Comments on: Cheap Camcorder Face-Off: Creative Vado vs. Flip Video Ultra

By: Jon

Jon — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 20:07:58 +0000

Just returned my Flip MINO today for a refund. Sure, the product was great WHEN IT WORKED. Many people who were lucky enough to cash out early did great with Madoff’s funds also. Flip, based on my experience, has invested a lot of time and money in ignoring and/or not honoring their warranty claims and product. The product has great specs. but is a cheaply-made gadget, likely to fail in use. For some user feedback, search GOOGLE for “Flip Mino Complaints”, “Flip Mino Problems”, etc. The pleas from owners who are out several hundred dollars for useless junk and a company that seems to “Flip A Finger” at them are truly hair-raising (and I’m bald). I was lucky enough that my credit-card company stood by me and reversed the charges, which was the ONLY avenue of the many I tried that got The Flip Inc. to finally respond. Before that, they laughed at me (figuratively) and ignored my complaints. If you buy a product from The Flip, assume it’s “as-is” out of the box, because the Warranty is a joke, as is the “Support”. It WILL break, and when it does….. you’re on your own. I’m using my refund to buy a VADO. I’d prefer the better video/audio quality, but not at the expense of reliability and service.

By: Lee

Lee — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:58:51 +0000

They should also include an Audio test in the comparison, but I’m glad the film showed the difference in sound too, I also think that all other parameters can be ignored except for video and sound quality. so flip still wins over all.

By: nick

nick — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:07:00 +0000

Reply- Anonymous

i have the Ultra to. but the downside of the batteries are if you run out… speaking in a common scenario… im on my last AA then i have to buy more batteries.. which is annoying

By: Don C. Jackson

Don C. Jackson — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:50:52 +0000

I looked at both in the store but followed what the seller said:

Creative are the brand. They support products for years. You buy once and it is not going to be obsolete once they launch a follow-up model.

Indeed once I bought the Vado, I checked the support site and here we go, new firmware is readily available and with that video quality is much better now:

http://support.creative.com/Products/ProductDetails.aspx?catID=833&CatName=Pocket+Video+Cams&subCatID=834&subCatName=Pocket%20Video%20Cams&prodID=17761&prodName=Vado

By: Rene

Rene — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:25:00 +0000

I have used vado for past 2 weeks and it is been very good. Not professional quality maybe but good enough to film friends and family in an instant. I had original flip video but that turned out to be unusable (sent it back) because of its really little dim screen with absolutely horrible resolution. As if there was no screen really. I mean the Flip was a great idea but the product itself is less than acceptable. No wonder some better alternatives such as Vado appeared.

By: Humberto

Humberto — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:03:58 +0000

I bought a Vado and ended up sending it back. The video quality was decent but the audio quality was terrible. You could barely hear anything unless you were shouting into the mic. I don’t expect high quality for $100 but I did expect something that would be at least viewable later. Will probably now buy the new Flip Mino.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 00:01:21 +0000

I agree with Carmen, although for me AA batteries are a plus also. But if you have a rechargeable battery, a thin form factor, and take horrible video, it makes more sense to ignore you.

By: Nobby

Nobby — Wed, 28 May 2008 15:00:34 +0000

Surely these are just bridge products until the phones improve ( resolution and ease of getting content off the phone and onto the web) and/or the webcams become wireless?

In the meantime, why not be creative and flip a coin?

By: Carmen

Carmen — Tue, 27 May 2008 09:39:29 +0000

You will probably notice yourself if you watch the videos that the sound was remarkably much clearer with the Flip as well. For me, the quality of the video is everything, so I find the rest of this review unimportant.