I was looking for a camera for every day use, you know when you just want to capture a silly moment? And I also fancied having a go at video blogging. I asked for one for christmas, thinking I wanted a flip camera. But my lovely boyfriend did the research and decided to go for a Zi8 instead, and I have to say I'm really very grateful.

Appearance:
The camera is about the size of a blackberry curve, mine has raspberry pink colouring around the edge and on the side where the lens is, the other side is black with a nice big LCD screen, the whole thing is very shiny.
I has a large round button in the centre and then 4 other buttons, its not hugely complex to use. It has a rounded bottom, and a strap can be added for extra safety. It also has the ability to be connected to a tripod for hands free usage, which is great.

Usage:
It really is super easy to use, literally, point and click. The central button is the start and stop recording button and you can see everything really clearly through the big screen. There is also playback capabilities on the device itself.
It has a built in USB plug so you can plug it straight into your computer and play around with the videos. This also charges the battery (handy if you lend it to a friend and forget to give them the charger!)
It also has an SD card slot so you can choose how much memory it has. I understand that you can connect an external microphone to the device, for awesome audio. This was one of the reasons my boyfriend chose it over the flip, but I've yet to try this out.

Video Quality:
The quality of the video produced by my Zi8 is pretty cool. Unfortunately when you film inside, it can seem a bit grainy, but the picture outside is beautifully crisp. I think the indoor quality would be greatly improved with a lot of lights on, but it's not hideous. I'll still be able to use it for video blogging, and am planning a series of tutorials. Even without a microphone the sound quality is lovely on the films and they translate pretty well to our big screen!

Overall, I'm really happy with my little video camera, and would highly recommend it as an every day camera, it fits right in my handbag and means I'm always ready to catch those special moments.