Creative Labs Vado HD 8 GB Pocket Video Camcorder, 2nd Generation (Black Gloss with Maroon Accents) - VF0580 BK-MR

Complete waste of money

11/13/2009

I paid $199.99 for the unit, hoping that it would be a useful combination for project photos and site inspections. It is impossible to take shots outside without a lot of camera shake. The screen is impossible to read in direct sunlight so one does not know when it is recording or not. Quality of video is not much better than my Nokia e71 cell phone. Finally this new version is exactly the same as the previous one, but some $50 more expensive. They are now offering a $50 discount, but of course this is too late for me. I will be giving this unit to my daughter to play with.

High Quality Video in an Ultra Small Package

11/12/2009

Classy little pocket sized video camera, with its glossy piano black finish, it almost looks too nice to put your fingerprints all over it. (They easily wipe off) That isn't much of a problem if you slide the camera into the included soft touch, semi-transparent off white rubberized case. Not to fear, the case only covers the piano gloss case areas, while still enabling you clear access to all of the controls, lens, and rear good sized LCD for viewing. (Just be sure to slip it into the case through the LCD opening rather than trying to force it in through the bottom)

Charging the battery takes 7 hours for a normal charge, and 4.5 for a fast charge. (Out of the box it only took 2.5) To charge it you simply plug it into the USB port. Some devices offer an AC adapter to charge and usually have faster charge times. The recording time is 8 hours for standard VGA quality, 4 hours for HD, and 2 hours for enhanced high definition.

Wide angle - great for taking shots of rooms, it makes them look larger. For portraits or trying to magnify objects that are not right in front of the camera, wide angle is not recommended. You do have the alternative though, of getting up closer to your subject for those kinds of results.

Picture clarity is excellent for smaller HD pocket size camera, although as is expected, the movies blown up on a 24" 1920 x 1080 high def LCD monitor, although impressive, don't match the much more expensive cameras creating full HD video. The Vado sports a 720P resolution, which as I mentioned looks great.

The big advantage of the Vado over the Flip Ultra HD is the Vado size. It is about half as thick as the ultra, making it a truly shirt pocket comfortable carrier. I do like the silky tie bag that comes with the Flip better than the rubbery, only partial cover on the Vado, but that is not a deal breaker, and I am sure there are substitutions available.

Overall my mind is blown away by the relatively high quality of the video played through a high def monitor for a camera of this size. Capture the moments, whether you are taking movies or still shots. The still shots are not as good, of course, as a dedicated digital camera, but the convenience and small size are hard to beat. Overall highly recommended.

Lasted for all of 45 seconds!!

11/12/2009

Just bought this camera the other day. Charged it for more than 7 hours to get the full charge. Video was fully charge and took a 45 second video of my son just to check out how it was. Played it back on the camera right away and it looked ok. Volume wasn't very good but not terrible. So I go to hook up the camera to my computer, and the Vado shuts off. It will no longer power up and when I hook it up to the computer, nothing happens now. The computer won't recognize it and it seems the the Vado is completely dead. Returning to Amazon. I was a little concerned reading some of the reviews and now I'm in the same boat as other users. Never had any electronic item that was this terrible. Avoid at all costs. This is a very cheap item.

Very Portable HD Video For Teens and Older!!

11/11/2009

I have had several Creative Labs products in the past and always been very pleased with them but not blown away. I'll tell you why in a few.
First off I have the first gen Vado to compare with and there are several minor improvements but not major.
The syling is much more apealing to my eyes. I like the color scheme. The display and buttons are about the same as is the setup GUI. The battery life is great at over two hours use for me on and off use. I much prefer the Vado over the RCA or Flip cameras for sure. Also the fact that you can plug this directly into your HDMI tv is really nice. Also the Vado comes with a silicon protective skin that is kindof and ugly clearish color but it does its job. Uploading the videos tyo Utube is very easy, no sweat here. Editing and pulling pictures from the videos is about average with my Windows 7 pc. The video it produces is really good for the size and price factors. Low light is better than many higher dollar cameras. Oh yeah forgot 8GB memory installed!!
Now for the things that I still am not blown away with. The camera really could use some image stabilization as even with my staedy hands some of the videos are jittery. Only other thing that I would like to see is the ability to snap pictures and video not just video. I feel this feature would really put it over the top of its competitors.
All in all I would recommend this to anyone that needs a quick point and shoot video camera for little money invested.

Does everything expected - great video!

11/9/2009

Bought one for my wife to take video of our newborn and toddler. The whole idea was to have something SMALL, and very easy to start quickly to capture those 'moments'. Well it does all those things and I am very impressed with the video quality. Love the "Upload to YouTube" option - makes it very easy to use. The only downfall is that there is no image stabilization, but I don't think that is available on these pocket videocams anyway. You'd have to buy a BIGGER one, which we already have. You just have to have a steady hand, and all is good. Highly recommended.