I have a camcorder, but to be honest it is a pain to use. It has its own case, which has to be hauled too, and I couldn't put stuff onto my computer with it either. I got the idea to start shopping for a camcorder with a hard drive, and that's when I saw it- the it being the Flip Ultra HD. While wandering around at walmart.com they had a demo video of it and I knew it was quite possibly the coolest thing ever. I had never heard of it until that day, but I knew I wanted one.

After shopping around a bit, I decided to order mine from amazon.com for $159 and got free shipping and no tax was charged. This model comes in a black or a white, and I got the white one. The thing is all inclusive- meaning no tapes to buy! It comes with its own USB you stick directly in your computer, and the software is included in the unit, so it takes the videos off the camcorder and sticks them directly on your computer. The Ultra HD has 8 GB of internal memory 120 minutes of recording time, and it is not much bigger than your average cell phone. It comes with its own rechargeable battery pack, but you can also use AA batteries. To charge it, you use the USB port on your computer when using the battery pack. I am using the battery pack that came with it and it doesn't take all that long to charge, about a half hour, and the charge lasts quite a while as well.

Recording:

There are three major buttons on this thing, a big red button, which turns recording on and off, a trash can button, where you can delete movies, and a playback button, where you can watch what you have filmed. Around the red button you have + and - buttons where you can zoom in and out and right and left buttons which you use to flip through options in playback mode. This records at 16:9 widescreen, HD 720p (1280 x 720). I must say it is way better than my 2 year old camcorder as far as the picture goes. Recording is so simple too, hit the big red button to start, hit it again to turn it off. It's that simple, no settings for light and all that needed, it just adjusts itself. This is so portable too, you can stick it in a pocket or purse! The screen is 2 inches, and you can zoom in to 4x, which isn't all that much to be honest, so don't expect to get mega close when zooming in. But for me, the HD picture quality makes up for this.

Transferring:

I haven't used all the internal memory on this thing, but to be honest, once I record one thing I'm ready to put it onto my computer. I'm like that about stuff. To transfer from the camcorder to the computer, just pop the port out and stick it in the USB slot. It automatically cuts on and the FlipShare software automatically comes up. You then can save the stuff onto your computer, which takes a couple of minutes to download. You have the option of then deleting from your camcorder (which I do, because there again, I'm like that). You also have the option of plugging this directly into your HD television, but I'm HD less in the TV department, so can't give an opinion on that.

What you can do after transferring:

The software with this is really easy to use, and pretty self explanatory, you do get a manual with this though if you need to figure something out. The quick start guide pretty much answered all my questions and I just played around until I figured the rest out. After downloading to your computer, you can email, edit, and make movies from your clips. There is also your own personal ‘channel' you can create and send an email out to your friends and they can watch movies you upload to your channel.

Making movies and editing:

Everyone has those mess ups where you accidentally shoot the ceiling while filming. With this, you can ‘cut' out those parts. With making a movie, you have the option of adding several different clips in whatever order you please to create a movie. Do note though when the clips are on the screen, the first shot will be the last on the software screen. Here also you have the option of labeling your movie, by adding titles, credits, and even a little Flip Video credit. Also, you can add music, the software has a few built in clips, but you can add MP3 music as well. You can choose to have the music playing at different levels as well, such as just hearing the music period, or having the music higher or lower than the sound on the video. Or you can just have no music at all. It takes just a few minutes for your movie to be created.

Emailing & Posting videos:

One thing I really like about this is you can email movies to your friends. This is one reason I even got the thing in the first place. It has its own internal system which emails the movie. One thing that can be a tad annoying with this is that longer videos (when I say longer I mean like 20 minutes in my experience) can take an eon to email. To the point where I would email them say 9 pm and go to bed and see the next morning that they went through at 2 am. It's a tad annoying, but it does work. Shorter videos aren't as bad about this.

You can also post your videos to social sites such as Facebook or Myspace. Just a note though, be sure not to have any type of copyrighted material such as a song or anything like that on your video or these sites will remove it. It's really easy to upload stuff onto these sites using this (although I've only tried it once). Also, you can create your own channel, where you can upload vids onto this channel and FlipShare will email whomever you want and let them know to come watch the new uploads on your channel. This is a private channel that can't be viewed by anyone else.

Burning DVDs:

With this you can burn DVDs, but here's the catch- it does not include its own DVD burning system you must use your own or have Flipshare make a DVD for a fee of $19.99 for each DVD. Now, I have use Windows DVD Maker and had no trouble with using both of these programs together. But, for those of you who don't have this program, make note you will NOT be able to make a DVD using just the FlipShare program.

Other thoughts:

This does come with a wrist strap as well as a case, but the case is rather janky in my opinion. It's a soft, fuzzy, velveteen case in black, and it gives no sort of structurally sound protection. I read an online review elsewhere that said she had the white camcorder and the case stained the white exterior to it to the point where it looked nasty and she couldn't get it off. I went on EBay and spent $12 on a hard, lined case for this so it wouldn't get too wonked around in my purse.

Also, there are a few accessories for this, such as a cover that allows you to take it underwater, several carrying case options and a tripod option.

In all:

Really loving this thing, so glad I took the plunge and bought it. It is so much easier than a regular camcorder, much more portable, no stupid tapes to worry about, and it's pretty effortless to use. Also, I love the option of being able to email people videos as well. This is nicely priced and the video quality is exceptional- I'd highly recommend it. So easy to take anywhere!