Mobile phones today boast enough megapixels to take a perfect large-size still image but let’s face it, most mobile phones still lack high-definition video recording. Not everyone owns a video camcorder and if you do, keeping with you all the times is a bit cumbersome due to its bulk and weight. Thus, Pocket camcorders have surfaced over the past few years and true to its name the camcorders are pocketable, shoot video in HD resolution and are very easy to use. Creative’s Vado HD is one of them that tries to take on the likes of Flip Mino, Kodak Zi8 etc.
Vado HD is currently in its third iteration and Creative has made an effort to make it look different from the second generation. Although the new Vado HD still has a 2-inch display, gone are conventional playback buttons. The controls are now touch-sensitive except for the record button, to maintain its distinctiveness. The bottom part of the player hosts a tripod mount, a flip-out USB cord; the right side has two buttons – one for deleting content and other to switch between video recording and still image capture; the top side features the power button and a 3.5mm input for external microphone or headphones; the rear side holds the Vado HD’s CMOS sensor and has a 1050mAh removable battery.
Vado HD packaging includes the camcorder, extended USB cable, an HDMI cable and a user manual.
Vado HD’s body is made of shiny plastic, which is good for aesthetics but bad when it has to handle fingerprints and scratches. You’ll find yourself wiping fingerprint smudges a lot of times and is scratch-prone as well.
There’s not much to say on the UI front since Vado HD has been designed to be used even by a first-time user. Just hit the record button to start recording videos, up/down touch-buttons to adjust digital zoom (up to 2X) and forward/rewind touch-buttons to adjust exposure. Pressing the Video/Photo button on the side will switch the modes accordingly or holding the button will trigger the settings menu, which by the way has not much to configure.
Vado HD can capture videos at 720p or VGA resolution on its non-expandable 4GB storage. It allows to record up to 4 hours of VGA video, 2 hours of video shot at HD resolution or only 1 hour when shot at HD+ mode. The difference between HD and HD+ mode is that the latter uses a higher video compression bit rate to capture better video quality with finer details. Vado HD can also shoot up to 7,000 images at the same resolution. Also to note is the motion detection that starts video recording as soon as some motion is detected in front of the camera.
Speaking about its video capturing quality, the pocket camcorder fared well in the bright sunlight. However, it suffered when we tried to shoot in low-light or tried macro shooting. Although Vado HD allows to adjust control exposure manually the impact of adjusting it is minimal. Check out the short sample video and couple of still images below.
Vado HD’s primary aim is to create quick videos and allow quick sharing, which can be done by way of Vado Central software. Good thing about Vado Central is that it comes pre-loaded on the recorder and supports both Windows and Mac OS.
Just like the camcorder, Vado Central is also easy to use. All the recorded content gets quickly organized and can be emailed or shared on any of sharing sites like YouTube, PhotoBucket, Facebook, KinKast or Box.net.
Creative has undoubtedly improved the Vado HD from its predecessor but when it comes to go head to head with its competition, Vado HD doesn’t actually make the cut. Although it’s international price ranges around $179-225 or about Rs. 8,000-10,000, the Indian pricing goes at a hefty Rs. 14,999. And if we compare it with Kodak’s Zi8 that can do full HD recording at a price of under 10k, Creative’s offering looks steeply priced.
Rating: 
Pros: Easy to use, HDMI-out
Cons: Price
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