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

Current King Of The Hill

10/29/2009

Having been a Flip Ultra user for over a year now, I was very excited to see what the Vado could do, especially at high definition quality. Other than the usual shortcomings from using a pocket video camera, I would have to say that Creative has a winner on it's hands.

PROS:
- Very small
- Good video quality
- Wide angle lens
- User-replaceable rechargeable battery
- Flexible USB connector
- Comes with HDMI cable

CONS:
- Poor low light performance
- Battery cover difficult to remove
- No Mac compatibility out of the box
- No RCA cable included for viewing on standard def TV's

SETUP & CHARGING
After removing the Vado 2nd Gen out of the box, I attempted to place the battery inside for charging. Unfortunately I struggled for a good 5 minutes for fear of breaking the cover. I finally figured out you need to sort of lift the end with the open battery tab to remove it but it was not an easy operation. Luckily, since it is rechargeable, I won't be performing that task very often. To my surprise, the battery came charged so I could start shooting videos of my kids right away. I was bummed that it did not come with the external battery charger however. If you happen to be traveling with your Vado and don't have access to a computer, you won't be able to charge it without the USB charger (or similar chargers), which you can pick up at Amazon.

VIDEO QUALITY
There are 3 different quality settings including VGA. I chose the highest quality setting to test, which the Vado can record for 2 hours. I found the quality to be excellent with good color and clarity. The wide angle lens is also very nice. But, like with most pocket camcorders, low light performance was less than stellar. From most reviews I have read, the Vado and Flip Mino HD are very close in video quality. The 2x digital zoom is nice to have, but not that great. The file size of the videos at HD+ (highest quality) are about 1MB per second of video. A 35 second clip I shot was almost 35MB.

EASE OF USE
Using the Vado is very simple. There are only a few buttons so it's easy to figure out even without reading the manual. When you want to transfer the movies to your computer, just pull the USB connector out and plug it in. I like the flexible USB connector because unlike the Flip Ultra, I don't feel like it's going to snap off when plugged in. Once you plug the Vado in, you can browse the Vado manually or with the included Vado software. The files are in AVI format so you can just copy and paste them to your computer. I like that the Vado software is entirely contained within the camera itself. The Flip installs software on your PC. The only thing the Vado installs on your computer is a video codec, which my computer didn't even need to view the AVI videos.

MISC
It's VERY nice that Creative included an HDMI cable so you can view your footage on your HDTV, but they left out the RCA cable so you cannot view them on your SDTV without buying the cable first. If you are a Mac user, you'll have to go to the Creative website and download the Vado software as it's not included right out of the box. The ugly silicon skin that comes with the Vado is nice to have but something other than the milky white color would've been much more attractive.

SUMMARY
I am not the least bit disappointed with the Vado, having come from the Flip Ultra. The video quality is SO much better that I wish I'd shot all our previous videos with the Vado HD. There is clearly a lot of competition in the pocket camcorder that Flip pioneered, but the Vado HD stands on top.

Slim, Simple, Stylish, all in one little package

10/25/2009

I got this as a 20th birthday present because I'm going on vacation in a few weeks. This little camera is awesome, its so easy my little brother and sister have no problems using it, they are 7 and 8 years old!! The point and shoot capabilities I think out weigh the lack of a zoom. Hopefully in the future these micro cameras will be zoom friendly but honestly the HD quality is sharp enough that I can use my video editing program to zoom. The gold box deal on this camera made it too good to pass up. I love that I can have it in my jeans pocket and if i see something exciting or worth filming i can just pull it out and be filming within 5 secounds. compared to the other cameras like it on the market this one is probably the best. I say that because I have used the flip at my college and although video quality is about the same i found the flips software very frustrating and kind of a rip off. I like creatives version of the software. Very simple to copy any movies right onto your hard drive in mp4 format, also with the software you can take any frame and make it a picture, the picture is not high resolution like a 7mp camera but i think its good enough and you get to choose which frame is a picture!! which is pretty cool because its like you have always snapped the photo at the perfect time. I did a little research and a 720p photo is about the same as a 1mp camera which is fine because most computers can only display a 1.5mp picture any ways but camera makers don't want you to know that. Honestly anything over 3mp is completely useless. Any way very solid camera, easy to use, feature risk for being so simple, shoots great video, can get a little blurry in lower light, looks great on my big screen tv. way more then what i expected from creative technologies but a solid product.

Super-Easy to Shoot Video but not Easy to Upload them.

10/25/2009

I used to own a "regular" Panasonic HD camcorder but recently sold it as it was gathering dust in my closet. Except for my children's Christmas/Holiday recital, it rarely got used. Why? First, even though it is relatively small, it did not fit readily in my purse or jacket pocket; thus, it was always left at home. Kids are very spontaneous, and I found myself "missing" out on capturing a lot of those fun moments e.g. breaking out in a song and dance for no apparent reason. Second, it was cumbersome to "share" the videos. On my particular camcorder, I had to take out the battery and hook it up to the AC Adapter in order to connect it to the computer. I have been playing with the VADO HD pocket camcorder for a little over a week now and whilst I am very impressed by its ease of use and high-quality video, I am experiencing some difficulties uploading my videos onto YouTube (which should be a care-free procedure).

Again, the best feature of the VADO HD pocket camcorder is its ease of use. It's so easy that my five year-old can use it ! It's pretty much a "one-button" operation. I have it set to the default HD+ quality and it looks way better than my $400 camcorder ever did ! Unfortuantely, it only has 2x Zoom which is a pity. I would also love it if it had wireless capabilities for "instant" uploading to YouTube but I realize that would add to its cost. We live in an "instant" digital world and I would love for future models to sport this capability.

I had a ton of fun shooting videos of my children doing various things. Unfortunately, I was not able to easily share most of my videos. The Vado HD comes preinstalled with a program called VADO CENTRAL which allows you to view the videos and "instantly" upload them to your YouTube account. I have a new Sony Vaio laptop and I was not able to play the videos out-of-the box on my Windows Media Player. I had to download divx from their site which was not a big deal. The frustrating part was trying to upload the videos from Vado Central to my YouTube account. I kept getting the error message -"Failed (unable to convert video file)". To be honest, I am a bit frustrated by the process as its whole "schtick" is that it is supposed to be super-easy to upload your videos. If someone can tell me what I am doing wrong, I'd really appreciate it. Finally, as a BONUS, Creative includes a Free Silicone skin. Unfortunately, it is a tad thick and it is hard to press some of the buttons but I appreciate their gesture !

UPDATE: It seems to work seamlessly on my husband's HP laptop (XP) whereas I still have trouble uploading it directly from my new Sony Vaio laptop (Vista/Win 7) but I have upgraded it to "4 stars" as my husband has been taking it everywhere shooting fun videos of our children and dog. He thinks it's one of the "coolest gadgets" out there and I guess his enthusiasm has rubbed off on me. As for the silicone skin, I removed it and got a $7 caselogic pouch that's perfect!

Video Review on the 2nd Gen. Vado HD

10/24/2009

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1SO2TSIUE8AKE While other brands may catch more headlines the Vado HD is the small portable video cam for you. It combines portability, ease of use, quality with features that are not found on competing models. One thing that separates the Vado for the competition is its ability to record in standard definition, HD and HD+. Why is it important to be able to video quality options? Some medias do not need HD quality - when you upload videos to Facebook or YouTube HD videos take significantly longer to upload. However, there are times when it is great to record in HD... vacations... weddings... and so on.

Pros

- The ability to record using three levels of video quality.
- Great capacity! 2 hours of HD and 8 hours of standard definition
- Comes with a replaceable rechargeable battery
- Very large viewing screen, especially for the size of the camera
- Comes with a rubberized case
- Very simple to use - works great with both a Mac and a PC/Windows
- Smaller than a typical cell phone
- Comes with a HDMI port and cables - this allows you to plug the Vado HD directly into your HD television

Final verdict - A great camera that offers a significant amount of recording flexibility. The only real area for improvement is some sort of image stabilization capability , however to my knowledge, none of the cameras in this class offers this feature. My recommendation, buy with confidence!

5 Stars

The VADO HD - Part DEUX!

10/23/2009

Creative has released the 2nd generation of the VADO. Did they listen to my gripes after my first review...and did anything change?

In a WORD - YES!!!!

My review for the first generation can be read via the following product link:
Creative Labs Vado HD 720p Pocket Video Camcorder with 8 GB Video Storage and 2x Digital Zoom (Black)

Excerpt from Past Review:
"What I diskliked (which is why its 4/5):
The buttons (right left up down) are way too sensitive for my needs. "

Was the rocker panel fixed? - YES - I just tested the 2nd gen and it seems that it is not as sensitive as the 1st generation model. That alone earns this camera 5/5.

Now for the review:
What is in the Box:
Camera
Battery
Silicon Skin
Mini-HDMI to HDMI Cable (AWESOME ADDITION, EVEN CANON does not include these with their $1,000+ cameras).
USB Extension Cable
Documentation

The Vado HD 2nd generation is quite similar in every aspect to the first generation device. Therefore I would be duplicating the review I did for the first unit. The changes to the 2nd gen device are in the looks....ie. the ruby red buttons on the right hand side of the back and the rocker panel having better usability.

Everything else is 100% identical to the first generation: (please visit the 1st gen product via the link above and view the most helpful review...it is the one I did for the 1st gen).

Testing with new operating systems:

Windows 7 with the free Windows Live Movie Maker - I personally am not in favor of installing applications that are included with devices. I like to run lean operating systems and use whatever utilities are available with them. Such is the case here. I used Windows Live Movie Maker, a free utility from Microsoft. Once the VADO was plugged into the USB port it came up as a removable drive in windows. I simply launched Windows Live Movie maker, opened an AVI file from the VADO and VOILA I was able to apply effects, add text, add transitions, and ultimately burn to DVD...all with an included utility and no third party software. AWESOME!!!!

OS X - Snow Leopard - No drivers needed. Showed up as a USB Volume immediately. However, in order to play videos (AVI files) in Quicktime X you will need to download a third party utility known as PERIAN...a quick Google search of the same name should find the application for you in the top spot.

This camera earns a 5/5 in every category and I applaud CREATIVE for listening and reading reviews on their original product. It is seldom that a manufacturer corrects the shortcomings from a first generation product.

Please let me know if you have any questions via the comments and I will try to answer them as best as I can.