Michael Patrick Brady

My review of the Pure Digital Flip Video Ultra ran at LAPTOP Magazine.

I'm of two minds on this camera. As it is, the Flip Ultra performs as advertised, it's a great way to get quick video and easily upload it to the web. The magic is the packaging, really. It's intended for one use and one use only, and the software is well-crafted, unlike so many other software suites that accompany cameras and camcorders.

I think the hype surrounding it is a little overblown, however.

Though the Flip is impressive in many ways, I have to agree with Michael Arrington's perspective. The technology in the Flip Video Ultra, and the all new Flip Mino, is nothing new. It's basically on par with the VGA video modes you've been able to get in digital cameras (even cheap ones) for years now.

Compared to a $100 or $150 digital camera with movie mode, the Flip Video camcorders seem peculiar at nearly $180. If you're really confused by digital cameras and by how to upload videos to YouTube, then maybe the extra cash is worth the piece of mind. The Flip is very good. But as someone who tends to look for good deals and savings, I'd have to say it's worth figuring it out.

I also reviewed the Sanyo Xacti VPC-CG9 digital camcorder, a compact video recorder/digital camera hybrid that tries to be a bunch of different things but fails at all of them. I did not like this camcorder one bit. Awkward to use, poor video quality. Generally irritating.