Purchase Creative Labs Vado HD 720p Pocket Video Camcorder with 8 GB Video Storage and 2x Digital Zoom (Black)

This is my third pocket camcorder. My first was an RCA EZ201 Small Wonder 60 Minute model. The price was low and the picture quality was poor, but it was good enough for doing things like taking video of items in my home for insurance purposes, and recording the location of my septic tank on video. After becoming a grandparent, I felt I had a good reason to want a high definition camcorder, and now I own two.

One is the Vado HD featured on this page, and the other is the Flip Mino HD. Here is a quick, rough comparison: The Mino has 4GB of video storage, the Vado has 8GB. Both have a 2X digital zoom. The Mino connects to a USB port via an inflexible arm that comes out of the top of the camera. The Vado arm is flexible and it comes out of the bottom of the camera. The Mino's inflexible USB arm makes me nervous that it will break unless I put something under the camera when it is plugged into my laptop. I have no such fear with the flexible USB arm on the Vado. But the placement of the Vado USB arm is inconvenient for use on a full size (as opposed to a mini size) tripod. It gets in the way, unless it is pulled out and pushed aside when the camera is mounted on the tripod.

Based on my experience, the Mino is better in low light conditions than the Vado. But I prefer the Vado mainly because it uses a user-replaceable rechargeable lithium battery, whereas the Mino has a built-in rechargeable lithium battery that is not, technically at least, user-replaceable. I own a Palm PDA that has a built-in rechargeable lithium battery that is not designed to be user replaceable. I've owned this PDA for several years and I imagine that if I did what Palm would like users of its PDAs to do, I'd have replaced it by now. But I really have no need to replace it, unless of course I want one that has a fresher battery that doesn't drain faster and faster as time goes on. Given what the Mino HD and the Vado HD cost, I want them to last me for years, even though their manufacturers will of course continue to come out with new, improved models year after year. So for my money, having a pocket camcorder with a user-replaceable rechargeable battery is the way to go. At some point, the Mino's battery is going to begin to behave like my PDA's battery, which is poorly, and there will be no easy or inexpensive way for me to replace the battery, just as there is no easy or cheap way for me to replace the battery for my PDA. But as long as I continue to handle the Vado with care, I'll be able to replace the battery when it needs replacing.

Chris Pirillo (at chris dot pirillo dot com) compares the Mino and the Vado and like me he favors the Vado. CNET's executive editor David Carnoy says "too close to call" about the Vado HD vs. the Mino HD. He finds the Vado falling "slightly short" in video quality, but determines that it has a "stronger feature set" than the Mino.

If I had to get rid of one, I'd get rid of the Mino and I'd keep the Vado, without a second thought. So if you're in the market for a user-friendly pocket camcorder with high definition video quality and plenty of storage, I recommend the Vado.Get more detail about Creative Labs Vado HD 720p Pocket Video Camcorder with 8 GB Video Storage and 2x Digital Zoom (Black).