all happens automatically. All you need is an AOL or AIM account.

I bet you’re wondering - if your video resides on a public AOL Video page, how is that considered private?

AOL makes this claim:

Your private videos do not appear in search results and can only be viewed with a link to this page.

Needless to say, if you use this approach, don’t be sharing anything too private.

Online video greeting card

Using your videos for an online video greeting card is an interesting idea. There are several occasions/ideas to choose from, which come with pre-designed templates to house your video.

When you send your greeting card via email, your recipient is sent a link to view the video on theflip.com web site.

Public online sharing

Public online sharing allows you to share your videos on various sites.

The software has built-in upload utilities for AOL Video and YouTube, and even provides assistance when uploading to other web services.

This makes it easy to quickly upload from directly within the software.

You can also choose to simply export your video onto your local hard drive, which you can then manually upload to any site you want.

Summary

The Flip comes in at a reasonably affordable price ($100 - $150), so if you’re looking for a quick way to capture and share video, look no further.

Although, make sure to consider the alternatives:

Most digital cameras made within the last six years have some sort of video recording features on them. So, if you’d rather not carrying around yet another device, you may just want to stick with your existing digital camera for video.

Also, I imagine a device like the iPhone could eventually include video recording support. The kicker would be that the iPhone could allow for immediate upload from anywhere in the world, using a cell network. The Flip obviously doesn’t have this capability.