Even since before Turner was born, Traci and I have kicked around the idea of upgrading our video camera. We have an 8mm camera that I've had for over 10 years. The concerning thing for me is that the 8mm technology is on its way out the door, so if my camera ever happened to break, then it'd be more expensive (and at some point, nearly impossible) to access all of the 8mm cassettes that I have. And, quite frankly, I didn't want to have our only videos of Turner be stored on a dying medium.
While I wouldn't technically consider the Flip MinoHD a hardware "upgrade" (it's stripped of more advanced functionality), it's definitely an upgrade in the sense that the video quality is pretty good, it's easy as heck to operate (my mom has already taken several videos with nothing but basic instructions from me), it has a USB port built-in to it for quick and easy transfer of video files, and it is literally small enough to fit in your pocket (it's barely larger than my cellphone).
I'll be posting some videos on here at random and at some point I'll be posting comparison videos between the Mino and my 8mm camera.
I see the MinoHD as being the video equivalent of the most basic point-and-shoot digital camera in the photography world. So, it really seems odd that it intrigues me as much as it does. Overall, I'm very pleased with it so far and can recommend it to anyone who is looking for a very quick, easy, and convenient video camera.