Flip Mino
by Andrew on April 15, 2009
When I showed my new Flip Mino to someone the other day they said “so let me get this straight, you’ve bought a device that does just one thing?”. 
After a quick demo they seemed sufficiently impressed to remark “Nice!”. I won’t go into the detail of the specs but the Mino takes video at a resolution of 640 x 480 with a frame rate of 30 fps. When I was looking for a mini camcorder the main competitors seemed to be:
The Kodak is a HD camcorder, I included it in my comparison based on price and availability. This prompted me to look at the Mino HD, which is now available, but at the time I couldn’t find it for sale in the UK.
I wanted a camcorder for family, my golf swing and unexpected events when I am out and about. Once I decided that I didn’t need HD the main requirements were size and ease of use. It needs to fit in my pocket and I need to be able to quickly show other people how to use it (to film my golf swing).
The Zi6 was quickly ruled out as it’s quite a bit larger and heavier than the Mino and Vado. Also it takes AA batteries which 
means remembering chargers or spares. Both the Mino and the Vado have the advantage of charging through the integrated USB connector, in fact this is the only way to charge the Mino. This might not make it the device of choice for people who take long holidays.
In some ways the Vado is a more attractive option than the Mino, it has a larger screen and it’s cheaper. What tipped it for me was that the software for uploading, compressing and managing videos. In both cases the software is stored on the camera, but the Vado software doesn’t provide support for Macs. As a Mac owner it made sense to go with the Flip Mino as it supports both Macs and PCs.
Below is a very short clip of me at Bristol Zoo using one of the interactive displays (designed for children – look for the queue). It demonstrates that I am slower than a Cheetah but faster than a Sloth!
2 comments
Not, of course, that you are competitive at all
Any drawbacks so far?
by Phil Wilson on May 10, 2009 at 10:37 pm. #
30 fps doesn’t let you see the elements in a golf swing. I was aware of the limitations these devices have though.
I was thinking of creating a online league table for the interactive display so that visitors could post their best result. Competitive? I’m not sure what you mean.
by Andrew on May 11, 2009 at 11:27 pm. #