I got my $100 rebate Visa card back from AT&T, and I knew I wanted to get this incredibly cheap flash video camera I had read such good things about. I had initially wanted to buy Pure Digital’s Flip Phone Ultra  after reading some ridiculously good reviews like this one and this one. Then I found out RCA had licensed the technology from Pure Digital and released their own version of the camera called the Small Wonder.

Although the small wonder has less memory than the new Flip Ultra, I ended up buying the Small Wonder for a few compelling reasons:

  1. It’s cheaper than the Flip Ultra ($99 < $149)
  2. Unlike the Flip, it’s got an expandable SD memory slot, so that it’s 512 onboard flash memory can be expanded.
  3. It has a toggle switch between high and low quality.

Here’s the first movie I made when I got home.

It’s really the first time I’ve ever been so close to a video camera, so I’m pretty sure I look and sound ridiculous. Still, this thing is a $100 video camera. Although the video is .avi (not MPEG-2) and the video quality could be better, it’s freakin’ $100! Plus, both the Flip and the Small Wonder are reportedly great in low light, where many more expensive cameras tend to fail. It’s also a lot smaller than most video cameras. The damn thing can fit easily in your pocket. Finally, notice that you can hear my voice loud and clear. That’s not the case with my Canon digital ELPH. Seems like this thing will be perfect for capturing the odd rock band around town.

I’ll try to update you as my feelings for this new machine evolve. In the meantime, here’s a nice comparison of the Flip Ultra and Small Wonder. And here’s another video talking about how awesome the Small Wonder is.

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