With not one but two compact camcorders gathering dust in a closet and my kids getting bigger by the minute, something needed to motivate me or all these precious moments would be lost to the dustbins of memory.

Enter the fabulous Flip Mino (pronounced minnow), a tiny white camcorder that offers users the portability of a digital camera with the basic ease-of-use of a remote control. It’s a sleek, sexy little camcorder with a not-quite-flush lens on the front, an iPod-esque circular control panel on the back and a wrist strap for portability. Made for direct uploading of videos to online social networks and video-sharing sites like YouTube, it’s smaller than my pink Razr at 3.3 oz., but its small stature belies an exciting feeling of liberation.

Its point-and-shoot usability is so easy and intuitive that a 2-year-old could – and did, in my case – record his own clips. Previous models battled with charge issues, but the Mino has an internal rechargeable lithium battery that powered up automatically when connected to my computer’s USB and retained that charge through an entire weekend of testing and video reviews without worry.


Picture quality is better than you would expect from such a small device. The anti-glare LCD on the back is small at only 1.5 inches, but it’s bright and clear, and the touch buttons help you navigate with minimal effort. HD it is not, but for the money and the portability, you couldn’t ask for better than the slightly grainy look of the video when viewed in a large online format, typical of standard camcorders anyway. Take care to use the Mino in good lighting, as dark looks black once transferred to the computer.

Uploading to a social networking site – in my case, Facebook and YouTube – was just a few clicks, and having the videos online was not only convenient for editing and DVD-burning purposes, but it gave my mother hours of online cooing at my little munchkins. It’s important to remember that the Mino is not a long-range camcorder. It has an internal 2GB memory, a run-time of 60 minutes and a slight zoom capability better ignored for the sake of just walking closer to your target. So, not necessarily something to take to a parade or a wedding, but perfect for those looking to capture and share memories at half the cost of an average larger unit.

Alas, it would be wrong of me not to voice a few concerns. The unit has a retractable USB that plugs directly into your computer, which leads to the frankly dangerous picture of the Flip hanging off the front of the upright tower, just waiting for my leg to crack it sideways and break it off. But the download process was simple and the install was quick after a few minutes of floundering for the install app.

The Flip comes in 3 varieties, including the multi-colored Ultra, which differs form the Mino in its click-button interface, slightly boxier appearance and camera-ish raised front lens. Fellow Captivate editor Dee Murray is currently testing the Ultra and will report on it in a later post.

With the holiday season fast approaching (oh, don’t whine, you know it is), I predict this will be a top gadget of the year, and if you are going to take the plunge, get the Mino. Selling for around $170 at BestBuy.com, Amazon.com and TheFlip.com, it’s a fabulous camcording solution for both the gadget-oriented and tech-challenged.