Flip Mino: Point-and-Shoot Video
Finally, a video camera so easy, a technophobic wife can use it. That's precisely the point of Flip's Mino, a cigarette-pack sized video recorder that's basically built around a big, fat, red RECORD button: Better to have a cute video camera that you'll toss into your pocketbook and use, instead of a big, complicated beast that stays home. Two gigabytes of internal memory provide 60 minutes of record time. A rechargeable battery lasts around four hours and a USB plug built onto the device lets you plug it in to a PC or Mac and automatically upload your riveting movies of Grandpa Ernie standing in front of a restaurant on the Left Bank to Myspace, YouTube or AOL. With its modest 640 x 480 resolution, you won't be winning any Academy Awards for cinematography. Then again, no matter how great this year's Best Picture is, it won't capture the confused look on Grandpa Ernie's face when his lunch arrives and it's liver he accidentally ordered.
List Price: $179
— Josh Quittner