Pure Digital Flip Ultra 4GB Camcorder

People who are intimidated by tech-y stuff and who feel guilty for not properly documenting their babies childhoods via a million pictures and videos, listen up: The Flip Ultra will change your life.

The Pure Digital Flip Ultra 4GB Camcorder is a super compact (about the size of a deck and a half of cards) digital camcorder that records up to 120 minutes of video and runs on 2 AA batteries. And it is hands down the easiest, most convenient camcorder I’ve ever used. In fact, I took the camera out of the box, inserted the included batteries, pushed the power button and set the time and date as prompted. Then, with the punch of the red record button, I was filming. From box to blockbuster in less than five minutes!

Operating this little gem is extraordinarily intuitive. The + and – buttons are for zooming in and out. (Now, the Flip doesn’t do any major zooming, but it does do a little. It's not going to be great at to honing in on your sweet cherub from the 50th row of the elementary school auditorium, but it effective at getting an up-close look at your tiny tot from across the room.) To stop recording, I punched the red button again. To play back my video, I hit the play arrow button. To delete the video, I tapped the trash button. To scroll through multiple recorded videos, I pressed the left and right arrows. That’s it. Those are the only buttons. (And if that sounded in anyway complicated, I apologize, because I promise it's just not even slightly difficult, folks.)

And speaking of uncomplicated, when I was ready to transfer the videos onto my computer, I just popped out the Flip’s built-in USB arm and plugged the whole shebang right into my computer. As in, I didn’t need any additional cords to connect it, there aren’t any memory cards, no tapes or DVDs to loose. Just your camera and your computer—easy-peasy.

When I initially plugged in my computer I was prompted to load the Flip software—which is built-in to the camera (again, no separate CDs, etc.)—and did so accordingly. The software is user-friendly and lets you email videos, edit clips, make custom movies, add music, titles, and credits, and upload to sites like YouTube. You can also capture still photos from your videos, which means you don’t have to constantly be juggling your camcorder and camera.

I couldn’t be happier with this small wonder. The quality is quite good, especially considering its size and price. I’ve been taking more videos than ever before, since sticking it in my diaper bag and carrying it with me to the park is incredibly convenient. Big ol’ camcorders move over. The Flip is small and mighty and has officially (at least in my book) made giant prehistoric recorders obsolete.

Price: $150
To buy: qvc.com

P.S. For more memory, consider the Flip Ultra HD 8GB; for an even higher resolution, check out the Flip Mino HD 4GB; and for fashionable filming, opt for the Flip Ultra 4GB in pink!