I asked a couple of buddies - one at a large metro paper, the other at a mid-size daily - what camcorder they were sending with their reporters these days. I got the same answer from both, which led me to shell out a few dollars (yes, out of my own pocket!) for a Flip Ultra. The Flip Ultra is the latest version of Pure Digital’s best-selling video camera. From a variety of available colors, I chose the orange and white version, in honor of my beloved Tennessee Vols. After carrying the Flip Ultra in my pocket for the past two weeks, I’ve become quite attached to the addictive device. Listing for $179 (I found several online vendors selling the Ultra for $149), it is about the size of a pack of cigarettes. The 2 GB version, which I purchased, requires no tapes or additional memory cards to shoot up to 60 minutes of TV-quality video. And now for my favorite part: the Flip is equipped with a convenient USB arm that plugs directly into your computer, Mac or PC. The files are saved in AVI format, which easily opens in QuickTime thanks to the provided software. I was able to download the files to my computer and import them into iMovie in a matter of seconds. The Flip Ultra runs on two AA batteries and is ready to use out of the box. I dispensed of the manual and was shooting videos within seconds. System requirements (to download and edit the videos) are Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later or Pentium 4, 2.0 GHz or faster. That’s it. Just about any computer purchased in the past two years should handle the Flip Ultra just fine. For more information and to see videos recorded on Flip, visit www.theflip.com.