Camcorders are among the latest gadgets that have scaled down to pocketable sizes. Pure Digital Technologies is one of the companies that has led the pack with its line of Flip Video cameras, enabling a new generation of YouTubers and spontaneous documentarians alike. As these compact video cameras have been shrinking, though, the race to larger HD resolutions has escalated. Pure Digital Technologies has just released the latest member of its lineup, the Flip MinoHD, which shoots 720p footage. I spent some time with the MinoHD and shot a few test videos to see what it has to offer.

Design

If you've used a point-and-shoot camera, the Flip MinoHD should seem at least familiar, though the MinoHD is held in a vertical, portrait format versus most cameras' landscape. With the same 3.94" x 1.97" x 0.63" dimensions and 3.3 ounce weight as its older Flip Mino (SD) brother, the Flip MinoHD is noticeably smaller and lighter than previous non-Mino generations. It is also roughly the same size and shape as many point-and-shoot digicams, though a bit thicker by today's standards.

Sporting an integrated lithium-ion rechargeable battery, a 1.5 inch display, and 4GB of internal, non-expandable memory (providing 60 minutes of 720p HD footage at 30 fps), the Flip MinoHD is significantly smaller than competing pocket camcorders. Kodak's Zi6, by contrast, runs on AA batteries, has an expandable SD slot that supports up to 32GB, can shoot 640 x 480 stills, and features a larger 2.4 inch display, but weights in at 3.8 ounces and is a bit larger at 4.5" x 2.5" x 0.9".

It should also be noted that, like the original Mino, the Flip MinoHD can be customized with a number of styles available at Pure Digital Technologies' website, or you can upload your own image if you're really gunning to destroy your resell value. My test model was the base gadget black design with silver trim, however, cuz that's how we roll.

The most noticeable thing about the Flip MinoHD right out of the box is that it is light. Extremely light. I admittedly haven't used other pocket camcorders, but after touting around Canon Elph point-and-shoot cameras with metal enclosures for the last few years, the MinoHD's closed, plastic design and rounded edges feel comfortably light in my hand.

A mono microphone next to the Flip MinoHD's fixed focus, f/2.4 aperture lens picks up audio reasonably well (which you'll hear in videos below). Aside from a backlit touchpad on the front of the device to play/pause videos, skip between videos, raise and lower volume, and trash unwanted clips, the Flip MinoHD has three physical controls. A big red button on the front starts and stops recording, a latch on the left side releases a retractable USB port for downloading videos and charging the battery, and a power button serves its purpose on the right.

While shooting test videos for this piece, I found the Flip MinoHD's control layout to be pretty unobtrusive, and I never struck a button by accident. I admit that even after owning an iPhone for a year and a half now, I can still be a little apprehensive about touch controls on gadgets. But the Flip MinoHD is a good size for my hands to wrap around (I'm short, though, at 5'8"), and there is plenty of room at the bottom of the device on which to rest my thumb and keep it away from the controls while shooting.

On-the-go usability

After shooting a few test videos in our apartment and down the street at a park with our dogs, the Flip MinoHD's tiny 1.5 inch screen became a little irksome. I realize that design constraints prevent the screen from being any larger (I suppose Flip could have moved the speakers on either side to a different area on the device's face), but 1.5 inch displays are just as virtually useless as they were on digital cameras of years past. This display certainly gets the job done, but you'll probably end up squinting quite a bit if you like to capture specific kinds of action or detail in a scene.

On-camera editing options have become popular over the years, as most digital cameras have offered simple editing and trimming options for some time now. The Flip MinoHD doesn't offer any of this functionality, but I've personally never liked those options to begin with. Perhaps it is my digital design and motion graphics background, but I prefer to get all the footage into a computer where more intuitive tools can get the job done much faster. Still, this omission is worth noting for those who are concerned about 60 minutes not being enough for their pocket camcorder needs.

Another factor for travelers to consider about the Flip MinoHD is that its flip-out USB port is the only way to charge it. While AAs don't last on a charge quite as long as a lithium-ion battery, the fact of the matter is that USB is the only way to charge a MinoHD on the go. Compact USB adapters like Apple's reportedly don't work with the MinoHD, but Pure Digital Technologies will introduce its own USB charger soon for about $20.

Park test with the dogs



Note how well the microphone picks up dialog between my wife, who was shooting,

and myself, standing about 6 feet away and playing with the dogs.



In my testing, though, I never ran into a battery issue. The Flip MinoHD's battery is rated to provide two hours of life, though again, it only holds one hour of video. I used this camera the way I imagine most people will though: I shot some video around the apartment in the morning, took the dogs to the park over lunch and shot them playing, then plugged the camera in to offload those two videos, charging the battery in the process. For what it's worth, Pure Digital Technologies says the Flip MinoHD's battery should fully charge off a powered USB port in about three hours.

Video quality

Here are a couple more videos I shot to give you some quality references. The first is from a moving car (no, I wasn't driving) because I wanted to see the MinoHD's performance while moving faster than a brisk pace.

The Flip MinoHD car test



Video capture works well in motion, but notice how jostled the image is. The Flip MinoHD

leaves a little to be desired in the stabilization department. Also note that I say the

camcorder shoots 60fps in this video, but it actually shoots 30.



The second video is a test of the MinoHD's night shooting abilities, as Pure Digital Technologies is said to have improved them for this HD upgrade. Again, I haven't tested other Flip Video cameras, so perhaps owners of previous models can comment on whether night shooting has improved.

Naturally, uploading to a Flash video site (even one like Vimeo that focuses on high-quality video) degrades video footage to some measure. The videos embedded in this post look pretty good considering the MinoHD's design and $229.99 price, though on Vimeo, the frame rate appears a little slower, even with the HD option turned on. If you can take my word for it, the Flip MinoHD's native 1280 x 720 footage in H.264/AAC format at 9Mbps (adaptive) 30fps looks very fluid and less artifact-ridden on my Mac's display, though colors do seem a little more washed out than I would prefer. The black coat on our hyperactive dog Maddy in the park video, for example, could be a lot more black in these videos.

If you would like to see the original versions of these videos, you can sign up for a free account at Vimeo. Registered users can download the native QuickTime files at our Ars account (scroll down on the right side of each video for the link). It should also be noted that the Flip MinoHD has a 2x digital zoom, operated by the volume up/down keys while shooting. I didn't test this feature, but digital zoom is indeed there in case someone just has to use it.

Software

Staying true to Pure Digital Technologies' KISS philosophy, the company includes a basic suite of video management and editing software called FlipShare for Mac OS X and Windows in its own directory on the Flip MinoHD. The camera's file system appears when plugging it into a machine, and native applications like iPhoto and iMovie can grab movies off if you want to work that way, though iMovie '08 throws an error when trying to use its native camera importing tool (I'm still waiting to hear from Pure Digital Technologies on this error). A simple File > Import operation works just fine, though, and movies were quickly imported and ready for editing in my testing.





The FlipShare application, viewing playable thumbnails from the Flip MinoHD.

Click for a larger view



FlipShare isn't a half-bad piece of software though, and it should suit the needs of many users. The fact that the software is always with you and ready to run or install on any computer is also pretty convenient. Videos can be played back as thumbnails or scaled up while the camcorder is plugged in, and basic management features allow for deleting and organizing videos. A very simple tool allows for adjusting start and stop points for videos (nothing more), so you won't be replacing Final Cut Pro or even iMovie anytime soon.

A number of sharing features are also built into FlipShare, which allow for easily e-mailing clips or even creating simple e-cards with them. This is especially handy for the common user since, at 720p, virtually nothing you shoot with this camera will be e-mail friendly. You can select one or multiple videos and add a few recipients, and your videos are uploaded to Pure Digital Technologies' servers, then transcoded and compressed to a Flash video about 470 pixels wide. Your lucky viewers then receive an e-mail with links to watch the videos online. It's a reasonably useful workaround for sharing Flip MinoHD videos, and there is also built-in support for uploading to YouTube, MySpace, and AOL Video.

Conclusion

So is the Flip MinoHD worth its $230 price tag? Yes, as long as you value simplicity and small size over competitors' features like expandability and larger displays. After carrying this camera around for a couple of days, I can say that it's great to be able to capture spontaneously memorable moments where the video doesn't end up looking like it was rendered on Atari 800. The Flip MinoHD's intuitive controls, compact package, and quality video capture that now goes to HD make it an appealing competitor among camcorders that can come along for any ride.