Hitachi debuts hybrid camcorder

CES 2007 – With more and more hard drive based camcorders being launched by the day, one wonders what will happen to DVD camcorders. Will those go out of style? Of course, there are pros and cons for either platform, which is why Hitachi decided to end all quarrels by offering a hybrid model. The DZ-HS300A hybrid camcorder can record to either DVD or HDD formats, featuring ne touch easy dubbing from HDD to DVD as well as a 1 second quick start time to capture important moments on-the-fly. Supported DVD formats include DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM, and +RW. In addition, you can also pop in an SD card whne using this hybrid camcorder to shoot photo stills. The built-in hard drive isn’t exactly the biggest in the world, offering 6 hours’ worth of recording time. According to the Hitachi rep, the DZ-HS300A has a battery life of approximately 1 hour when recording, which will definitely be a disappointment to many. It will be priced in the region of $600, although the release date has yet to be determined.