Hello, and welcome to another It’s Geektime hardware review. This is John again. I know I have been slacking as of late but as usual life is kicking my butt. Today, we’re going to review the newest gadget in my arsenal of gadgets the Flip Video camcorder.

The Flip Video is a simple camcorder that was created by a company called Pure Digital Technologies. Pure Digital was quickly bought out by Cisco Systems when they realized the popularity of this small, easy to use, easier to upload camcorder.

Recently, I took my Flip Video out for its first real ‘field’ test. My wife and I took a vacation to Chicago and it spent its vacation close by in my pocket...  yup its pocket sized. The Flip Video was so convenient that we ended up leaving the actual camcorder that we brought in the hotel room. You might say to me, “John, but what about recording time?” or, “John I just really can’t stand my videos being in low resolution.” Well fear not puny humans. The Flip Video HD records in 1280x720 resolution using H.264 video compression, AAC audio compression and the MP4 file format. The Flip takes 120 minutes of essentially HD quality video. And, for ease it has a flip out USB interface built into the top of it.

Flip Video’s software FlipShare hasn’t really gotten the best reviews in the ‘reviewing’ public. However, for my uses and I picture for my grandma’s or pre-teen nieces uses I think it excels. All you need to do is plug the Flip into your computer. The software is then installed and the pictures are automatically populated on the screen. From there, you can either upload the videos to any social engineering site or download them to your computer. The ease of this, especially the first time I used it really sold me on the unit.

Finally, while mine is not, there is even a cheaper version of the Flip. The Flip Mino which is a newer version captures video at smaller resolution (640x480), but still has 60 minutes of recording space and the easy of copying that the Flip Ultra has. Also, the Mino can be customized by the consumer. The consumer can upload a design, or choose from a selection. The design is then applied to the front of the unit. How cool is that?

To wrap up this soapbox rant of awesomeness, I think the Flip Video is a spectacular Geek gadget. Who didn’t want a spy cam when they were growing up? For me, who really isn’t a AV nerd per say, the quality of the Flip is great and the ease of the software is inspiring. That’s why I want to give Cisco’s Flip Video a directorial 8 on the d10 of Gadgetry.