Is this Flip way too slow or is this normal?

Question

I have the Flip Mino (the non-HD one). Lately I've noticed, that it takes a longer to transfer movies from the Flip to my computer.

For instance, it takes about 2 minutes to transfer 400MB or so. If you do the USB2 math, this is barely USB1.1. Btw, I've tried it on various computers with the same results.

So, I called their tech support, and of course, they tell me that this is reasonable. I've created a QuickTime movie showing the copy process. Can someone tell me if this is reasonable or not?

http://www.sqleffects.com/mystuff/FlipIsSlow.mov

Answer 1

It does sound like you're only getting a USB 1.1 connection rather than a USB 2.0 connection.

If you're using all the same equipment (Flip Mino, USB lead etc.) then it's difficult to suggest what might have changed.

Assuming you're using the same lead and that it's not damaged the only other thing I can think of is that it's down to the amount of charge left in the Flip battery. Have you tried the transfer with the Flip attached to the mains charger?

I know that digital cameras need to be powered when transferring.

Answer 2

Just because some device says it is USB2 does not mean it can transfer at the full 480Mb/s, In fact, I have never seen any device do this - the fastest I have seen was a ultra high speed USB stick which had a read speed of around 24Mb/s.

I have two friends who have the Flip camera and have complained about slow transfer seed - all I can say is leave it running. I am sure it is a limitation of the device and not your computer.