Performance

For $100, you shouldn't expect much from the video performance of the Creative Vado. Its final product is really closer to a webcam than a traditional camcorder. And while most people aren't looking for the Vado to rival full-featured consumer camcorders, it is expected to compete with its closer rivals, like the Flip Mino. In this regard, the Vado disappoints.

The Creative Vado uses a 1/4-inch VGA CMOS sensor, which is a mere 640 x 480 (roughly 0.3 megapixels). This is the same kind of sensor used on the Flip Mino, the RCA Small Wonder, and a few others, but it is paltry compared to most camcorders. More traditional camcorders today try to boost resolution by packing more pixels into the sensor. This isn't the case for the Vado or its competitors. These ultra-budget camcorders have a lower pixel count, which typically lowers resolution, but increases sensitivity. Unfortunately, this gambit was less effective for the Vado than it was for the Flip Mino, as you'll see in the Low Light section below.

We started our testing by shooting our DSC Labs Chroma DuMonde color chart at an even 3000 lux (bright light) and examining the results on a full-size monitor. Compared to similar camcorders, the Vado's greatest weakness is its color accuracy. The Vado doesn't do a good job differentiating between subtle changes in color tone and, more importantly, has an atrocious automatic white balance. This means that the whites don't look white at all and the rest of the colors are thrown off, too.

*The Creative Vado at 3000 lux

*

*The Flip Mino at 3000 lux

*

When you compare the Vado to its main competitor, the Flip Mino, the difference isn't hard to see. Considering that the two camcorders have similar lenses and sensors, we assume that the Vado falls short in its processing. Compared to even slightly more expensive low-end camcorders (like the JVC GZ-MS100 and the Panasonic SDR-SW20), the poor color performance is just as noticeable.

Fixed to a tripod and recording an unmoving subject in the bright light conditions of our lab, the Vado had passable sharpness and a relatively low level of noise. If you look closely at the two charts, the Vado is actually slightly less noisy than the Flip, especially in the reds and greens, and seems to produce bolder blacks in the fine detail. Unfortunately, the Vado's processor is only guessing at how to fill in those details, so the result is 'sharper' detail that's riddled with huge ugly chunks of discoloration, called compression artifacting. And when the detail becomes too fine, the Vado simply gives up and conveys no information at all.

When we take a low-end camcorder out of the lab, compression artifacting and motion trailing often become a familiar sight. These ultra-budget, ultra-compact camcorders have difficulty processing fine details and areas of high contrast, especially when recording moving objects. The Vado is no exception. The images below are frame grabs of the Vado and the Flip Mino, which we took side-by-side during simultaneous recording.

*Even in bright outdoor light, the Vado loses a lot of detail.

*

*The Flip Mino is no champ, but it does fare better.
*

Notice how much detail is lost in the street, the brick crosswalk, and even the trees in the distance. The ambiguous smear of sky in the Vado footage becomes wispy cloud detail on the Flip. And that color inaccuracy we saw in the lab rears its ugly head when we see muddier greens, reds, and yellows. In the images below, you'll see the Vado's other shortcoming, which is its tendency to completely blow out the highlights in any high contrast scene. When we reviewed the Flip Mino, we saw the same problem, but you'll see that the Mino doesn't look so bad when compared to the atrocious overexposure on the Vado.

*In scenes with high contrast, the Vado overexposes the brightest areas.

*

*The Flip Mino has a better handle on what to do with the bright spots.
*

While most consumers will not be looking for high quality video from the Vado, it's difficult to excuse the poor color balance, lack of detail, and drastic overexposure of bright areas. YouTube certainly turns most video into a low resolution, blocky affair, but muddy colors and blown out areas of white light will show up even in online video. When it comes to video performance, the Vado is a last resort among stand-alone camcorders.

Video Resolution* (7.50)*

The video resolution was tested by shooting a DSC Labs video resolution chart at an even, bright light. We then watched the playback on a monitor. Ultimately, we found that the Creative Vado produces an approximate horizontal resolution of 375 line widths per picture height (lw/ph) and an approximate vertical resolution of 400 lw/ph. This is actually a noteworthy improvement over the resolution of the Flip Mino and Flip Ultra. This may be the single area of performance where the Vado outdoes the Flip.

It's important to note, however, that the resolution test is a very narrow measure of a camcorder's capabilities. Measuring high contrast lines on a chart under ideal lighting, we can see what the Vado's potential might be. There were a few rare moments out of the lab when we saw proof of the Vado's superior video resolution, but in most circumstances, compression artifacting, overexposure, and poor white balance hampered the Vado's ability to match the Flip Mino.

Low Light Performance* (3.08)*

The low light performance of the Creative Vado was tested in three stages. First, we shot the DSC Labs Chroma DuMonde chart at an even 60 lux and 15 lux, then compared it to other camcorders we've tested. Below, we have the Vado at 60 lux, compared to the most recent from Pure Digital, the Flip Mino.

*The Creative Vado at 60 lux

*

*The Flip Mino at 60 lux
*

Considering the two camcorders are equipped with identical sensors, the discrepancy is startling. Usually, a single large sensor captures more light, resulting in a brighter image.  It's possible that the Flip has its automatic gain turned way up in order to lighten up dark images—many manufacturers increase gain to improve low-light recording. However, an increase in gain typically results in an increase in noise. The Vado is both darker and noisier than the Flip Mino, suggesting that the Vado's failure is in the processing. The Vado does retain a fair amount of sharpness, but sharpness isn't helpful when the image is so dark and the color so muddy.

*The Creative Vado at 15 lux

*

*The Flip Mino at 15 lux
*

At 15 lux, the story is much the same. The image is significantly darkened. Even at 3000 lux, the Vado doesn't provide a lot of fine details, but at 15 lux, the subject is virtually unidentifiable. To be fair, all camcorders in this price range struggle at 15 lux. But compared to the Flip Mino, the less expensive Flip Ultra, and virtually ever other camcorder we've seen, the Vado is at the bottom of the barrel.

The second stage of the low light test measures sensitivity while shooting the same DSC Labs color chart. We slowly and steadily lower the light until the camcorder is outputting a peak of 50 IRE (a measurement of exposure determined by reading a waveform monitor). The Creative Vado was able to produce 50 IRE at 15 lux. This is not the worst result we've seen, but it's poor compared to the Vado's competition; The Flip Mino produced 50 IRE at 7 lux and the Flip Ultra at 12 lux.

The third stage of low light testing involves shooting an X-Rite Color Checker chart at an even 60 lux, then exporting frame grabs to Imatest imaging software to determine color accuracy, noise, and saturation. Based on the video from the DSC Labs color chart, we were unsurprised to find the same poor performance here.

The Vado's real downfall here the was the noise, which measured 1.175%. This is not a good result and impacts heavily on color accuracy and saturation. Imatest found the Vado to produce an absolutely abysmal color error of 24.4, while the saturation measured 36.47. These are very poor test results. Other camcorders in this price range, which are themselves not stellar performers, have an average color error of about 12 and a saturation of about 70. This means that the video produced by the Vado in low light has inaccurate color and is significantly less saturated than the competition.

Overall, the Vado had one of the worst low light performances we've ever seen. If you plan to shoot a lot of video in clubs or other dark environments, the Vado may pick up large shapes and outlines, but not a lot of color or detail. If you're sitting across a table lit only by candles, you might have trouble picking out the birthday girl. The only good thing to be said about the Vado is that is provides a good amount of sharpness, even in low light. Unfortunately, this won't do you much good if you can't see your subject. For a bit more money, you'll get much better low light results from the Flip Ultra.

*In low, indoor light, the Vado doesn't know what to do.

*

  *The Flip Mino could be a lot sharper, but at least we can see what's going on.
*

Stabilization* (0.00)*

Like its competition, the Vado is not equipped with an image stabilization system. Some budget camcorders (like the Panasonic SDR-SW20 and the JVC Everio MS100) offer electronic image stabilization—this is one of the many features you get for a few hundred dollars more. More comparable camcorders, like the Flip and its many clones, do not generally offer stabilization. Even steady hands will need to watch out for that nausea-inducing Blair Witch effect.

Wide Angle* (9.80)*

We tested the Vado's maximum wide angle capacity by placing the camcorder on a tripod and measuring the left and right angle degrees using a vertical laser. Test video was later interpreted on an external monitor to attain a true wide angle reading. The Vado's maximum wide angle measurement proved to be 49 degrees. This is a good result for the Vado—slightly above average for any consumer camcorder and a noteworthy improvement over the Flip Ultra's 43 degrees and the Mino's abysmal 38-degree wide angle.

Format

Compression* (2.75)*

The Creative Vado compresses video in the MPEG-4 AVI format. This is the same format used by most camcorders in this price range, including the Flip Mino and Ultra. The AVI format is fairly flexible and can be handled by pretty much every video editing software out there.

For the tech-minded readers out there, it may come as no surprise that the Vado's video compression is variable between two pitifully data-poor modes: 4Mbps (HQ) and 2Mbps (SP). This is less than a quarter of the bitrate featured by the majority of camcorders, most of which are now recording with a more efficient codec (AVCHD) than the Vado's MPEG-4. However, the Flip Mino has an average bitrate of 4Mbps, so the Vado is just emulating the competition here. It is striking that manufacturers like Creative and Pure Digital are releasing and selling camcorders with such poor compression at the same time that others (namely, the Canon HF11) are finally reaching the AVCHD spec's ceiling of 24Mbps. Clearly, there is a wide range of camcorder consumers out there.

For the consumers who are considering the Vado (or the Flip), quality video is probably not a great concern. But it is important to note that if you plan on uploading your video to the web, especially YouTube, it will most likely be automatically recompressed, further reducing quality. On the one hand, this might give you the freedom to shoot with any cheap camcorder on the market. On the other hand, the higher quality your original video is, the better it will look—even after being recompressed by YouTube.

Media* (3.00)*

The Vado again follows the model of the Flip by recording all video to its 2GB internal (non-removable) flash memory. It would be nice for these ultra-budget, ultra-compact camcorders to have a slot for optional SD/SDHC cards, but so far only the RCA Small Wonder line-up has this feature. (Though the recently released Kodak Zi6 will also record to SD/SDHC cards.)

Creative advertises that the 2GB will hold about 60 minutes of video, but we were able to successfully record for two hours before the internal memory was full. Most people do not record two hours of a blank, unmoving desk (as we did during our battery test), so it's likely that actual results will be closer to the 60-minute mark or a little longer. However, even if you get just 60 minutes of video, flash memory makes for durable storage. It's shock resistant and relatively weather resistant, meaning the Vado itself will probably be destroyed before data is lost.

Editing* (5.00)*

Not surprising for a camcorder that prides itself on being so accessible, the Vado has a simple user interface for uploading and managing your video. Like the Flip, the Vado has software built right into the camcorder. No discs or installs necessary. When you connect the Vado to your computer using the flexible USB arm, the camcorder is recognized as an external drive. Bad news for Mac fans: the Vado upload software is Windows-only. If you're working on a Mac, you'll need to view your video in QuickTime, edit in iMovie (or a similar product), and upload to YouTube the old-fashioned way.

But if you're working on a PC, the Vado gives you a relatively straight-forward tool for uploading. When you plug in the Vado, you'll find the camcorder listed as a new drive. Open the drive, and you'll find an application called Vado Central. Opening the application will bring you to a simple menu, which displays your first 12 clips.

*Vado Central features a playback screen with a thumbnail representing each of your videos.
*

From here, we expected to see just another imitation of the Flip. We were, in fact, unpleasantly surprised to find a rudimentary, featureless piece of software. The software built into the Flip includes a host of options for rotating, cropping, and stitching several clips together into one 'movie.' In Vado Central, you can watch your clips, copy them onto your computer, delete them, or upload them to YouTube or PhotoBucket. There are no editing options of any kind.

So, if you're using Vado Central to upload to YouTube, you'll have to upload the video exactly as you recorded it—including the 30 seconds after Jack's field goal when you were trying to figure out how to turn off the camcorder. If you want to edit the video, then upload to YouTube, you'll need to copy the video back onto the Vado or just upload in the usual way.

If you do choose to plunge your video straight onto YouTube, select the video you want to upload and just push the YouTube button in the upper-right corner. Either type in your YouTube username and password, or follow the link to create a new account.

*The YouTube button in the upper-right will prompt you for your YouTube username and password.
*

Once your YouTube profile is confirmed, you can edit the title of your video, the description, the category, and its keywords (tags). You can also choose whether to make the video public or private. Click Upload and you're on your way!

*Fill out any details you want, click Upload, and your video goes straight to YouTube.
*

The process for Photo Bucket is very similar and equally intuitive. If you want to upload your video to any sites besides YouTube or Photo Bucket, you'll have to use whatever method is supported by the site you choose.

Auto / Manual Controls

Picture & Manual Control

• Automatic Control (3.00)*
  

When we started reviewing the Pure Digital Flip series, there was no easier camcorder to operate. The Vado is essentially a replica of the Flip in ease of use. In this section, we usually evaluate the Auto Mode on traditional camcorders, but the Creative Vado is nothing but an automatic mode. Except for the paltry 2x digital zoom, there are no manual controls in sight.

Since you can't adjust anything manually, it's important for the Vado to respond well to dynamic shooting conditions. In this regard, the Vado falls well short of the competition. Responses to changing light conditions are about as fast as the average camcorder, but the quality of the adjustment was poor. As we saw in the Video Performance section, the Vado completely overexposes bright areas in any scene with high contrast. Similarly, the auto white balance is one of the worst we've seen, distorting whites and, subsequently other colors.

You won't notice an automatic focus adjustment, since this is a fixed focus lens. Even though your instinct may be to shove the Vado in the face of your nearest and dearest, we recommend keeping everything about a foot away from the lens if you want it to be in focus.

For a camcorder that must rely entirely upon its ability to automatically adjust, the Vado does a mediocre job. The disappointing auto exposure and white balance, in fact, play a large role in the Vado's poor video performance.

Overall Manual Control (0.25)

In terms of available manual controls (or lack of manual controls), the Vado is an exact clone of the Flip. This 'less is more' philosophy is a dream come true for some people—especially anyone frustrated by the increasing number of switches, dials, and settings on personal electronics. The Vado records and lets you zoom while recording (2x digital). It lets you play back your video, fast forward or rewind, and delete the clips you don't want. The list ends here, just as it does on the Flip.

In this up-and-coming genre of camcorders, the conversation is no longer about how good the manual controls are; it's about how few there are. Aside from the Flip and others like it, every single camcorder offers more manual control than the Vado—often, ten times more control. Digital still cameras that record video have considerably more manual controls and even some cell phones give you a few more options than the Vado.

As a comparison, the JVC GZ-MS100 costs a couple hundred dollars more, but offers an optical zoom and manual focus, exposure, shutter speed, and white balance.

Zoom (2.50)

None of these ultra-light camcorders include optical zoom—Creative would be hard pressed to fit any moving parts into this slim body. There is a 2x digital zoom, which operates exactly in the same fashion as the Flip Ultra. There is a gradual transition from 1x to 2x, represented by a scale on the right side of the LCD. The plus and minus buttons operate the zoom while recording, sliding the scale from 1x to 2x in just a couple of seconds. It's not possible to increase or decrease the zoom speed with varying finger pressure.

Several entry-level camcorders offer much more zoom capability, including the 35x optical zoom of the JVC GZ-MS100 and the 10x optical zoom of the Panasonic SDR-SW20. The 2x digital zoom, however, is standard for the Vado's class of camcorders. The Flip Mino and Ultra, the RCA Small Wonder, and the new Kodak Zi6 are all limited to 2x digital zoom.

Zoom Power Ratio (0.00)

There is no optical zoom on the Vado—just the 2x digital zoom.

Focus (0.00)

There is no manual focus on the Vado. Considering the limitations of the LCD panel and the intended audience for the Vado, fully automating the focus was the right choice. Though we would have liked to focus on objects a little closer to the camcorder, the Vado's auto focus is otherwise adequate.

Exposure & Aperture (0.00)

The Vado also chooses to omit manual exposure. This might have been the easiest feature to add for technophobic Vado users, but it wouldn't fit with Creative's approach to the camcorder—or, more accurately, Pure Digital's concept for the Flip.

Shutter Speed (0.00)

There are no shutter speed controls on the Creative Vado.

White Balance (0.00)

There are no white balance options on the Creative Vado.

Gain (0.00)

It would be quite baffling if Creative offered manual gain controls and no focus, exposure, shutter speed, or white balance. There is no gain control on the Vado. (In fact, only Panasonic offers this option in consumer camcorders.)

Other Manual Controls (0.00)

Sorry, there really isn't any other manual control offered on the Vado. What we've described is what you get.

Still Features

Still Features* (0.00)*

There is no still functionality on the Vado. The only way to capture a still image is through 3rd party editing software. Unlike the very easy-to-use software included with the Flip Mino, Vado Central does not enable you to produce a frame grab from a video clip. As for the inability to use the Vado as a still camera, this is standard for comparable camcorders; of the Vado's current competitors, only the new Kodak Zi6 offers still photography functionality.

Still Performance* (0.00)*

Not applicable.

Still Resolution* (0.00)*

Also not applicable.

 

Handling and Use

Ease of Use* (10.00)*

The sole reason for the Vado's existence is centered upon ease of use. It's a tiny handheld device that plugs straight into your computer. In fact, the Vado is easier to use than an iPod, a Play Station Portable, or most cell phones. If you want to record video, simply push the most visible button. There's no such thing as an easy mode on the Vado—the whole camcorder is one big easy mode. Aside from the unremarkable 2x digital zoom, all adjustments are made automatically. During playback, it's easy as can be to delete clips or cycle through the ones you've recorded.

When the time comes to share your vids, just pull out the USB extension and plug it right into your computer. The necessary software is built right into the camcorder, although the Mac portion of the casual market will have to make do with viewing their videos in QuickTime. For Windows users, the software is relatively straightforward, though maybe not quite as accessible as the software on the Flip.

Handling* (4.50)*

Holding the Vado is nothing like holding a traditional camcorder. There is no hand strap or grip—just the body of the Vado itself. It feels like shooting pics with a Blackberry Pearl or watching video on an iPod. (Measuring 100 x 55 x 16mm, the Vado is about the same size as both, though thicker.) This has been the standard for ultra-compacts since the CVS One-Time Use camcorder hit shelves in 2005. With no flip-out LCD view screen, manufacturers can't design for a more comfortable 'pistol grip' like you might see on other ultra-compact camcorders (such as the now discontinued Sony NSC-GC1 Net Sharing Cam or the higher end Sanyo Xacti series). So, this is about as comfortable to hold as you might expect from a cell phone—or the competition.

As with the Flip, it seems the most comfortable way to hold the Vado is to place your index and middle fingers across the face of the camcorder, just below the lens. The ring and pinky fingers support the Vado from underneath, while the thumb operates the buttons. Of course, there are a few other options as well: move the ring finger up to support the bottom with just your pinky, slide your middle finger down to grip the Vado like a lobster claw, use the Gameboy technique with eight fingers on the front and two thumbs on the back, or wrap your hand around the body like a soda can.

Any method you choose for holding it, your fingers will come into contact with the Vado's strange, rubberized surface. The plastic is hard and soft at the same time: harder than a pen grip, but softer than... well, most plastic. Presumably, the surface is meant to be non-slip and resist scratches and fingerprints. In practice, this is quite true, especially compared to the black, shiny surface of our Flip Mino, which was greasier than a pan of bacon ten minutes out of the box. But the Vado's ineffable resilient surface is a big sacrifice in style; the plastic feels chinsy and doesn't look nearly as sexy as the glossy black Mino. (It doesn't help that the shade selected for the pink model screams Barbie more than the earthier pinks of most personal electronics.) Still, the Vado is less likely to slip out of your hand while you're recording—a feature quite important for a camcorder that could easily drop through a sewer grate if it falls out of your hand.

The four-way directional pad is a clone of last year's Flip Ultra, though the up and down buttons (used for zoom while recording and for volume control during playback) offer a muddy tactile response. The rest of the buttons give a nice solid click when pressed and are highly responsive. Overall, the control scheme feels good and is easy to use, though it's not as sleek as the touch-sensitive face of the Flip Mino.

*The Vado's directional pad and playback controls
*

Menu* (6.50)*

There is no menu interface on the Vado. There is onscreen text to indicate when you're recording and how long the current clip is. The display also tells you approximately how much battery is remaining and, during playback, there is a sound meter and a number to indicate which clip is playing.

The lack of menu system is to be expected considering the Vado comes with no manual controls or options to speak of. There is only one way to record video, so there's no reason to navigate through menus. You'll find the same choice has been made on the Vado's competition, including the Flip.

Portability* (10.50)*

You can't get much more portable than the Creative Vado. Measuring just 100 x 55 x 16-mm (3.9 x 2.2 x 0.6-inches) and weighing just 84 grams (2.96 ounces), the Vado is certainly one of the lightest camcorders on the market. It's smaller and lighter even than the Flip Mino—light enough that you could easily miss it in your pocket or purse.

Aside from being incredibly light and small, the Vado has the robust feel of most kids' toys; though the plastic feels cheap, it's a camcorder we wouldn't be afraid to throw around. The surface is resilient to scratches and smudges and the internal flash memory is a media format known to roll with the punches. With no tapes, discs, memory cards, or batteries to lug about, it's hard to imagine a camcorder that's more portable.

LCD and Viewfinder* (3.00)*

The Vado is equipped with a 2-inch, 4:3 LCD screen, with an impressive resolution of 153,600 pixels. It's a mystery why anyone would need that kind of LCD on a camcorder that records such low quality, standard definition video. It does mean that the LCD is an accurate representation of the muddy, overexposed, low resolution videos you'll be recording.

Battery Life* (14.50)*

We tested the life of the Vado's lithium-ion battery by recording continuously until the juice was drained. As it turns out, the battery life is much longer than the expected capacity of the internal flash memory. So, unless you plan to record, then delete several videos, your battery will probably do just fine.

The Vado's total battery life was 145 minutes and 15 seconds (2 hours, 25 minutes, and 15 seconds). This is a great performance, though it does fall just shy of the 154 minutes that the Flip Mino lasted. The one advantage of the Vado is that its lithium ion battery is removable (and therefore replaceable), whereas the Flip Mino comes equipped with a non-removable internal battery. If you really wanted to, you could purchase a spare battery for the Vado or replace it if it ever starts holding less charge.

*The Vado's battery is removable, just like in most cell phones.

*

Audio / Playback / Connectivity

Audio* (3.00)*

On a camcorder that costs just $100, most users won't expect any audio features. And on the Vado, they won't find any. Like the Flip series, the Vado has a built-in microphone located to the right of the lens. Creative gives no specifications on the range of this microphone, but we found that the Vado's microphone seemed to be much less crisp and less sensitive when compared side-by-side with the Flip Mino.

There is no Wind Cut, Zoom, Levels, Mic input, Headphone output, or accessory shoe hiding in the tiny body of the Vado. This is certainly standard for camcorders of this ilk.

Playback* (2.50)*

In order to watch your video, just press the play button. There is no menu or other navigation interface, so to select a particular video, you'll have to hit forward or back until you reach the video you're looking for. When you first hit the play button, the most recent clip will automatically start playing. You can adjust the playback volume by pushing up or down on the directional pad. To delete a clip, press the trash can button, confirm that you want to delete, and say goodbye to your video.

*The Vado's display during playback
*

Though the playback process is remarkably easy, it isn't quite as convenient as the interface on standard camcorders. Usually, Playback Mode supplies you with a screen full of thumbnails, each image representing a different video clip. From there, you can select which video you want to play (or delete). With the Vado, you'll have to scroll through all your videos until you reach the one you want.

*More traditional camcorders, like the Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD2,

let you choose which clip to play from a selection of thumbnails.*

Connectivity* (2.75)*

There are technically two connections on the Vado: a standard 1/8-inch AV-out and the flexible USB extension. Neither port is well covered, so watch out for sandy beaches or exploding sodas in your backpack. Of course, your already low quality video will look even worse on a large screen, but Creative is happy to sell you a standard AV cable through its website if you'd like to plug into your TV. (Unlike the Flip Mino, the Vado does not come with an AV cable.) Be warned... it took us several attempts before we discovered that the AV cable only worked with our Vado when we pushed it two-thirds of the way into the port. Inserting the cable all the way into the AV-out gave us absolutely no sound or video.

*The left side of the Creative Vado contains the

AV out and the hinge of the USB connector.
*

If you want to view your video, you're better off watching it on the LCD or plugging the Vado into your computer. The USB arm is actually one of the highlights of the Vado; the flexible rubber looks and feels flimsy, but it allows the Vado to reach ports that were inaccessible to the Flip's spring-loaded arm. Even when the Flip could reach a USB port, we never felt great about the way the Flip stuck out rigidly from the USB port. The Vado's flexible arm makes for an easy connection without the need to purchase an extension cable. Like the Flip, the Vado can double as a USB storage device. You can copy all kinds of files onto and off of the Vado, just as you would with a dedicated USB flash drive.

*The Vado's flexible USB arm extends from the bottom.

*

Other Features

What’s in the Box?

The Vado ships with the following items:

-Removable 3.7V lithium-ion battery

-Warranty/Safety Information

-Quickstart Guide

You read that right. There's no A/V cable, no pouch or case. Just the barest of necessities. But with the Vado, you don't need much.

*Not much comes with the Creative Vado.
*

Other Features* (0.00)*

There are no other features on the Creative Vado.

Conclusion & Comparisons

Conclusion

We've already said this in relation to our reviews of the Flip camcorders, but it bears repeating: these ultra-light pocket-sized camcorders have little in common with traditional entry-level camcorders. They are incredibly compact, inexpensive, and easy to use, but the video performance can't compare to what you would get for a few hundred dollars more.

In the case of the Creative Vado (MSRP $99.99), most consumers are probably trying to choose between it and its nearer competitors, like the Flip series from Pure Digital, the RCA Small Wonder, and the new Kodak Zi6. Of those listed, the Vado is certainly the cheapest. It's no surprise that Creative cut some corners in order to offer that $100 price point ($80 less than the Flip Mino or Kodak Zi6). Unfortunately, cutting those corners often meant delivering an inferior product. Yes, the construction is cheaper—on our Vado, the AV port was unreliable and the tripod mount snapped right off—but it's more than that. Just how much does $80 buy you? With the Flip Mino, you also get much better-looking video, better audio, built-in editing software, higher quality construction, plus a wrist strap, a carrying pouch, and an AV cable (for use in the fully functioning and reliable AV port). Eventually, the $80 price difference isn't a good enough excuse. The Flip is a better buy in every regard.

For the average consumer, the Vado is probably good enough for YouTube. It is light, cheap, and does, in fact, record video. Unfortunately, that video just isn't very good.

Comparisons

Who It’s For*

Point-and-Shooters*

A camcorder invented for this demographic. But with no built-in editing software and poor video performance, the Vado can't stand up to the competition.

Budget Consumers

Even more so than those it strives to emulate, the Vado is as cheap as it gets.

Still Photo / Video Camera Hybrid

There is no still photo feature hiding beneath this plastic shell.

Gadget Freaks

It's not as gimmicky as the spring-loaded USB on the Flip, but its tiny size might lure in extreme videographers who can't afford to damage another prosumer model in the Arctic or Sahara. The Barbie color scheme might interest pink-loving gadgeteers.

Manual Control Freaks

Are probably not reading this review. If they are, it bears repeating: the Vado has absolutely no manual controls.

Pros / Serious Hobbyists

Some pros like to have a small, cheap, durable camcorder. Unfortunately, the Vado's video performance would never stand up to the scrutiny of video enthusiasts.

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