Over the last few years, as the pocket camcorder market has taken off, pioneer Flip Video has narrowly hung onto the lead it built by offering models with arguably superior designs and slightly better video quality. A few companies, including Creative, Sony, and RCA, have been nipping at its heels for a while, but none has been able to overtake Flip's offerings. Until now. While Kodak's Zi8 may not be perfect, it has a lot of the little extras we've been asking for--including electronic image stabilization and external mic support--and delivers very respectable video for a minicamcorder well under $200.
Note: The Zi8 hasn't be released yet, but it is available for pre-order at Amazon.