Hands-on Creative's Vado pocket cam

Oprah might like the Ultra-Flip video camera, but that's because she hasn't laid her hands on the new Creative Vado. I got my hands on the Creative Vado this week, and compared to the other made for YouTube pocket camcorders, this one is by far the thinnest.

I recently reviewed RCA's Small Wonder, which I really like because it has a removable microSD card, and can be customized vinyl stickers, but the Creative Vado is simple, slim, and so easy to use.

The pocket video cam is as big as a cell phone but can hold 2GB of video. Video quality isn't the greatest at 640 x 480 but this will do when you're just uploading videos to video sharing sites. My favorite feature is the zoom, since it's something I don't often see in small cameras like this one. It does have a built in speaker, microphone, and flip-out USB connector, which is all you need for your video sharing experience.

Recording video is as easy as pressing the big white button, and you can even playback clips to decided if you want to keep them or not. A delete button is also accessible in case you want to get rid of any bad clips. 

I wasn't impressed with the plastic feel of the camera, but then again, these cameras are affordable and made for every day use. With something like this you don't have to worry about taking your expensive camera everywhere you go.

Vado Central is extremely easy to use. Here you can manage and preview all the videos stored on your camcorder and either upload them to YouTube or Photobucket. The software's interface is very clean and uploading files to a video sharing site only takes minutes. This whole set up is perfect for any novice or anyone who doesn't want to bother with converting and transferring video.

I really think this camera is worth $100, and would recommend it to anyone looking for light pocket camcorder. So far, it's one of my favorites. 

You can find more details on Vado on Creative's site.