Check this out! It’s called The Flip, and it’s a neat little video camera. I have to admit, I bought one. It comes in two versions, storing either 30 minutes or 60 minutes of video on its internal flash memory. The one I bought (60 minutes) is $149.99. The 30 minute version is $119.99.

Now while its quality might not win any awards, it isn’t bad either. It’s perfect for You Tube or any video on the net, you can hook it up to your TV as well, and the video is suprisingly watchable. The sound is ok too.

The great thing about this as a video camera is that it’s incredibly portable, and there are no cables. The USB connector for your PC or Mac just flips out of the side. And all the software you need to do rough edits or take still grabs is actually on the camera – just connect it to your computer, and you can install the software straight from the camera, meaning that you can take it anywhere, and edit anywhere too.

I’m still putting it through its paces, and have had some problems editing footage in Final Cut Express, but hopefully I’ll get those ironed out. While it’s certainly no match for the Sony Z1 we use at work, at roughly 75 compared to 1,899 for the Z1, it’s not that bad a deal!