Digital Trends

Hard disc drive (HDD) camcorders are the newest wave of home video makers—and they're pounding another nail in the coffin of tape-based models. Think of the Apple iPod blowing out the cassette Walkman for another example of HDDs trumping other technologies. As we've reported since January CES tape is going the way of the dodo as DVD-based camcorders take the market by storm and newer HDD and memory card based editions improve in quality and drop in price. Toshiba, a company not well-known for portable electronics other than a couple of Gigabeat MP3 players and portable DVD players, has recently introduced two HDD models, the 30GB gigashot GSC-R30 and the $999 60GB GSC-R60. When you add a half dozen JVC Everio G series models and the new Sony DCR-SR100, you have more than a blip on the radar screen—you've got a full-blown trend!

We've reviewed a 2005 Everio and weren't that impressed with the video even though it and other HDD camcorders record DVD level MPEG2 quality (9 Mbps top setting). We were mightily taken with its seven-hour capacity, something no tape- or disc-based camcorder offers. With its 30GB drive, the Toshiba gigashot records 6 hours and 47 minutes of MPEG2 video. It can also take thousands of 2-megapixel stills. Let's see what tales the GSC-R30 had for us when we took it through its paces...