Memories on a Budget Part 2

You know, if there's one thing that dads appreciate, it's anything that can be used that is "light". I mean, come on, let's face it, in today's world, until a child is well into the school years, dads are usually the ones that get saddled carrying the bags, sporting equipment, backpacks, whatever a child just simply "cannot" handle. Funny how they are so independent when they want to be, isn't it?? :)

So when I continued my research on the memories on a budget campaign in a quest to find a good, economical camcorder that didn't sacrifice much, it was another pleasant surprise to happen along the Flip Video Ultra series of cameras that you can get as cheap as 130.00 at some online stores. This camera is really the no-frills approach to recording your little one's precious moments, but at the same time, it gives a little bit of a different situation than other cameras.

Why? The camera biz normally deals with those encoded in MPEG-4 video which for the most part, doesn't give all that great quality. This little bugger has MPEG-2 only capabilities, which means you are getting much better quality video, even in low light situations. It is extremely user friendly, extremely light (yey!), and has the usual options (zoom, 1.5 LCD for instant review), and even offers its own integrated software which can make your movie editing rival Oliver Stone.

The biggest drawback is that because of the MPEG-2 format, the camera only comes in 1 GB and 2 GB options, meaning 30 minutes versus 60 minutes for recording. This can mean that at some of those long sporting events or even birthday parties where every family member wants to go on a five minute diatribe about "how little Joey used to come over and play tinkertoys every Saturday", that you may not be able to get all of Aunt Marge's dialogue (awww shucks). The camera has a great ability to really be tech-savvy (emailing directly or uploading to youtube, etc.) if you so choose to be and it obviously does not use tapes at all--it's simply on a hard drive. So if you're wanting to have it on a "hard" form, you'll have to use a DVD software and burner or a third party to get the job done.

I love the sound of this thing. It could really be "the one" for me :)))

TAGS: Camcorder Reviews, Camcorders, Digital Cameras, Family Moments, Gadgets, Gadgets For Dad, Humor, Product Reviews, Video, Video Cameras
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