How is mounting this on a bicycle going to do any good? Unless you're pulling a kite behind your bike and you've suspended the camera from it, your footage will not show any "video evidence" of bad drivers. You'll just end up with a shaky footage of the road in front of your bike.

i am a neophyte. does it record sound as well?

This is apparently a discounted item no longer sold by Toshiba. Sears and Fry's did not sell it either. I bought one anyway in spite of the poor reviews on Amazon. This will replace my Flip camcorder which I also bought on Woot a year ago.

suttonabc wrote:Okay. Thanks! I have a regular camera that will make videos, but they aren't good for that, and it DOES have auto focus, so I was afraid that might not be as good as it sounded.
I appreciate the info.! Have a great day! Happy Wooting!

One of the great uses for these video box cameras is "slice of life" everyday shots. Kids playing with the dog, shopping, camping.People are much more casual around this kind of camera. For your sports shots, I suspect you need a real video camera, and not even a small still camera that also shoots video. You may not want to use autofocus, unless it is very, very responsive. Perhaps a current DSLR might fill the bill. I'm sure others will have more info on that.

Hello all,
Anyone know if you can stream live with this via the USB cable to a site like Ustream?

Thanks

sstern15 wrote:i am a neophyte. does it record sound as well?

Yes, it records sound.

sdc100 wrote:
- Can function as a webcam -- VERY RARE yet often requested feature!!! I'm not sure why so many people ask for this feature since virtually all laptop and netbooks have a webcam built in.

If it's a webcam you can use it for stop motion frame capture. HD brickflicks FTW!

woottoady wrote:I don't get it... I can't text, tweet or Facebook with this thing, or play games, read books, listen to my tunes, or even make calls.

What good is this?

It's a video camera. Many people don't need to "text, tweet or Facebook with this thing, or play games, read books, listen to my tunes" -- nor want to pay the expense to do so. My parents, grandparents and neighbor come to mind. And I sometimes need to record patient interviews at work. Why would I want to spend money on features I'd never use when I could spend $49 to do exactly what I need?

And what smartphone has all the BUILT-IN features of this camera? Certainly not the iPhone which doesn't have something as basic as external memory.

Just bit the bullet and bought two of these. THEN I saw some of the references to somewhat negative reviews.... Which brings me to a very important question about this Woot thing... Anyone know what their return policy is? Just in case these camcorders, although a decent price, don't measure up to my needs....

mcboozo wrote:I've got an older (first gen) Flip Mino HD, any idea how this would compare? Is it worth $50 to possibly upgrade? Thanks for any feedback!

Night and Day. The Flip is the most over-hyped palmcorder with the fewest features I've ever used, and I've used many. In fact, it has fewer features than some of the no-name Chinese ones I bought on ebay for $20. For example, it is the ONLY one that can't take stills, requiring you to do screen captures on your computer. And it's one of the few that doesn't use removable memory cards.

The Flip basically made its reputation with slick packaging (their boxes are second to none!) and celebrity association. They did this by giving their cameras away in celebrity gift bags at high profile events.

Even the eponymous Flip arm is a liability. not the positive feature they led people to believe. It required desk space to protrude from your laptop, and can't be used on most desktops (since the USB port if off any surface). You then usually have to use the USB extension cord, which defeats the whole purpose of the arm. Worse, it often broke and is pretty much irreplaceable. On the other hand, an old fashion USB port uses an easily replaceable 99 cent USB cord. Worse, since the Flip doesn't use external memory cards, it becomes useless once the arm breaks since there is no other way to transfer files. The best solution is used by Creative Vados. It has a curly USB cord that stores inside the camera.

That said, the Flip did take decent videos... However, my Flip died within 6 months.

Ok, enough Flip bashing. As much as the Flip was no-frills, this Toshiba is the opposite. It features nearly every frill you can imagine for a palmcorder. See this post.

PocketBrain wrote:Incidentally, how wide is the thing? Does anybody know of a way to synchronize two and stitch the videos together to make a 3D video? There's gotta be hackers working on this.

The biggest problem is to recreate the parallax used to capture the video, and unless you have two cameras [semi-]permanently mounted, it's hard to convincingly create the two images required for each eye.

I could be wrong, however. I believe YouTube has a 3D function where it would automatically merge two appropriate videos, and create an anaglyphic 3D video. Check out this page. Note, however, that this requires anaglyphic glasses, mostly likely cyan/red. Don't expect to view these videos on your 3D TV with the shutter glasses. or a high tech display using polarized lenses.

mrmadness2 wrote:Scaring you??? It's like fifty dollars. Just buy it and use it once, then if you don't like it throw it in the trash. I'll spend fifty dollars today on paper towels.

Some of us, *gasp* only spend money on things we'll actually use.

motelman wrote:Just bit the bullet and bought two of these. THEN I saw some of the references to somewhat negative reviews.... Which brings me to a very important question about this Woot thing... Anyone know what their return policy is? Just in case these camcorders, although a decent price, don't measure up to my needs....

There is no return policy for Buyer's Remorse. And their official policy on defective products is to contact the manufacturer. Basically, Woot is a liquidator and don't really accept returns except in extraordinary cases, i.e. their description was wrong. HOWEVER, Woot is very accommodating and helpful.

You can cancel or modify your order before it ships. For example, you may want to take a chance on one instead of buying two. Email service@woot.com.

Would only work as a bike cam if you glued it to a helmet. The frame of a bike is far too shaky to get good video.

moonman921 wrote:Does any one know if this is compatible with a Mac?

Yes it is, and is recognized as a standard USB device. SOme of the included software, however, is Windows-specific.

Any manual exposure control? That's what really stinks about my flip vid.

Does anyone know if this camera will send a live picture via HDMI? Or does it only display previously recorded material?

mikelod wrote:Does anyone know how this compares to the Kodak Zi8? I love my Kodak Zi8 but I need a back up. Also, how's the audio recording for this, loud volumes spike on my flip mino too often.

This is much better than the Zi8. There are only 2 areas where the Zi8 beats this Toshiba.

1) Kodak has the best macro lens I've ever seen on a low cost camcorder. In fact, most camcorders, including other Kodak models don't have a macro lens. The macro shots are so good on my zi6 that I've used it to take closeup medical photos. For example, fingerprints come out very clear. This Toshiba does not appear to have a macro mode.

2) Although both cameras only capture mono audio, the Kodak has a jack for an external stereo mic.

That said, this Toshiba has MANY more features and one important one for me: Kodak stupidly chose to use the Mac-centric MOV container, which is a problem for Windows and many home users. That's because few digital photo frames would play MOVs, preferring the more universal AVI container. Using MOV was one of the downfalls of Kodak as consumers avoided their otherwise excellent camcorders.

Great minds think alike. I just saw that it was called the Camileo while I was on my iPhone and dropped a one liner. I didn't read any of the other comments.

sstern15 wrote:i am a neophyte. does it record sound as well?

Yes, it does record monaural sound (not stereo).

hotrod4x5 wrote:Any manual exposure control? That's what really stinks about my flip vid.

Doesn't mention anything about this in the manual. On the plus side, it does feature face recognition, which allegedly adjusts the exposure automatically for each face recognized. IN other words, one scene can have multiple zones of exposure. And you can adjust white balance manually.

gak0090 wrote:Pay a few extra bucks and get the Kodak playsport ZX5, it's a better camera and waterproof. It was one of the best things that Kodak ever put out- it's got great reviews all around the web.

Thanks for the suggestion. Just purchased a Burton bundle @ Adorama. More expensive but seems to offer a lot more.

mcboozo wrote:I've got an older (first gen) Flip Mino HD, any idea how this would compare? Is it worth $50 to possibly upgrade? Thanks for any feedback!

I also bought the Flip HD from Woot last year. I have been very pleased with it. I bought this Toshiba B10 because of the longer record times and digital zoom.

(\__/) (\_(\
(='.'=) (=' :')
(")_(") (,(')(')

prissyrabbit wrote:IMO - not worth the $50. I have the S20 model (which has the flip-out screen that I really wanted). So, it's not the same model, but it seems this model has all the same complaints as the model I have - especially the bad sound and basically not useable in low lighting. Someone said they would use it to take to concerts. You'll only do that once cuz you will get a video that you can't see anything. And the sound will be bad. This is okay (picture-wise) to use outdoors in BRIGHT sunlight only. And still, you won't get good sound quality at all.

Your experience certainly doesn't match actual videos on Youtube. The best test of its low light abilities is in the below video, which specifically set out to test low light performance and reaction to light changes. The man says that the camera was able to capture images (the cans) that his eyes couldn't make out in the dark. And based on his demonstration, the LED light is no gimmick. It really worked, and the contrast in the dark was impressive. I must say that it's one of the best low light performances I have seen. There is not much graininess and I didn't see any frame skipping. According to the user, graininess only shows up at 1080p.

Watch his video and read his comments.

As for recording performances, he has a bunch of those videos too and they also contradict your assessment. The video is sharp and exposure is very good, and the sound is fine.

Low light performance (first press is for BackLighting, second press turns LED on)
http://youtu.be/6Sbmor8CvU8


Recording a performance
http://youtu.be/oDOQn3zsV_I

This is long and drawn out but eventually I get to the point. I think.

Bought the FLIP HD from W00t last year. (actually bought six of them, three for gifts.)

Since then I have been through several phones that had HD recording capabilities and a couple of cameras.. Here are my opinions.

#1: HTC Thunderbolt -- Took realy good stills & HD Vid. Pretty close to the FLIP HD.

#2: Motorola Bionic: -- Took poopy stills and sub-par HD video. (outdoor pics/vids were almost acceptable) FLIP HD was better.

#3: Motorola Razr MAXX -- Same as the Bionic. FLIP HD was better.

The FLIP HD took better videos than almost all of the phones. I would say it was as good as the Thunderbolt.

Canon Powershot SD850IS: Takes awesome stills, great non-HD video.

Nikon Coolpix S8100 - Takes awesome HD videos and beautiful stills. The only thing that sucks is the noise from zoom motor while taking videos. Seems to be a common problem on a lot of cameras. Best HD recorder I own.

AND... the point of this post...

I bought a Toshiba portable HD that died after about a month. Toshiba gave me the option of either a refurbed drive, or a MSRP credit on their website. I had already purchased a larger portable drive so I took the credit and bought a full size Toshiba Camileo X200.

Compared to all of the above mentioned recorders, it sucks in all regards.

If you put a very fast SD card in it and put it on a tripod under very good lighting (preferably indoors) and don't move it at all you will get a pretty good picture but for everything else, it well... really sucks. Don't even bother taking it outside.

So if their $229.00 camcorder can't even take decent videos I don't think this thing is going to do very well. Especially considering the other options out there.

I absolutely LOVE my Flip(s) and all the people I gifted them to love them as well. They really take great video and it's nice to have a decent camcorder in such a small, convenient package.

For the record, none of the FLIPS I own or gave away have had a problem.

Just my 2 pennies.

hotrod4x5 wrote:Any manual exposure control? That's what really stinks about my flip vid.

You bought a video box camera and expected manual controls? These cameras are not aimed at that kind of user.

gpecci wrote:This is apparently a discounted item no longer sold by Toshiba. Sears and Fry's did not sell it either. I bought one anyway in spite of the poor reviews on Amazon. This will replace my Flip camcorder which I also bought on Woot a year ago.

Like everything else on the Interweb, one must take reviews with a grain of salt. In my experience, photographic neophytes seem to think that because it is "digital," it is magic. It's not, it just doesn't use film. If a similarly configured film camera can't do it, the digital version can't either. There ain't no free lunch at this early stage of digital photography. In 12 years, a different story.

zomigi wrote:Can anyone say more about how well this records in indoor lighting and low-light situations? My favorite thing about both Flip cameras I've owned (one was stolen, the other I broke the power button on 2 months ago) is how well they capture video in low light. Most of my videos are of my little kids playing inside, so this is an important feature to me. Can anyone say how this Toshiba's low-light quality compares to the Flip UltraHD's?

Seems to do very well at 720p in low light. See these videos. The first specifically tests for low light performance in 3 modes (with no enhancement; with backlighting; with LED). It also tests for reaction to lighting changes, which seems very fast. The second video records a performance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDOQn3zsV_I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Sbmor8CvU8

Its a TOSHIBA with 1080p..you cant go wrong

I've decided to bite the bullet & take a chance on it. $50 is too good a deal to pass up (it actually came out to roughly $60 with shipping & tax). I've always wanted to own a small vid camera.

I mount one of these on my motorbike and it takes EXCELLENT videos and stills! Had to get two more for friends.

It's a discontinued item. It is not a good substitute for a still cam. The sound is only so-so. When you zoom you shake so the takes are no better than Flip-cam, which is also sucky. For fun, it's an okay item for the price; keep it in your car, or get a mount/tripod to stabilize it and use to make movies to post on the web.

jmp8910 wrote:Good Price! Goes for $119 from the manufacturer.
http://us.toshiba.com/video-electronics/camcorders/camileo-b10/

Why would you ever base a deal's worth based on the manufacturer's retail price?

sdc100 wrote:The biggest problem is to recreate the parallax used to capture the video, and unless you have two cameras [semi-]permanently mounted, it's hard to convincingly create the two images required for each eye.

I could be wrong, however. I believe YouTube has a 3D function where it would automatically merge two appropriate videos, and create an anaglyphic 3D video. Check out this page. Note, however, that this requires anaglyphic glasses, mostly likely cyan/red. Don't expect to view these videos on your 3D TV with the shutter glasses. or a high tech display using polarized lenses.

You're only a little bit wrong. Youtube offers several ways to watch 3d video. One of these methods is the cross-eye method, which requires no glasses, only practice.

radi0j0hn wrote:You bought a video box camera and expected manual controls? These cameras are not aimed at that kind of user.

Well, my Samsung galaxy S has exposure control for video!

Got this in a few days ago, and took a video with the built in memory (very small built in memory). I was going to upload it today, and my player will no longer turn on, will not display as a drive on my computer, and does not light up when plugged into a charger, USB or AC (Flip charger) where the manual says it should light up. So it could be a dead battery, and it could be something much worse. I'm going to leave it connected to USB tonight, and see if I have any better luck tomorrow. :<

This camera will not turn on. How do I return it?