Creative Vado Pocket Video Cam – average quality in low price
Thumbs Up:
One-touch uploading to Photobucket and YouTube; inexpensive price tag; rechargeable battery; easy to use; ultra-slim profile.
Thumbs Down:
No memory card slot for external storage; featureless desktop software not compatible with Mac.
The Whiz Kid Speaks:
The Creative Vado Pocket Video Cam has 2GB internal flash memory and CMOS optical sensor. Its digital video formats are MPEG4 and AV. The mini-camcorder features 2x digital zoom.
The Pocket Video Cam has 2-inch LCD color display and inbuilt mono microphone. The additional features are Auto power save, Date/time stamp, Built-in speaker, and YouTube capture mode.
The connector set includes 1 x USB, and 1 x Composite video/audio output. Creative provides one year limited warranty with the Vado Pocket Video Cam.
Razzle Dazzle:
The Creative Vado Pocket Video Cam is 3.9 inches tall, 2.2 inches wide and 0.6 inch deep and weighs 3 ounces. Its size is quite similar to folded Motorola Razr phone. The Pocket Video Cam is pocket-friendly and comes in two colors: pink, and silver. The threaded tripod mount is on the bottom and rubberized finish provides nice feeling while holding in hand. However, it captures fingerprints and smudges more than a plastic shiny finish.
Inside Dope:
The Flip Video Ultra – a straight-to-Web mini-camcorder was a great success. Now, the companies have started to supply the similar camcorder with better features. One of them is – $99 priced Creative Vado Pocket Video Cam. It offers 2GB internal memory, rechargeable/removable battery, and other features; which are quite similar to that of RCA and Flip Video models. The Vado Pocket Video Cam is a bit more stylish and less expensive than Flip Video Mino.
2 inches antiglare LCD display is on the back side. It exhibits sharp images, but looks a bit washed out in direct sunlight. There is an onboard USB connector that has flexible arm to plug in Mac/Windows system easily even at recessed and crowded ports. We like that the unit recharges itself via USB.
There is inbuilt Vado Central software inside the Creative Vado Pocket Cam. It launches automatically on connecting the camcorder with your computer. You can tap an onscreen button to upload the videos/pictures at Photobucket and YouTube. There is also a Box.net – online video sharing service for storing the videos and distributing them. We are disappointed that the Vado software is only compatible with Windows and not with Mac. The Flip Video camcorders score more in this category as their software supports the Mac also. The Creative allows transferring images and videos via drag-and-drop in Mac and Windows environments. The Mac users can use additional video conversion software to transcode the videos in Apple iMovie format for video editing.
Again to dislike – the Creative does not supply any carrying case or pouch for protection; which comes with RCA and Flip Video models. You can purchase additional pouch for $14.99, AV cable for $9.99, spare battery for $14.99, and charging station for $29.99. If you are purchasing the Creative Vado Pocket Video Cam then you are paying for a mini-camcorder only, but not for its accessories.
The overall picture quality of the Creative Vado Pocket Video Cam is only good, but not the best like that of Flip Video Ultra. The Pocket Video Cam provides good Web-only video. In contrast, the Flip Video Ultra provides more vibrant colors, brighter exposure, and sharper images.
Nitty Gritty:
If you need a budget friendly straight-to-Web mini-camcorder and can work with mediocre video quality, then buy – Creative Vado Pocket Video Cam.
However, we will recommend you to purchase a bit more expensive Flip Video Mino and Ultra that provides the best video quality.
