Camcorder Sale, Reviews: Flip Video Ultra Series Camcorder Sale: 60%

Camcorder Sale, Reviews: Flip Video Ultra Series Camcorder, 30-Minutes (White)

Sale: $90.00 (60%) Simple to use, pocket-sized camcorder with one-touch recording and digital zoom Holds 30 minutes of full VGA-quality video on 1GB of built-in memory; no tapes or additional memory cards required Convenient USB arm plugs directly into your computer for easy viewing and sharing Built-in software lets you easily e-mail videos, upload to YouTube and AOL, and capture still photos from video Watch videos instantly on TV with included cable

REVIEWS:

By d.drueck hammer - The ease of use of this camera is excellent. The quality of the video is approximately equivalent to VHS, and the low light recording and sound are excellent. There is no image stabilization, so zooming/panning should be kept to a minimum for best results. The camera also only has a Digital zoom. I do like the fact that this Camera uses AA batteries so it won't be a paper weight in a couple of years like the Sony NSC-GC1 when its built in battery dies. I wish this camera supported external SD cards like its competitors but unfortunately it doesn't.

One problem I found when operating the camera, was when connected directly to a TV I don't think there is a way to rewind clips. When I held the back/forward buttons on the camera the camera just went to the next clip.

I found the .avi files to be inefficient, as one 30-minute clip I shot was 800Mb in size but once re-encoded to MPEG4 H.264 it was much smaller. Also, for some reason the when I tried to play my clip using my free VLC player Version 0.8.6c the there was no sound. I was able to play the clips fine in Quicktime though...

The software included in the flash memory of the camera seems a bit slow but works for its intended purpose. Unfortunately, for those who want to edit their video, the included editing tools are only good for resizing or merging clips.

I own a Core 2 Duo iMac and wanted to edit my footage using iMovie '08 unfortunately, the current version of the software doesn't support importing .avi files. I searched for a solution and found that the footage can be re-encoded to MPEG4 or changed to a .mov Quicktime wrapper and it will import fine into the new iMovie. What a pain though! Some softwares that are useful for Mac to help re-encode the video are: iSquint (free), Visual Hub (more advanced pay version of iSquint), and Quicktime Pro.

Once I had my footage imported into my computer, I uploaded a few of them into Youtube to share our Christmas with some of our extended family. Unfortunately, I wasn't satisfied with the quality of the footage in Youtube. I tried to research how to encode the footage with different formats/bitrates for maximum quality in Youtube but unfortunately, no matter what I tried (MPEG4 H.264, .flv, etc) the quality was the same. Apparently, Youtube resizes/re-encodes the footage no matter what format it is in so I think the only way to get better quality on Youtube would be to start out with better quality clips.

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By richman - I like it because it's small and easy to carry with me and just take out and capture the moment and upload to computer in a few seconds (longer if the program has to convert avi to wma format for utube or email).

I would be interested in hearing others that have tried the rca model, and the aiptek a-hd model, so we all can get user experiences comparing all 3 video camera's. RCA is 99dollars, aiptek hd is 119 dollars on sale.

At first, I thought something was wrong in uploading clips to computer (converting files to email format) because it stayed at 99 percent done for 8 minutes. And I unplugged camera and got message that is was still in computer mode. If I just upload to computer without converting to email or utube it goes a lot faster because no conversion of formats.

Second time, I opened the folder on computer that file was downloading to, and when software hit 99 percent done , I saw that the program was still completing the download because file sizes were getting bigger, and it finally finished. I write this because others may think the computer is hanging but it isn't, it sometimes takes alot of time to convert regular avi format to wma format for uploading to email. So your camera is not broken, you may have slow computer or BIG file to convert.

As others say zoom is not that good, but for quick shots and face shots it can't be beat, because I have camcorders but never used them because I had to make sure the special battery was charged, and it was a lot bigger, and I couldn't put in pocket, and I had to have special tapes, and special software, and it was a pain to take spur of moment shots.

This camera takes 2 AA batteries that last over an hour, and you have 1 hour record time on camera. My style is take 15 second clips, or 30 second clips of stuff, and then mix them together. TV shows switch camera's every few seconds so it keeps peoples attention, and I try to do the same! So 60 minutes for me gives me 120 (30 second clips) or 240 (15 second clips)! And I'm always around a laptop or computer to upload everything I just shot. :)

p.s. I went to park today and made a 2min film using only ultra flip and software on the ultra flip.

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By Lisa M. Hendey (Fresno, CA United States) - I was fortunate enough to receive a complimentary Flip Video Ultra Series Camcorder for review from Amazon, who offered the product to frequent reviewers to promote their new Video Review feature. Since receiving the Flip Video a week ago, our family has had a blast playing with this diminutive little camera. Like most other families, we own a regular sized video camera that gets pulled out for the occasional school play, Christmas, or major trip. So I wasn't convinced that we would actually use the Flip Video very much.

Wrong! Since owning the camera, we've shot over thirty video clips in a variety of lighting and sound situations. The biggest fans of the camera, of course, are my teenage sons who are a part of the You Tube generation. They love the immediate gratification of being able to shoot a video, flip the USB arm from the side of the camera, plug it into the computer, and use the camera's on board software to upload directly to You Tube in one step.

Here's the blueprint for the Flip Video: the dimensions are 1.2 x 2.2 x 4.2 inches and the camera weighs 7.2 ounces, less than my cell phone. I have a small camera bag, and this little guy fits neatly into it with my still camera, making it easy and accessible - which means that you will actually carry it along on outings. It would easily fit into a pocket. The camera comes with a hand strap and small drawstring bag (not too useful). With 2 GB of memory, the camera can hold up to sixty minutes of footage. All the software you need is loaded onto the camera, which enables you to do some minor editing, file organization, upload clips to the web, or email, and string clips together to make a longer movie. The Flip Video also comes with a cord to connect to the television and watch videos there, but we have not as yet tested that feature.

On the down side, the Flip Video is not the perfect camera for taking far away videos, since it only has a 2x zoom level. I found that it is great for shooting at close range, but when I tried to shoot video from a great distance (as you might do at a school play or sporting event), the results were not great.

I'm looking forward to using the Flip Video to capture those "spur of the moment" situations with my kids that seem to come up in day to day life. Since the camera is so small and light, it easily fits into my small purse and is ready at a moment's notice. We've had a great time playing with the Flip Video and would highly recommend it for families on the go like ours, looking to capture memories without a lot of hassle. Have fun!

Vacuums Sale Reviews: Hoover F5914-900 SteamVac: Sale 42%

Vacuums sale, reviews: Hoover F5914 -900 SteamVac Clean Surge

Save: $104.99 (42%)

Powerful 12-amp motor; deep cleans with hot tap water and carpet solution Five spinning/scrubbing brushes clean carpets, upholstery, bare floors Clean Surge feature gives extra burst of cleaning solution for spots or stains Two water tanks separate clean from dirty water Brush rotation indicator; 8-foot hose; 1-year warranty

Hoover F5914 REVIEWS:

By B. Ederer (Russellville, AR USA) - The SteamVac by Hoover is a decent quality consumer grade product that does what it says it will do. It sprays liquid into your carpet, swirls it around a bit, and sucks most of it back up, along with the dirt and grime your vac won't pick up. It's shipped with a few parts that are easy to assemble, and a small quantity of shampoo...Enough for a couple of average cleanings. I've owned a Bissell Pro-heat Steam Vac that worked for several years and did an adequate job...but when it quit working, I was told it would be cheaper to buy a new machine than try to fix it. This time I bought Hoover F5914-900. The Hoover is a bit easier to fill, empty, and a little easier to push around. They both seemed to work about the same as far as cleaning the carpet.

What I like about the Hoover: It's cheaper than the Bissell..a little quieter, and it has five brushes that turn laterally unlike the Bissel, which uses a roller brush. The Hoover has you mixing the soap solution into the fresh hot water, whereas the Bissell had a separate chamber to fill with soap. It was possible with the Bissell to run out of soap before you ran out of water, or vice versa...Not an issue with the Hoover. It also seems that the solution goes a little further with the Hoover, making it more economical to use. What I would change: The cord could be a few feet longer. The power switch is a small plastic foot switch on the right side. It's flimsy and too small. It looks identical to the handle release switch on the left side...which is also too small.

Overall, after using the machine, I can say I am happy with the way it cleans...and the suction is very good, as you seem to recover almost all the water you dispense (making for a quick drying time)...The machine is easy to empty, and with the amount of dirty water clearly evident, it works well. I highly recommend the Hoover SteamVac...for routine home carpet maintenance.

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By JM "reinoco" (Florida, US) - Amazing is the best word to describe how Hoover F5914-900 sucked so much dirt from my carpet. A year ago before I moved here they had just added new carpets and padding so I bought a very good vacuum in order to keep them clean. This seemed to work fine I thought until I used this SteamVac and saw how much dirty water was picked up in the container. Keep in mind that this is not the same as having a professional come and clean your carpets but it's still good enough with constant use to prevent really messed up carpets.

Pros:
1. Sucked a lot of dirt from the carpet
2. The attachment worked great on my car floor mats
3. Great if you have pets
4. Easy to put together and use
5. Even though it's not a real steamer it still works great

Cons:
1. A bit heavy for my wife
2. Constant need to refill with more water
3. Not a real steamer (but it still does a great job)
4. Hard floor attachment is sold separately

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By C. Meek (Hayward, WI United States) - After years of renting Rug Doctors, we decided to buy our own carpet cleaner. We were also motivated by having two dogs who bring too much of the yard with them on our off-white carpets when they come in from playing. Also one of them is a puppy, who thought it convenient to pee on the carpet a few times. After reading other reviews, we selected the Hoover F5914-900.

We wash the living area carpets about once a month and have already spent less on the Hoover then we would have by renting a cleaner. The carpets are as clean as with a bigger Rug Doctor. We have found that going over an area with just hot water after cleaning it with the detergent helps keep the carpet clean for a longer period of time. We are very happy with our Hoover. It is fairly light, easy to fill and empty, and easy to clean both the tanks and the brushes. As other people have commented, the attachment hose tends to fall off, so we just leave it off. Otherwise, it's a heck of a deal!