Low-cost, solid-state camcorders become a force to be reckoned with

Nope it's not Sony. Not Panasonic, Not Canon.  It's Pure Digital Technologies.  If you find that answer surprising its probably because you have not experienced the simple pleasures of Pure Digital's Flip Video camera.  Released in Sept 2007, it quickly grabbed up and has held onto 13% of the camcorder market for one reason and one reason alone - this thing is about as simple as simple can be.

The Flip is a solid state video camera that captures video in 640 by 480 resolution. Using MPEG 4 compression allows this $129 camera (current Amazon.com price) to store an hour of video into the built-in internal flash memory.  This thing boots up in two seconds flat and runs on 2 AA batteries. It comes with a pop-up USB port that plugs into any computer. Plug it into that computer and it automatically loads up the built-in editing software. Or you can take your camera to a local pharmacy, plug it into a photo kiosk, download your video, and ask the nice people to make you a DVD.  So popular is the Flip that manufactures are tripping over each other to make accessories for it (who wouldn't want an underwater case for $29.89).

Still not convinced of it's charms, check out David Pogue's video review from the New York Times.   

Not surprising, given the success of this thing, lots of other vendors are rushing in to make their own version of the flip.  Gizmodo just ran a review of 6 of them.  Their conclusion is that none of the copies (including the Flip's sleek new little brothers) are any better than the original.

What the Gizmodo review does not do is compare the Flip with any of the new solid state "HD" cameras such as the 720P Aiptek A-HD ($135 on Amazon). Or for that matter to one of the lower cost Mini DV cameras you can pick up for a song these days.  I see one on Amazon right now for $140 with a 30X optical zoom (the Flip has 2X digital zoom) and removable storage.   But  it certainly is more complicated than the Flip.