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World's Most Overrated Gadgets and Technologies 12
MIni USB Camcorders
The promise: For under $200, you get a hand-held, pocket-sized camcorder that shoots video. Most feature a retractible USB arm that lets you plug the device directly into your computer, where it then functions just like a USB drive, allowing you to drag the video files directly to your desktop. Popular models in this category include the Flip Mino, the RCA Small Wonder, and the Kodak Zi6.
Why they're overrated: So what's not to like? Sure, the quality is fine for impromptu clips and shooting your next YouTube masterpieces, but probably not what you're looking for if you want to preserve moments like weddings, family vacations or your trip across the country. The small lenses, high video compression, and inability to adjust the picture settings make it difficult for even experienced videographers to get crisp, non-grainy, and properly-balanced shots, especially ones that you're hoping to preserve and watch years from now.
Bottom line: If you've glanced at technology news sites in the past year or so, you're sure to have stumbled on glowing reviews of the Flip Video and its other low-budget camcorder brethren. We admit, we think it's generally a good trend, but everyone went a bit overboard in heaping praise on this new type of camcorder. The Flip may be a great secondary camcorder, but as is often the case with technology, you get what you pay for.
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Comments
3
Subscribe to commentsckerstOct 8th 2008 2:37PM
You can't shoot an entire wedding on one? Geez, what an over rated bunch of crap. You have compiled a list of things that you try to use to do things they were never intended to do and you call them overrated.
MeOct 9th 2008 5:08PM
Wow...this is probably the worst list I've ever read. These little camcorders are great for shooting anything. They're great because they're small and easy to use. I don't think that most people purchasing them ever thought that it was meant for professional videography. And, by the way, I did shoot my brother's entire wedding on it and it came out great for our family home video collection.
AudreyOct 15th 2008 6:47PM
Mini usb camcorders are a waste of money even for short clips in an ideal setting. I make youtube videos all of the time (mostly outdoor clips with adequate sunlight) and I bought one of these thinking it would make the editing and upload process faster and easier. The editing program that comes with the camera is garbage and the video format doesn't allow you to use other basic editing software. Plus I get much better video quality from my canon sd 750 camera then I ever could with my flip.