Flip Slide HD review
By Nilay Patel 
posted April 14th 2010 5:30PM
posted April 14th 2010 5:30PM
Since the Slide HD is fundmentally just a remix of the Mino HD, we won't get too deep into the nitty-gritty here -- chances are you've seen enough Mino HD video floating around the web to know what you're getting into here. (If you haven't, there's some in our Mino HD premium hands-on.) What's really important with the Slide HD is the screen -- a three-inch resistive touchscreen that slides out and pops up at a 45-degree angle for easier viewing during playback. Flip says lots of customers never offload their videos, so the Slide HD is designed to function a both a camera and a portable theater.
Note: We hadn't figured out how to pause when we made this video. See below.
Unfortunately, optimizing the Slide HD for playback means that it's not nearly as optimized for recording video. The Slide is basically a really chunky Mino HD when in camera mode -- you get the same buttons and the same interface, just implemented via touchscreen. Unfortunately, there's simply no way the flimsy resistive touchscreen on the Slide can compete with the big red physical record button and capacitive menu buttons on the Mino; the Slide's interface isn't laggy, per se, but it's not as immediately and viscerally obvious what you're doing when you touch the screen as when you use a Mino's buttons, especially since anything less than a firm press doesn't register. Making matters worse, Cisco didn't optimize the recording UI for touch or make any other enhancements for it, leading to some stupendously bad user experiences. For example, you can't simply tap on "yes" to confirm deleting a video -- you have to tap the left arrow button twice and then tap the play button. What? Similarly, you can't turn the Slide on its side and record using the full area of the screen as a monitor -- you're stuck using the same tiny portion of the screen as the Mino. There's no tap-to-focus or tap-for-exposure, which would be amazing on a camera like this. Note to Cisco: simply adding a large touchscreen to a product isn't worth the size and weight penalty if you don't actually use it for anything good.
Okay, so the record mode isn't great -- what about playback? That's the whole point, right? Well, yes -- the three-inch screen is bright and has decent enough viewing angles for multiple people to watch together, but the interface is equally confusing and half-implemented. For starters, we have no idea why navigation is duplicated across two sets of controls: not only can you tap on the sides of the screen to scroll between videos, you can use the odd capacitive slider on the bottom half of the case. Why can't you just swipe across the screen? Tapping either the screen or the touchstrip launches a video, and that's pretty much all you can do: there's no rewind or fast forward, and to pause or change the volume you long press on the playing video -- a move so unintuitive on a device like this we actually had to look at the manual. We're sure the target audience for this thing is going to love doing that. Oh, and you can't edit or delete videos in any way in the playback mode, although you can mark a video as a favorite in the browser by tapping a tiny little star. Pretty awesome playback experience, right? We'd much rather use the free FlipShare apps available for iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry to dump our Flip videos on our phones -- the screens and controls are much better, to put things lightly.
Finally, there's the issue of the Slide's $279 pricetag. We're sure that number will come down over time, but let's be blunt: you can buy a much, much better camera for this kind of money. We're talking better lenses, better sensors, better video, and more features all around. For example, the Samsung TL225 runs about $250, offers a three-inch touchscreen and a front-facing LCD for self-portraits, shoots 720p video, and has image stabilization, face detection, and every other feature you can think of. The Nikon S8000 is $260 from Amazon right now and offers 720p recording at up to ISO 3200, a 10x optical zoom lens, and a three-inch, 921,000-dot LCD that will absolutely crush the screen on the Slide. The Canon PowerShot SD980IS is about $250 and -- look, you get the idea. $250 is a point-and-shoot sweet spot, and there's no shortage of cameras at this level that outgun the Slide HD in every possible way. It's one thing to spend $150 on a Mino HD and get a perfectly-executed and beautifully-made pocket video camera, but it's another thing entirely to spend nearly $300 and get chunkier version of the same thing that's outmatched by every HD-capable point-and-shoot on the market. That's the wrong kind of surprise -- maybe next time Cisco should shock us with functionality instead of gimmicks.
This is such a piece of crap. This is the most horrible video recording device I've seen in a while. Cisco has no idea wtf they are doing...
@jellotime91 I completely agree. It seems a "UltraHD" much worst than UltraHD.
And we are going to have Samsung HMX-U20 which is much better than this Flip "SlideHD".
This is horrible. Flip has lost its way. The whole point of the Flip Camcorders were that they were extremely easy to use and cheap. They should have stuck with that but instead they leaped haphazardly into the touchscreen bandwagon.
Why did they do this? Sure, it makes sense to have a device with a larger screen so you can watch your videos off of it without destroying your eyes, but this implementation looks absolutely terribly thought out. If it was thought out at all.
I have a Mino HD and think it's fantastic. Unfortunately, Cisco purchased Flip and has lost sight of what makes the product great. Instead of making the product bigger they should be looking at putting some sort of steadicam technology in the device....that would be a product I'd upgrade to in a minute.
Looks like my old N64 remote with a screen
Why is this crappy thing getting so much publicity??
I was hoping they were just gonna update the Minohd to have image stab and more space, but the screwed up and made this crap. I think im gonna buy a samsung t225 or the minohd, but the samsung having expandable storage and ability to take pictures is looking very good for 250.
Another piece of crap from PureDigital!
For people interested in buying their products, watch for the warranty! They are so sure of their products that they are giving only 90 days of warranty. I'm now the proud owner of a 8 month old $200 brick called Flip UltraHD!
At least they made it easy on me for the SlideHD! There is no way I'm going to spend a dollar on that overpriced sub standard camcorder!
Wow I was holding out on buying a Flip cause I was for sure that there new one would have WiFi uploading or something!
I'm ebarrassed for Cisco. This is the first device you put out since your acquisition of the company???
I got mine inthe mail yesterday. I noticed that it was way bigger and clunkier than the Mino. Also, the user interface SUCKS, exactly how was explained in this article.
But most importantly, every time I started recording it froze! I had to hold down the power button and do a hard shut down every single time I tried to record.
Where is my FlipHD now? In the mail on the way back to Cisco. Patiently awaiting my refund.
If I see someone wielding one of these monstrosities in public, I will slap it out of their hands and onto the concrete where it belongs.
I have two of the Flip MINO (not the HD model). They work very well.
But I also have the T-Mobile HD2. I now find myself shooting video with it rather than drag along yet another electronic device when I am going somewhere.
And where the HD2 really has it over the Flip is when I record on an impulse. When the urge hits or recording opportunity presents itself I have my HD2 with me because it's... well... a phone. I never have my Flip.
So now my Flips sit on a counter top, unused for the past few months.
Yes, the Flip produces better video than the HD2, but if I want quality recordings, say an air show, I will take my JVC camcorder, not the Flip. So for "emergency" recordings or situations where I need to shoot an unanticipated video, the Flip will be where I can't get to it, at home, on a shelf.
I suspect that more and more people will feel as I do, that cell phone video is decent enough that one does not need to fork over $300 (California sales tax included) for a Flip HD.
The flip SlideHD camcorder is a more powerful than former flip video series including Flip Ultra, Flip Ultra HD, Flip Mino and Flip Mino HD. Flip SlideHD camera can take up to 4 hours of HD video with its 16GB memory. http://www.flip-converter.com/articles/mac-flip-slidehd-video-converter/
With flip SlideHD, you may take more and more videos
http://www.flip-converter.com/articles/flip-slidehd-video-converter/
This newest Flip video camcorder has a 16GB memory and allows users to take up to 4 hours of HD video. And you can even watch flip SlideHD videos on HD TV.