Hitachi DZHS300A DVD-HDD 8GB Hybrid Digital Camcorder (25x Opt, 1200x Dig, 2.7

This hybrid has more dedicated buttons than most camcorders we've looked at recently. All buttons are relatively large and easy to press. The one awkward aspect of using this camera involves having the four-way menu navigation button on the same side of the body as the LCD; with the LCD folded out at a right angle to the thumbwheel, working the control and reading the on-screen menus at the same time can be a bit tough. (It works better if you flip the LCD around and fold it back against the camera, screen out. But then you have to rotate the screen back when you're ready to record video.)

PC World's Test Center rated the DZHS300A's video quality as Fair overall, with below-average scores for video shot indoors under standard lighting and in low light. Though it wasn't outstanding, video captured informally in an outdoor setting looked attractive enough. Colors seemed a bit oversaturated, and images weren't as sharp as those produced by competing camcorders, but exposure accuracy was quite good.

Dubbing videos from the hard drive to a Mini DVD disc was easy, though hardly speedy--the unit took about 7 minutes to transfer approximately 5 minutes of video. The dedicated dubbing button on the side of the camera only allows you to transfer all of the clips from the hard drive; if you want to limit the transfer to selected clips, you have to work through the main menu system.

Hitachi provides video software suitable for both PCs and Macs. For Windows systems, you get ImageMixer 3, a basic video editor; for Macs, the choice is Pixe VRF Browers EX and ImageMixer VCD/DVD2--two rudimentary apps for downloading and burning video DVDs. The only drawback to using ImageMixer is that you must finalize the Mini DVD in the camcorder before the software will import the video. This step was not necessary with Sony's DVD408 and Canon's DC50.

In the field of bargain camcorders, the DXHS300A may be worth a look--not so much for its dual media support as for its 25X optical zoom and bright, wide-format LCD.

Tracey Capen