Flip Mino
Rating: 4 out of 5
Price: $179.99

Video is king on the Internet and new products are making it faster and easier to not only take these videos but also to upload them. The devices are getting smaller than ever as well. Case in point: the Flip Mino.

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The camera, which debuted on June 4, is a little smaller than an LG Voyager, weighs in at 3 ounces, has a 1.5-inch LCD screen and can record 60 minutes of video on 2 gigabytes of on-board Flash memory.

The Mino is actually an upgrade to the Flip Ultra recorder tested last year as part of the "Gadget Guy" reviews. This new version is 40 percent smaller than the first one, has even better video quality, much better audio quality and touch sensitive buttons.

Video recording is what it’s made for and that is easily done. Simply turn it on, push the red button and it records. You can zoom in up to 2X using digital zooming. Your other button choices include review, to watch what you've shot as well as delete.

The video is 30fps and moves nice and smoothly. People are easily distinguished and the audio sounds good for such a small microphone.

To see how the video quality from this device varies from one on board a cell phone I recorded the same scene holding both devices at the same time. The Flip Mino wins hands down, for audio, for light sensitivity and overall video quality.

Plus with the Flip Mino you also get simple editing software to make some small edits on the video as well as publish your videos straight to YouTube or MySpace with just a few clicks. In addition, the video can be compressed for emailing in seconds.

The Upsides: It’s super easy to use, portable and has great video quality. The microphone is also better than the Flip Ultra. The software is even easier to use and it just feels cool in your hands. It also allows you to connect directly to a TV for instant viewing and has a tripod mount so that you can get still video as well.

The Downsides: The touch sensitive buttons tend to be really sensitive so you have to watch that one and the digital zoom, while cool, tends to make the video a bit grainy.

The Bottom Line: All in all, it's a great device for people looking to have a quick portable camcorder. And for teens who are looking to make their own movies and put them on the Internet it's one of the highest quality, simple ways to do it. And at $179.99, it's priced right where the Flip Ultra was when it debuted for the same memory size. But given the upgrade (or downgrade in size!) if you are debating, this one is definitely worth the extra dollars.