Camcorder competitors using Flash chips

 Video has become a hugely important feature of web communication, through web site postings and video sites such as YouTube and Vimeo.

There is a special species of video camcorders that has catered to the needs of Web video. These camcorders have no motors, fit in a shirt pocket, use no tape, focus on the simplest levels of design, and sell from $90-$230. A distinguishing feature that all these camcorders share is the use of Flash memory chips to store video and sound. They come with the USB connector built in which flips out for connecting to a computer. These models have focused on being the cheapest camcorders available, which also means that at the moment their quality is lower than than of the standard consumer grade camcorders that have long been available. The real question is whether they are acceptable and useable. As millions have been sold, apparently many have found them satisfactory for many uses.

Gizmodo produced a wonderful comparison table of 7 competing models: Kodak Ki6, Flip Mino, Flip Ultra, Creative Vado, DXG-569V HD, RCA Small Wonder EZ 210 and EZ200. The reviewer gave, the Ki6 a grade of A and best of class standing as of September 2008; see Kodak Zi6 Pocket Camcorder Lightning Review. Since that review, two other HD cameras entered the race, the EZ300 from RCA and Flip Mino HD.

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