January 4th, 2009
CES2009: Kodak announces rugged Zx1 Pocket HD video recorder
I received a Flip Mino HD at Mobius a couple of weeks ago and have to say I have been having a ton of fun with the device. I never even thought much about picking up one of these, but talked to a few friends who received them for Christmas and love using them. I also saw that Kevin Tofel picked up a Kodak Zi6 HD video camera that is very similar to the Flip Mino HD. To top both of these though, it looks like we will soon have a third choice with the CES announcement of the Kodak Zx1 camcorder.
The Kodak Zx1 Pocket Video Camera is a bit more rugged than the current Zi6 with a sealed speaker and microphone for outdoor capturing in the weather. The Zx1 is smaller than the Zi6, has improved performance in bright and low light conditions, captures 720p HD video at 60 or 30 fps, has a smaller display (2.2 inches vs. 2.6 inches), and will be priced US$30 cheaper at US$149.95. Like the Zi6, there is no onboard storage for videos. A SDHC storage card slot is available with support for cards up to 32GB. An HDMI cable is also included for quick connection to your TV for playback. It will be available in April 2009 in five colors (black, red, pink, blue, and yellow).
If you haven’t tried one of these compact HD camcorders out yet, I recommend you consider one for an upcoming birthday or other gift-giving occasion. They are compact and work quite well at capturing those moments when you don’t feel like dragging out your larger digital camcorder. I find I capture more video with the Flip Mino HD and my Nokia Nseries devices now that I have decent quality video recording devices on hand.
Matthew Miller is an avid mobile device enthusiast who works during the day as a professional naval architect in Seattle. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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