We're big fans of Flip Video's incredibly easy-to-use pocket-size video cameras, but it's been difficult to wholeheartedly recommend them given the superior video capabilities of today's point-and-shoot digicams. Flip's new MinoHD changes that. This ...

Super portable and spontaneous HD video in your pocket

Needs stabilization and HDMI port

But that's not what the MinoHD is about. This camera is all about spontaneity-the ability to whip out a camera at a moment's notice in order to capture HD video and share it. While larger-format cameras certainly produce better-quality video, they won ...

This Handycam felt rock solid and provided the best optical image stabilization. Its stop/start button is in the perfect place, but the zoom control is positioned right where your middle finger rests-bad idea. We like the "easy" mode, which, with the ...

Rock-solid ; good optical image stabilization ; easy" mode ; great video quality

Awkwardly placed zoom button ; stop button delay. Very slight artifacting

The SR7's stop button seemed to be on a half-second delay, resulting in swish pans at the end of a few shots-an annoyance we got used to after a while. Another annoyance is the cam's use of a hard-to-find mini HDMI connector instead of the full-size ...

Here's the most versatile camcorder of the bunch, letting you record 28 minutes of its best-quality video per 3-inch DVD. If you don't feel like dealing with discs, you can cram 80 minutes of HD footage on an 8GB SDHC flash memory card instead. If you ...

Versitility is key here - records to SDHC and DVD ; 3-second preroll recording

Some contrast issues in very bright or medium light

That bulge on the side gives you a love handle to grab onto

If you don't mind dealing with miniDV tape, the Canon HV20 is a fine choice. However, we prefer having nonlinear random access to shots, rather than rolling through an anachronistic tape to find a shot. We also don't care for the cheap, plastic feel ...

buttah-smooth video, crisp and vivid in bright light

Cheap-feeling plastic, stuck with miniDV tapes

We especially like the way Canon includes features normally reserved for pros, such as a 24p frame rate that can be combined with the camera's CineLook setting in order to almost mimic film's slower frame rate and slightly diffuse look. But the star ...

The HDC-SD1 was the smallest and lightest camcorder we tested, and the easiest one to use. It offers few buttons to confuse you and no viewfinder, but wait a minute-that's a frickin' 3-inch viewscreen, which seems huge compared to the others' 2.7 ...

Small, light, easy to use. Super-sharp res, kickin' image stabilization

Low-light a tad grainy ; slightly bluish video with auto white balance

The most kick-ass characteristic of this cam is its awesome resolution, the sharpest of all the cameras we tested. But its low-light performance was a bit grainy, and its room-lit video revealed a few subtle noisy spots-nothing bad enough to fret over ...

Remember the first time you used high-speed broadband? Or the first time you fired up a 3D-accelerated game? You'll experience that same excitement the first time you plug Canon's miniature HV10 HDV camcorder in to your 60-inch HDTV. Instead of the ...

1941 Incredibly small ; one of the lowest priced HDV cams available

The Thin Red Line A bit too small, quirky mic placement

While it pushes the edge on resolution, the HV10 plays it safe with storage. Eschewing the trend toward direct to disc, hard drive, or flash RAM storage, the HV10 uses traditional MiniDV tapes and can record an hour on each tape. That's fine by us. ...

We described Samsung's SC-X105L Sports Cam as being "perfect for capturing your best Jackass moments" when we reviewed it in January 2006. Oregon Scientific's ATC-1000 could be that little camera's even littler brother. Click Read More for more.

You download images and video from the camera using a mini USB 1.1 port, which draws power from the host PC while it's connected-a convenient battery-saving feature, since the camera doesn't come with a separate power supply

Hybrid digital camera/video recorders have historically let us down. They tend to be slow performers that fulfill neither role well. We did, however, think that Sanyo was on to something with its original C1 hybrid, released in the U.S. by Fisher as ...

The C5 shouldn't be confused with a full-featured point-and-shoot camera, however: It doesn't offer a burst mode, for example, and shot-to-shot performance is a bit slow at two seconds (without flash). Plus, its flash range is extremely limited. The ...