Pocket Digital Video Recorder Review

Every consumer knows that electronic gadgets are not created equal. That is why many will spare no expense just to get what they want, usually for utility and frequently for bragging rights. When there are so many digital recording gadgets out there that are more than capable of keeping today's memories alive until the next millennium, why pay more when you can easily get value for your money? Here's a review of the pocket digital video recorder.

First things first: when people purchase a pocket digital video recorder, it's so they can use a digital recorder that is portable enough to be carried around or they simply need a gadget that can record activities secretly. The pocket-sized digital video recorder has all the basic features that can meet these requirements, with several nifty functions thrown in. This makes it a prime candidate for earning a high rank as the gadget of choice for covert recording.

The good stuff

High resolution camera

The camera is a built-in feature that allows the pocket digital video recorder to capture images that are sharp and clear. This is an excellent feature that assures you of good quality images each time, important particularly for surveillance purposes.

Fast image capture

One of the issues regarding smaller DVRs is that they don't always produce high resolution video images. This often leads to pixelation, which can produce distorted images. Fortunately, the pocket digital video recorders today have a higher number of frames captured per second, which results to smoother movements.

Expandable memory

To ensure continuous recording, the unit comes with an SD card slot that allows you to use more memory and record longer hours.

Automatic recording

Another great feature of the pocket digital video recorder is that it can be set to motion-activated mode. This allows it to automatically record images when its sensor detects movement within range, so there is no need for frequent or continuous interaction with the device. You can pretty much leave it to work on its own.

The bad stuff

The pocket digital video recorder is designed for short-term recording due to its limited memory. Some units come with as low as 2GB of memory that may not satisfy some users. As long as the memory is expandable, however, this problem is easy to overcome.

Audio is also sort of an issue with the pocket digital video recorder. Although it can boast of a range of 10 - 15 feet, noise reduction can sometimes be a challenge. All in all, though, this is an excellent, portable and very useful surveillance tool.

Kodak Zi8 Vs Flip Mino - Pocket Video Camera Smackdown

The world of digital camcorders is speeding along at the same pace as the computer industry, gathering more and more amazing features in ever smaller packages. Take for instance the new pocket video cameras that have been developed recently. At this moment, it is primarily a competition between just two products: the new Kodak Zi8 and the Flip Mino camcorders.

Both products have been carefully designed to capture the growing market of easy to use and extremely portable camcorders with built in capabilities that make sharing the videos on the computer and loading them up to the popular social networking sites extremely easy. Let's do a quick digital video camera review of these two products.

Flip and Kodak are both justifiably proud of their respective product lines, and make it easy to find lots of information online. Of course, one of the most important features to everyone is the price, and you will find that they at exactly the same price point, $179.99. So far a tie.

One important difference between these two is that the Kodak Zi8, like most digital video cameras, has an extremely small amount of internal memory (only 128 MB). The Flip has a much larger capacity of 2 GB, 16 times as much. Score 1 for the Flip.

However, and this is huge, both literally and figuratively, the Kodak relies on the use of SD/SDHC memory cards to expand it's storage capabilities. The Flip Mino leaves you no room for expansion. The Kodak digital video camera can handle up to a 32 GB card for those who want to go all out. What does that mean? Up to 10 HOURS of video recording! Score a big plus for Kodak.

One of the things that is similar between the two is they both share a very handy built in USB swing-out arm, so you don't need camera specific USB cables. You can just swing out the arm and plug it directly into your computer and start sharing. Down with cable clutter! A tie.

Both come with video and picture editing software, but only the Zi8 has HD capable video recording, and a HDMI output on the camera itself to hook it up directly to your HDTV for instant viewing. A Kodak win.

But from here on, it really isn't much of a competition. The Flip Mino, and even it's big brother the MinoHD (which costs significantly more) can't hold a candle to the value and the quality of the Kodak Zi8. For the same price, you get a vastly larger viewscreen, built in image stablization, full blown 1080 pixel HD video, and the security that comes with the Kodak brand.

Final result: the race between these two models is not remotely close today -- the Zi8 pocket digital video camera is superior. Of course, don't expect Flip to sit idle.

Kodak Zi8 Playsport Pocket Video Camera Review

The Kodak Zi8 Pocket video camera from Kodak is one of the best selling compact digital cameras available to capture your memories for the summer of 2010.

The main purpose of the Kodak Zi8 Video Camera is to record high definition or HD video as it is sometimes known, the the small compact video camcorder from Kodak offers full high resolution HD video recording at full 1080p resolution in a package that is small enough to fit in your hand.

Using the included USB cable and usb port on the Kodak Zi8, not only will you be able to easily shoot high resolution video but sharing with your friends on popular video sharing sites such as YouTube and Facebook is just a few clicks away with your mouse.

It is so easy to share videos online using the included software from Kodak

Unlike other high definition video camcorders with limited or static built in memory, the memory options are unlimited on the Kodak Zi8 and you will be able to shoot video up to 32gb using the SD/SDHC expandable memory card. You will never have to put away the video recorder or stop having fun when shooting with the Kodak Zi8. If you need to shoot more than what 32gb of video at once, just eject the full memory card and add a new empty memory card to start shooting all over again.

The rear of the Kodak Playsport Zi8 offers a big and bright 2.5 inch LCD display that allows you to record and share your videos with ease and if you prefer to watch your high definition videos on the big screen, just hook the Zi8 up to your TV to share and view all your summer 2010 memories.

With the Kodak Zi8 being so small and versatile, you will always be ready to shoot and share the fun for summer 2010 and beyond.