Flip MinoHD

I got one of those last weekend. It's awesome

A pity that decoding HD MP4s is so CPU intensive...

What.. is it? I suppose I could look it up, but I'm lazy. Sell me on it.

but... Does it blend? jk

it does looks handy, and I've always fancied a device with a big red button tbh ... I wonder if it gets through airport security without a question?

A pocket camcorder. Records in 1280x720 30fps, stores in h.264 (mp4) clips on an internal 4Gb memory for a total of one hour of recording.

Once you're done, "flip" a switch on the side and a USB connector pops out. Connect and it's seen as an external drive, and on this drive you can also find the software for downloading, converting and uploading clips to youtube, etc.

$200 for no manual or automatic controls, awesome low-light sensitivity and no-brainer operations

PaoloM said:

A pocket camcorder. Records in 1280x720 30fps, stores in h.264 (mp4) clips on an internal 4Gb memory for a total of one hour of recording.

Once you're done, "flip" a switch on the side and a USB connector pops out. Connect and it's seen as an external drive, and on this drive you can also find the software for downloading, converting and uploading clips to youtube, etc.

$200 for no manual or automatic controls, awesome low-light sensitivity and no-brainer operations

I've seen several of these kinds of devices over the years and while the video quality has always been acceptable, they have always seriously lacked in the sound department. How is the MinoHD's sound recording quality? Does it support an additional external microphone?

ManipUni said:

PaoloM said:

*snip*

I've seen several of these kinds of devices over the years and while the video quality has always been acceptable, they have always seriously lacked in the sound department. How is the MinoHD's sound recording quality? Does it support an additional external microphone?

It sounds ok. It doesn't have external *anything* (and that's the reason why I got it)

jeffsand said:

PaoloM said:

*snip*

My 9 year old daughter is saving up for the FlipHD. She has 50$ remaining and it is her. Nice product, love that you can style it too.

Only thing I need to think through is where she'll upload video content to the web, where it can be secured for privacy purposes.

Yeah, that's going to be a tough problem...

jeffsand said:

PaoloM said:

*snip*

My 9 year old daughter is saving up for the FlipHD. She has 50$ remaining and it is her. Nice product, love that you can style it too.

Only thing I need to think through is where she'll upload video content to the web, where it can be secured for privacy purposes.

vimeo.com does the whole secured privacy thing

Koogle said:

jeffsand said:

*snip*

vimeo.com does the whole secured privacy thing

The issue is that, by having control of the source and the method of transfer, Jeff can't vet or not any of her uploads. It's not a technology problem...

PaoloM said:

Koogle said:

*snip*

The issue is that, by having control of the source and the method of transfer, Jeff can't vet or not any of her uploads. It's not a technology problem...

talk and trust then

Koogle said:

PaoloM said:

*snip*

talk and trust then

Yup. My parents were lucky that, when I was nine, to post something "online" required using a Super 8 camera, developing the film and passing it on a clothesline between apartment buildings.

But hey, 1971 was a cool year

PaoloM said:

Koogle said:

*snip*

The issue is that, by having control of the source and the method of transfer, Jeff can't vet or not any of her uploads. It's not a technology problem...

My impression is that Microsoft is usually late to the game when it comes to new things online, but when they release their product it invariably comes with parental controls, tie-ins with the rest of MS's online suite, and obnoxious adverts everywhere. Just wondering, but is the reason they come about that MS employees see something online and would like to use it for their families but since they lack "family-friendly" features they just commision a department in online services to re-implement it?

...so would MSN Soapbox be more appropriate over say... Flickr or YouTube which lacks said controls?

W3bbo said:

PaoloM said:

*snip*

My impression is that Microsoft is usually late to the game when it comes to new things online, but when they release their product it invariably comes with parental controls, tie-ins with the rest of MS's online suite, and obnoxious adverts everywhere. Just wondering, but is the reason they come about that MS employees see something online and would like to use it for their families but since they lack "family-friendly" features they just commision a department in online services to re-implement it?

...so would MSN Soapbox be more appropriate over say... Flickr or YouTube which lacks said controls?

What are you talking about?

W3bbo said:

PaoloM said:

*snip*

My impression is that Microsoft is usually late to the game when it comes to new things online, but when they release their product it invariably comes with parental controls, tie-ins with the rest of MS's online suite, and obnoxious adverts everywhere. Just wondering, but is the reason they come about that MS employees see something online and would like to use it for their families but since they lack "family-friendly" features they just commision a department in online services to re-implement it?

...so would MSN Soapbox be more appropriate over say... Flickr or YouTube which lacks said controls?

I prefer Soapbox's privacy controls - you can have:

• Public - anyone can find, appeas in search results etc.
• Hidden - Anyone can view but you have to give them the URL to find it
• Shared - Only contacts you explicitly share it with can view it

Wheras YouTube only has Public and Shared - which as I often want to use hidden is a pain. But sometimes I'm I have to put it on YouTube and stomach public because if I'm uploading a screen capture or something I find Soapbox's quality below par - especially now YouTube does HQ and HD too.

Isn't that stuff GPU accelerated now?

PaoloM said:

W3bbo said:

*snip*

What are you talking about?

That the seeming NIH culture at Microsoft may be a product of actual employee's desires for product improvement rather than at the whims of the execs?