Remember me? The Michigan ex-pat in Florida? I tested and wrote a review on the Apple iPad on techistan.com. Thanks to my Aunt Suzanne, I am testing/reviewins another product… the Flip Ultra, a portable camera with a direct USB connection so you can import videos from the device.

The white box I have in front of me says “Flip Video, Ultra” on its lid (and the logo behind the flaps “shoot anything/share anything”). It contains a quickstart guide, two double A
batteries, a TV connection, wire and small velvet carrying bag.

I have also used the Flip Ultra’s predecessor, the Flip One, I guess I’ll call it. I will note some of the immediate differences for readers. I will explain how I recorded a video and connected the Flip via a camera connection kit for the iPad to upload the videos to YouTube.

But first, I noticed the differences in appearance of the Flip One compared to the Flip Ultra. The Flip One has tiny dots only on the right-hand side of the camera lens; whereas, the Ultra has MORE dots on the right side and even some on the left! I guess this means the Flip Ultra has better sound quality? So, the second thing I notice is the camera lens itself on the Ultra is more detailed, with rings that you see on cameras that go outward from the central lens, you know what I mean, right?

The Flip One doesn’t have these rings, so I am assuming the video quality is better for this device, as opposed to the Flip One. The next thing I see is the screen on the back of the Flip Ultra, for which we use to view the videos we are making or made, is bigger than the Flip One. The last thing I can visually confirm as different is the power button. Simply push the power button on the Flip Ultra to turn it on, but the Flip One has a button that one would slide to one side to start up.

Next for an overview of how the Flip functions when actually using it. The Flip Ultra provides two hours of recording memory, as opposed to the original Flip video camera which has one hour recording time. Remember when I mentioned the Flip Ultra’s camera
lens looked different than the original? Well, as predicted, the video recording quality was better, much better. Objects that were filmed looked brighter, crisper and had a overall more fluent picture quality. I guess this would be the biggest selling point for the Flip
Ultra over the original.

There are no default options for the original Flip video camera, when you start it up. Instead, we are presented with the option of recording videos or browsing through previous recordings. The Flip Ultra gives the option of text in English or French. The odd thing is, however, these are the only language options. Why did they choose only those two? Another startup option includes setting the date and time. The most important function of setting the time and date of course is time stamping your videos, a
very useful thing to have when wanting to know the…wait for it… “Date and time of when your videos were made!”

Ease of use? The more modern product (the Flip ultra compared to the original Flip) comes
with better video and sound quality, startup settings, a wider screen. I would recommend this product to people who want a non-complicated video camera that makes non complicated videos. Don’t use it for a project that requires better equipment, all though the video and sound quality are decent.

This thing (the Flip ultra video recorder) is held basically in one hand and is about the size of the original iPod or a disposable camera. You can easily transfer video files on a PC or Mac computer via USB, but I had trouble using the Flip Ultra with the iPad. I used a device that connects cameras to the iPad but got an error message: “this device uses too much power”. What now?

Compared to its predecessor, the original Flip “One” video recorder, it wins with more everything for your dollars, or yen, or pesos, or pounds or Euros or rupees or whatever you are paying with.

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