Creative Vado HD
Manufacturer: Creative Part number: 73VF058000000
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- The Creative Vado HD may fall slightly short of the Flip Video Mino HD in terms of video quality, but it's stronger feature set may tempt you.
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CNET editors' review
Creative Vado HD price range: $121.00 - $129.00
- Reviewed by: David Carnoy
- Edited by: Lori Grunin
- Reviewed on: 12/09/2008
- Released on: 11/28/2008
The good: Solid 720p video; ultraslim design; removable, rechargeable battery; easy to use; one-touch video uploading to YouTube and Photobucket; includes mini HDMI connector and bundled cable for outputting 1080i video to an HDTV.
The bad: No flash-memory slot; Mac users have to manually copy video files to their computers; white balance is slightly off and colors are a bit amped.
The bottom line: The Creative Vado HD may fall slightly short of the Flip Video Mino HD in terms of video quality, but it's stronger feature set may tempt you.
Things are heating up in the mini camcorder space as Kodak, RCA, Flip Video, and now Creative all have HD models. Flip Video leads the market with its popular Mino HD camcorder, but Creative has done some interesting things with its Vado HD to make your choice that much harder.
For starters, the Vado HD retains many of the appealing design traits of the original Vado, including an ample 2-inch antiglare LCD (for recording and playback) with some small modifications. The Vado HD comes in black and its lens extends out from the body instead of being slightly recessed. The new model is a hair thicker and weighs slightly more (3.5 ounces vs. 3.3 ounces), and the mic has been shifted to the other side of the lens. More importantly, however, the Vado has something that neither the Kodak Zi6 nor the Flip Video MinoHD has: a mini HDMI connector for outputting 1080i video to your HDTV along with a standard composite AV output. Surprisingly, Creative also bundles an HDMI cable, though not a composite cable. Plus, it comes with 8GB of built-in memory vs. the MinoHD's 4GB. That allows you to store 2 hours worth of HD video.
In our review of the Vado, we knocked it a bit for its no-frills implementation, and Creative seems to have taken that to heart. Along with the HDMI cable, the company throws in a protective silicone skin and a more robust software package for tweaking your videos after you shoot them. Like the MinoHD, it captures H.264 encoded videos at 30 frames per second with a 1,280x720 CMOS sensor, but saves them as AVI instead of MPEG-4, and gives you about 2 hours of battery life from its removable rechargeable battery (Creative sells extra batteries in case you want to carry a backup). You can also shoot 640x480 VGA video if you want. It has a threaded tripod mount on the bottom; it helps to use a tripod to keep the camcorder steady and ensure your video isn't too jittery.
As we said with the Vado, the rubberized finish has a nice feel to it, but it's worth noting that it'll absorb stains more easily than a camera with a hard, shiny plastic finish. It's good that this model is black because when we accidentally touched the silver Vado with the tip of a pen, it left a small mark that was difficult to completely remove. One other minor gripe: we would have preferred if the silicone skin was completely clear or a dark color. It's kind of milky off white and doesn't look great on the camcorder; the device looks slicker naked. We hope that Creative will offer some additional color choices in the future.
Like its mini camcorder brethren, the Vado HD has a flip-out USB connector so you can plug it into your Windows or Mac system as if it were a thumbdrive. The unit recharges through USB. When you plug the camcorder into your Windows PC, the software automatically pops up and offers the options of playing videos, uploading them to YouTube (you need to input your account info the first time) or Photobucket, and after installing a plug-in, creating a movie and stringing together several video clips. All in all, we found the software simple to use and the interface elegant. There's not a ton of features--don't expect a full editing package--but there's enough to help you make a little more out of your videos without having to turn to another software package. One nice touch: it doesn't force you to install the software to simply play the video from the camcorder like the Minos do, which is convenient if you're viewing on a friend's system.
While the software is designed for Windows users, Mac users can manually drag and copy their videos from the camcorder to the computer and then upload them to YouTube or import them into iMovie or another editing package. In other words, the camcorder is geared toward Windows users first, but it is compatible with Macs.
Overall, we were pretty impressed with the video quality. To be clear, this is not a true HD video camcorder--you can only expect so much from a low-resolution sensor and a tiny no-zoom lens--but as with the MinoHD, the key is that you can view videos at full screen size on your computer and they remain relatively sharp. Creative seems to bump up the contrast, saturation, and sharpness so the video makes a better first impression, but it doesn't adjust exposure quite as quickly as the Mino HD, the white-balance is slightly off (for example, fluorescent light ends up with a slightly greenish hue), and you'll see more fringing around brightly lit objects. We also noticed the same slight judder as we did with the MinoHD.
Low light performance was pretty decent, though we felt the MinoHD had fewer artifacts and performed better. The audio sounds about the same: relatively clean, and as long as the speaker doesn't mumble, the tiny mic does a creditable job of picking up the sound.
After seeing the results of shooting with each camcorder--and assessing their feature sets--we have to say that it's pretty much a toss-up between the two similarly priced models. The Creative Vado HD has an edge in features, and maybe design, particularly if you want the larger LCD, while the MinoHD has a slight edge in video quality. It's a tough call.
User reviews
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Amazing for something that fits it your pocket!
by caazi on February 17, 2009
Pros: Fits in your pocket
HD video
HDMI
for mic being smaller than an M&M sound is great even at a live concertCons: can't stand on its own without tripod.
Computer has to have very good video power for PC playback and editingSummary: Check out www.youtube.com\caazimiw\ all the videos are taken with VadoHD
Some people write reviews for the vado like they expect it to be on par with a $...Summary: Check out www.youtube.com\caazimiw\ all the videos are taken with VadoHD
Some people write reviews for the vado like they expect it to be on par with a $500 to $1000 semi professional camera... I almost didn't buy it... but I am glad I did. For $200 and its size I think it is great! The biggest thing that amazed me is the sound quality recorded at a live concert (band). Even with extreme volume the Vado adjusts and picks up every instrument without much distortion. It's not CD quality nor something you would record a whole show with but definitely captures how sick the show was.
Took it on a roller coaster and was also amazed by the quality and it staying focused with the speed and all the bumps! Again the sound quality of the wind, screams, and noise of the ride was awesome. Look at my coaster videos and then watch some others on YouTube you'll notice the wind is just noise and distortion on most but not the VadoHD!
I can't wait to get the water proof case for it! Going to mount it to the front of my Kayak!3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Good quality, great features, and easy to use.
by dabov on December 28, 2008
Pros: Picture quality is very good. Not quite DVD quality but not far away. Very simple to use. Build in HDMI port is nice and you can tape and watch on your TV (if have HDMI) literally seconds later and the quality will amaze you considering size/price
Cons: No image stabilization (mino doesn't either), doesn't integrate with iMovie (haven't tried but I have both PC and Mac and that would be a nice feature). Some optical zoom would be nice. I have experienced the audio/video synch issue on one computer.
Summary: This meets the need for what I wanted. Something very portable and very easy to use with good quality video. I haven't tried the Mino but I went with ...
Summary: This meets the need for what I wanted. Something very portable and very easy to use with good quality video. I haven't tried the Mino but I went with creative because I wanted HD and the features of the vado are better. HDMI port, replaceable battery, and twice the memory. I have two friends who purchased this item after seeing mine over the holidays and I have purchased one as a present for someone about to have a baby. It will be super easy to film and share video with the family.
I'd give it a 4 1/2 stars but that isn't an option. It isn't perfect but if good quality and super simplicity is what you want you'll like this unit.
As aboe, the audio video synch sometimes is out on one of my computers but is always fine on my newer one. I am guessing it isn't the camera?2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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A snap to use
by doug1066 on December 25, 2008
Pros: Ease of use, included HDMI and USB extension cables, amount of memory.
Cons: no composite video out cable, no wrist strap included, strange "clear" color of included silicone skin, no sd or xd expansion slot.
Summary: After doing much research, I decided to get my wife this camera over the Mineo HD. The main sale points were the included accessories, the ability to swap out the ...
Summary: After doing much research, I decided to get my wife this camera over the Mineo HD. The main sale points were the included accessories, the ability to swap out the battery and the video compression. So far the video we have shot is very good quality and the driver software for the camera auto loaded with no problem. Perhaps, others have problems because they are using Mac OS or some version of Windows other than XP, service pack 2 or greater or Vista. The documentation for the camera says that it only really works with Windows SP2 or better or Vista. If Creative had thought to have an expansion slot and included a wrist strap and a composite out cable, this product would get a 5 out of 5 for me.
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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For itz size and mobility... simply great.
by ravindrak81 on June 1, 2009
Pros: 8 Gb memory.
Wide angle lens.
SImple upload to youtube
It comes around 150- 160 $...
extra cable for TV viewing
VEry easy to use.Cons: Pic qualtiy is sharp but saturated color contrast.
Summary: Out of MINO HD, koadk Zi6, Webbie HD.... VADO is simply miles ahead in terms of features. You can replace your battery whenever you want, Shoot 1 hr video everyday....
Summary: Out of MINO HD, koadk Zi6, Webbie HD.... VADO is simply miles ahead in terms of features. You can replace your battery whenever you want, Shoot 1 hr video everyday.
Esay to use and 8 gigs of memory makes it a true treasure.
Covers more area with its wide angle lens.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Useless since audio and video go out of sync
by jbalraj67 on March 19, 2009
Pros: Looks cute and pretty small
Cons: Useless since audio and video go out of sync. Gonna return it.
Summary: If audio and video go out of sync that means it's 90% broken to me!
Summary: If audio and video go out of sync that means it's 90% broken to me!
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Value for money pocket video camera
by kimchimocha on December 22, 2008
Pros: Comes with HDMI cable, silicone skin, usb extension, 8gb memory, able to video-out in HD through HDMI, removable battery and cheaper than the flip, lcd screen is larger than flip's (2" vs 1.5")
Cons: silicone skin is white which does not match the vado, digital zoom not fantastic, only has one choice of color, official accessory does not include tripod (what gives?)
Summary: Ok I don't mean to be melodramatic but I have to say that I really like the Vado HD! I didn't get the original flip or vado because ...
Summary: Ok I don't mean to be melodramatic but I have to say that I really like the Vado HD! I didn't get the original flip or vado because I didn't want something that records in VGA as my hp can already do that, but when the flip hd and kodak hd was released I started to really do my research on the pocket video cams. Eventually I settled for the Flip Hd over the Kodak as it was cheaper and i heard good reviews about it, but just as i was about to pull the trigger and order the flip, creative came up with the vado HD. Not only is it cheaper than the flip (which was actually the deciding factor for me with the current financial situation), has more capacity, remoavble battery and even tv-out through HDMI. The bundled accesories includes the silicone skin, HDMI cable and usb extention (which is useful if ur usb port is too far away). The only complain i have is the color of the silicone skin which when paired up with the vado HD makes it look a strange hue of grey. The Vado HD is simply enough to use, just press the middle square button to record and the play button to playback. Furthermore you can choose to shoot in HD+, HD and VGA (which u clearly shldn't bother unless you plan to go to africa for a month and have no access to powerpoints). I have read one review on codec issue which i did not encounter myself. All i did was to connect the vado hd to my computer (running on the latest Windows Vista) and the vado automatically installed the required codec (about 1,2 mins?) and you can choose to view your videos in the Creative software (which allows you to do simple edits to the videos) or in windows explorer. Video play back looks good on my laptop and also esp nice in widescreen on my tv (mine is a samsung 22" series 4) through HDMI. No connectivity issue there also, just plug into the tv and press play. I do not know exactly how long the battery last but so far i chardged like only once in the one week I had the camera and I shoot on a daily basis. Therefore, if you're looking for something that shoots in HD, is light and compact and is value for money, you should consider the vado HD.
1 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Excellent quality, especially for the price.
by rjstechseller on October 12, 2009
Pros: Smaller than my blackberry, zoom functions, extremely easy to use.
Cons: Hard to find fault with an HD video camera for $179.
Summary: I've had none of the issues regarding sound, software, etc. I run Vista 64, took videos, plugged the camera into my laptop, and the software loads and displays all ...
Summary: I've had none of the issues regarding sound, software, etc. I run Vista 64, took videos, plugged the camera into my laptop, and the software loads and displays all videos in a very easy to use interface. Uploading to YouTube is a snap. I highly recommend.
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One of the worst experience ever!
by lubbesuh on September 29, 2009
Pros: Absolutely nothing.
Cons: Horrible customer service. No phone lines. Take 10 email exchanges to get the product back to repair. Batter refused to recharge after just a few uses. Software very unstable.
Summary: Save yourselves trouble and get another unit. This was one of the worst experiences ever.
Summary: Save yourselves trouble and get another unit. This was one of the worst experiences ever.
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Seriously...? Not For the Mac User.
by WhoDoITell on September 18, 2009
Pros: Easy as pie to record.
Cons: If you are a Mac user, you must download way too many firmware, updates, and third party software applications to copy the video you recorded to your computer. After three hours and gumming up my HD with excess software, I still can't get it to work.
Summary: If you're a PC feel free! Mac users beware. I am returning mine.
Summary: If you're a PC feel free! Mac users beware. I am returning mine.
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Camera is worthless due to inability to work with clips
by jlcrawley on July 13, 2009
Pros: The picture quality is very good, the size is convenient, and it is very lightweight.
Cons: The switch is difficult and the software that comes with it requires an immediate upgrade to the tune of $40. Customer non-support is not familiar with the product and could not answer my questions. Getting a phone number was very difficult
Summary: My battery was defective and they would offer no support for Windows Vista 64 bit. My contact with customer non-support left me feeling as if I was stuck with it, ...
Summary: My battery was defective and they would offer no support for Windows Vista 64 bit. My contact with customer non-support left me feeling as if I was stuck with it, they had made another sale, and the problem was mine. I will never buy another product from Creative Labs.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Creative
- Part number: 73VF058000000
- Bottom Line: The Creative Vado HD may fall slightly short of the Flip Video Mino HD in terms of video quality, but it's stronger feature set may tempt you.
General
- Product Type Camcorder
- Digital Zoom 2 x
- Optical Sensor Type CMOS
- Digital Video Format H.264
Main Features
- Color Support Color
Memory / Storage
- Flash Memory 8 GB Flash - Integrated (soldered memory - 8 GB )
Lens System
- Type Lens
- Lens system type Lens
Additional Features
- Additional Features Auto power save, Date/time stamp, Built-in speaker, Built-in microphone, YouTube capture mode
- Software Drivers & Utilities
- Included Accessories Silicone skin
Viewfinder
- Viewfinder Type None
Display
- Type LCD display - TFT active matrix - 2 in - Color
Microphone
- Type Microphone - Built-in
Connections
- Connector Type 1 x USB, 1 x Composite video/audio output
Audio Input
- Audio input type Microphone
- Microphone type Built-in
- Microphone Operation Mode Mono
System Requirements for PC Connection
- Operating System Support MS Windows Vista, MS Windows XP SP2, Apple Mac OS X 10.4.11 or later
Miscellaneous
- Cables Included 1 x HDMI cable, 1 x USB extension cable
Power
- Run Time (Up To) 2 hour(s)
Manufacturer Warranty
- Service & Support 1 year warranty
- Service & Support Details Limited warranty - 1 year
Viewfinder / Display
- Display Form Factor Built-in
Physical Characteristics
- Width 2.2 in
- Depth 0.6 in
- Height 3.9 in
- Weight 3.5 oz
Manufacturer info
- Creative
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Creative products on Shopper.com
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- Website: http://us.creative.com
- Address:
1901 McCarthy Blvd. Milpitas, CA 95035, Milpitas, CA 95035 - Phone: 800-998-1000
