Small, hand held video devices

[ghost]

I'm thinking of purchasing the wife a small video recorder for Christmas.  Anyone had any experience with these things?  We already have a nice recorder, but I want something she can keep in her purse.

example:  Flip HD

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002R5AM7C/ref=s9_pop_gw_tr03/181-0990337-0091716?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0E69HH9Z2TCDE1E7S2W8&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=493379291&pf_rd_i=507846

[Oban]

The iPhone 3GS seems to work quite well if you are looking for an all-in-one solution.

[ghost]

If you are using one for this, how much footage can you typically get before having to clear it off?  Also, is the picture quality decent?

[Oban]

It is good enough for me, not Avatar quality, but to each their own.

http://www.apple.com/iphone/iphone-3gs/video-recording.html

[ghost]

FYI- 

I have gone out and evaluated several of these.  My opinion is that if you are looking for something to play on a television that is decent quality then the iPhone is probably not it.  However, if you are looking for something that is decent enough for a computer to post videos to Youtube or whatnot it will work great.  The other options, e.g. Flip or Creative or Sony, are generally a slightly better quality picture, but only the higher resolution HD ones will make a difference really.  I'm going with the iPhone upgrade for portability and utility.