One small camcorder

If you are anticipating a trip that is screaming for a video memory but don’t have the bucks or the space for a bulky digital camcorder, you might take a look at the new option by Pure Digital. It’s size looks more like an iPod than a camcorder, the two AA batteries counting for most of its heft.

But at a $130 price tag at budget retailers (think Target) you gotta take a look.  It’s easy to hold, with the video showing up on the LCD. Then plug it into the USB port on your computer for easy uploading with its nifty flip out connection.

The camera comes with the necessary video drivers and the camcorder shows up as another drive on your computer, similar to your digital camera. The format is AVI for Windows compatibility. It is a pared down system and only about thirty minutes of video is captured on the internal memory before you have to download it. There’s no way to adjust quality or quantity. It is what it is, using the DivX compression ratio at a 640 by 480 resolution.

Simple manual controls just let you record or play back and delete plus a mini pad that lets you zoom in or out. Reviewers say the picture quality is not bad, and considering you may not take any video at all if you have to lug a larger camcorder around, this could be your answer to memories of your family vacations or holidays.