I read the reviews and decided to give it a go as I wanted to replace my bulky camcorder and have 3 young children.
The great things about it is that it's not much bigger than a mobile phone so can quite happily fit in your bag on any day trip without taking up much room and can be whipped out at a moments notice. It's discreet so the self concious amoungst us neednt feel embarrassed. There's only a a few buttons, play, stop, zoom in/out, delete. It's really simple to use. I didnt even need to read the manual that it came with. It's plugs directly into the pc and away you go.

Now the downside. These may or maynot bother you depending on what you are looking for in a image recorder. My main complaint is that for example when I'm filming the children's assemblies what I liked about the regular camcorder is that you can pause/stop the film and when you restart it its continuous footage. On the Flip there is no pause and everytime you press stop, that's it, to restart opens a new video.
The zoom isnt so great so it becomes fuzzy unless you are up relatively close. I agreed with reviews that said their digital camera does exactly the same thing. This is no different than the video function on any digital camera and as such I dont always remember to take the Flip out with me because I can do the same whilst also taking photos.
Whilst this is a great little machine, I dont think I'd buy it again. You can buy cheap enough regular camcorders and my digital camera gets more use.

i have to say i was very happy with the purchase of the flip, its small and compact to fit in the pocket, easy to use with its point and shoot, instant playback, and whan transferrred to the computer, the video picture is excellent. I take mine on fishing trips and have been delighted with the results, it realy is so simple to use. would recommend the flip to anyone.

I have a Flip, I've given two as presents, I've persuaded 3 friends to buy one and I have now bought two on behalf of two workplaces. This is simply the best piece of kit - particularly good in poor light and excellent sound quality. Easy of use is a highlight and having just been on a 1,000 mile trip on the ancient Silk Road, the one hour recording time was more than sufficient. I had 15 mins spare on return and felt I was flipping all the time

If you're looking for a simple, easy to use video camera that just gets on and does the biz, this is it. No fuss, no long-winded instructions, no training course required, just point & shoot. Worked straight out of the box on XP Pro and comes with a nifty and simple to use editing programme built in. The flip-out USB is very 007 and most importantly the picture quality is pretty good too. If you're like me and don't go a bundle on the technicals but just want something that does its job well and is soooooo easy to use then buy it - you won't be disappointed.

Well, having read all the reports on the Flip camcorder, and considering all the points made, I decided to buy the thing anyway and can only say that it has proved to be one of the best buys ever. Ok it's not going to allow me to create a cinematic masterpiece but it is so simple to use and the clarity of playback, even on a big screen, is excellent. Absolutely delighted with the product so, go for it.