Don Kitchen

programming, technology, fatherhood and life

Posts Tagged ‘hd’

Flip MinoHD vs. Kodak Zi6 Comparison Review

January 29th, 2009

As I mentioned back in December, I received a pocked HD camcorder for Christmas and decided to try it out against another comparable camera that was out on the market to make sure that when all was said and done that I had the better of the two units.

The two cameras that I tested were the Flip Video MinoHD Camcorder and the Kodak Zi6 HD Pocket Camera. Both were purchased from Amazon.com and as you can see from the links here had pretty comparable features.

Here’s a breakdown of what I felt were the pros and cons for each model:

Camera	Pros	Cons
Flip MinoHD	Smaller size Wrist strap on side vs. bottom Software supports MAC Software decent for managing device and movies Battery is internal and can be charged by USB port	No expandable memory Internal battery can’t be replaced if it goes bad or loses capacity over time More expensive Software upload to YouTube feature doesn’t take advantage of YouTube’s new HD options

Kodak Zi6	Feels more solid Screen much more clear, bigger is much better for viewing Zoom button much better “Trackball” much more responsive than buttons on Mino Uses external batteries, easy to pickup a pack from a store if you’re in a pinch Uses external storage (up to 32GB), you can swap out cards if not at your PC. Mino only has 4GB internal memory	Small internal memory Can’t plug it into my 15″ Macbook Pro USB slot when the power cord is plugged in. Have to use a USB extension cable. No Mac version o the software Seems to default to HD vs. HD 60 (60 = 60 frames per second vs. 30, the default) — this may be configurable

So which one did I keep? The Kodak.

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Posted in gadgets

Tags: camera flip gadgets hd zi6

Going back to TiVo

January 29th, 2009

Man, somehow a week or so ago I stumbled upon the fact that TiVo works with CableCARDs. What does that mean, you ask? It means that I can dump Comcast’s crappy HD DVR service and get a real DVR, a HD TiVo!! How have I missed this for all this time?!?! I must be slacking in my old age.

Why would you do that, you ask? Well, the TiVo is 100x smarter than Comcast’s service in that it can hook in with the home network and talk to other TiVos. Also, since it hooks into the network it can do all kinds of cool stuff over the web like allow you to schedule shows while at work and even stream movies from Netflix (yes, we have that service too) directly. Also, the TiVo can interface with the computers on your home network to play music and show pictures. Add the fact that you can record copies of shows that you record on to DVD and I think you’ve got a feature set that makes Comcast’s box and service look like a fisher price toy.

The only thing that I was unsure about was how much Comcast would charge me for CableCARDs. Well, after a quick call to them a little while ago I learned that they give you the CableCARDs for FREE! I asked twice and she confirmed it. We’ll see if that’s actually the case when I go to pick them up in a week or so. There’s always some screw up when it comes to dealing with them. I’m definitely excited that I can now not pay them $30+ a month for DVR service on my two Comcast DVRs.

After hunting around I ended up placing an order on Amazon for two TiVo TCD652160 HD DVR units. I also added two TiVo AG0100 Wireless G USB Network Adapters so that they can talk to each other and get hooked up to my local network. Add in some current monthly service specials that TiVo offers and my total monthly cost will definitely be much lower than if I had stayed with Comcast. Sure I’ll need to recoup the costs of the boxes, but considering I’ve had my one Comcast box for over 4 years I think in the long run I’ll come out ahead in this deal, and have a ton of more features and a much better “user experience” while doing it.

More reviews and initial impressions to come once I get the new hardware in, the CableCARDs picked up from Comcast, etc. Hopefully things will go smoothly and I’ll be up and running sometime next week.