If you’ve been eying Flip Video’s popular MinoHD (reviewed March 2009) but have been put off by the simple-enough-for-simpletons approach, Kodak’s Zi-8 is the pocket cam you’ve been waiting for.Think of Kodak’s feature-rich Zi-8 as the anti-Flip camera. While you can’t change the battery on the MinoHD, you can on the Zi-8. Can’t change the mic-input levels on your MinoHD? On the Zi-8 you can. Can’t play back footage in slow-motion on your MinoHD? Or run an external microphone? Or use your own SD cards? Or take still images? You get the point.Kodak seems to have taken every geek’s wish-list for a pocket video cam and implemented it in the Zi-8. Slightly paunchier than Flip’s Mino series but comparable to Flip’s Ultra, the Zi-8 has modes for WVGA, 720p, 1080p, and even a 60fps 720p mode for sporting events. But wait, there’s more: Kodak also includes a macro mode, face-detection focusing, and an image stabilizer—hell, those guys even include a charger and HDMI cables, too!Start-up time on the Zi-8 is just less than two seconds, fast enough that you’ll likely never miss a shot. The stabilizer isn’t an optical stabilizer but it’s still far better than going without one.Files on the Zi-8 are written in the Apple QuickTime format, while Flip uses the obscure 3ivx codec. That makes sharing of the native Flip files a bit more complicated, while anyone with QuickTime can view the Zi-8’s.