I did a post recently on the snowball mic from blue microphones, I also got a snowflake mic at the same time, so here is a post about that too :D

the snowflake is the baby brother of the snowball a cardiod USB microphone with a built-in soundcard, so you only need a usb port for it to work.

1) the packaging is good quality, just like the snowball, I suspect that all blue mics get cool boxes.

2) it has an built in stand / monitor hook / cable holder / box thing.
i was really impressed with this bit. it has a metal plate on it that you can use to stand the mic on a desk, and also to hook it onto a screen. it also has a removable plastic back that stores the cable in it!

3) its plug and play. but not with protools, unless you have the new protools9 or protools10 and can select your input source :(

4) overall sound of the mic is excellent for the price, and is much better than a built in laptop mic its major benefit is that its compact and you can fit it in your pocket, or easily into your laptop bag. you dont need to carry around an mbox or the like, you only need a usb port. this is a major plus point for this bit of kit.

5) installation was very easy, just plugged it in and hooked it to the top of my screen

6) it has a build in ADC and from that point its digital. the mic outputs at 44.1Khz, 16bit. it uses usb, so you dont need a soundcard for it to work :)

if you are looking for a decent mic for skype / podcasting / recording on the road that wont break the bank then this mic is for you. you can find out more info at the blue microphones website and you can get the mic at the apple store