Bring on the Flip camcorder clones

Suzanne Choney • E-mail

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, camera makers hope it will also lead to sales for pocket camcorders resembling the popular Flip.

Kodak, Sony, Creative and RCA are among the companies following the Flip's formula, with simple, relatively inexpensive pocket-sized camcorders that can be used by novices for shooting Sammy's soccer game as well as uploading short clips to online video mecca YouTube.

"The Flip offers a very easy-to-use value for non-technical users, and also offers it in a small, very convenient-to-carry package," said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis for The NPD Group.

The Flip launched two years ago, starting out with two models, one for $120 and another for $150, and since then, more than 2 million of the camcorders have been sold in the United States. Various Flip models, old and new accounted for seven of the top 10 best-selling camcorders recently on Amazon.com, including two models of the Flip that shoot in high definition.

There's nothing fancy about the Flip, which is part of its appeal. It's an incredibly simple to use device, with only a few buttons to press and video quality that, while not stellar, is pretty darn good.

You don't have to know about frames-per-second rates or deal with buying SD cards for video storage. You don't have to hunt for a USB cable to connect the camcorder to the computer because a USB connector is built into the Flip and flips out — hence the camcorder's name.

The small size and light weight of the Flip — between 3.3 and 6 ounces, depending on the model — is largely due to its use of flash memory-based storage, a move that other manufacturers are following, even in more sophisticated camcorders.

Pure Digital Technologies The Flip UltraHD camcorder ($200) is one of four Flip camcorders. The Flip MinoHD, the lightest weight Flip at 3.3 ounces, is $230.

Flash-based storage does limit the amount of video that can be shot, and in the Flip's case that means between one to two hours, depending on the model. But three-hour documentaries isn't what the Flip, made by Pure Digital Technologies, is intended for.

"Low-cost camcorders are geared to more spontaneous capture," said Rubin. "There are two sets of target users: one is parents and grandparents who just want a simple way to share video privately, and the other is the younger, YouTube-based crowd looking for something a little smaller and sleeker to be able to share video publicly."

Into this realm comes the competitors, many of them with high-definition offerings. One of the newest, the Vado HD by Creative ($230 retail), is most like the Flip with its built-in USB cable, and 8 gigabytes of flash memory — the same as the Flip UltraHD, which costs $200.

Creative says 8 gigabytes will hold "up to two hours of HD video," or up to eight hours of standard-definition video.

The Vado, like the UltraHD, has a 2-inch LCD screen.

PC World magazine, in its June issue, recently gave a slight winning edge to the Vado over the Flip's $230 MinoHD, praising the Vado for its video quality, but noting that its microphone and "low-light performance are weak spots," compared to the MinoHD.

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