Having been a huge hit in America, the original Flip never managed to gain much of a foothold this side of the pond. Touted as the iPod of digital camcorders, it was designed with ease-of-use as a priority, even over video quality and product size.

We were less than impressed with its original incarnation, and matters weren't helped when Creative's better - and cheaper - Vado was released around the same time.

Somewhat inevitably, Flip has released an upgraded version of its camcorder. The Flip Video Ultra HD boasts high-definition recording, 8GB of internal flash memory, an NiMH rechargeable battery and an HDMI-out port.

The UltraHD can use standard AA batteries too, so no need to charge it up when you're in the field - just swap the batteries over.

Other than the new innards, it's business as usual for the Flip.

The chassis is almost identical to the original, and still of a size akin to a decade-old mobile phone. Not totally impractical, but sticking it in the pocket of a tight-fitting pair of trousers may lead to some unfortunate rippage.

We're guessing that this is partly down to the distance between the lens and the sensor on the back of the new Flip, which seems much deeper than its predecessor's.

And let's not forget that it's also staggeringly ugly. When we reviewed the MinoHD we were pleasantly surprised with its looks, but with the UltraHD, Flip has returned to its ugly duckling roots.

The Flip Ultra Video HD also maintains the flip-out USB connector, which is veyr handly as it allows you to plug it into any computer with no need for any cables.

The ultra-simple interface hasn't changed either. Start-up time is still an impressive two seconds, and the recorded is started and stopped by pressing the big red button. Pressing the play button lets you see what you've recorded, and if they're too embarrassing they're easily deleted with the push of another button.

Video quality is good, and far, far better than what we experienced from its predecessor. Colours are bright and vivid, there is very little grain on the video, and low-light recording is impressively sharp. We used the Flip UltraHD alongside its smaller, slightly more expensive brother the MinoHD, and results were identical.

That's what we were expecting, as they both use the same 1/4.5in CMOS sensor.

The screen has been upped to two inches, making composing shots easier than it was on the original's matchbox-sized display. That was the main problem with the MinoHD - the screen was so small we almost doesn't even exist.

Flip UltraHD vs MinoHD: the latter is much more bulky - and a lot more ugly

Image stabilisation is completely absent so you'll need a steady hand - or a tripod - when recording vids. We didn't notice this until we came down with a sudden feeling of seasickness when replaying our videos.

One of the biggest differences with the Flip Ultra Video HD over the MinoHD is the inclusion of an HDMI port. This lets you watch your videos on a big, high-definition screen, but, alas, Flip has chosen not to include an HDMI cable (something Creative does include in the similar Vado HD).

HDMI: the port is located just below the flip-out USB connector

The results are very good and the 720p video looks pretty, but we wish Flip had included some way of outputting to a composite or SCART connection as well.

As with the Flip itself, the Windows software - which is included on the device - is incredibly easy to use. It made publishing to Youtube a doddle, but - astoundingly - it didn't let us upload our footage in HD. And surely this defeats 99% of the purpose of the Ultra Video HD.