The HDD spins at 5,400 rpm, has an 8MB cache memory, and a 3.0Gbps SATA interface. Samsung says the Spinpoint boasts a very low level of power consumption and comes with a shock resistance level of 400G (2ms) when it’s in use and 900G (1ms) when it’s off.

There will also be Spinpoint HDDs with 160, 250, 320 and 500GB on board. Samsung will start shipping the 640GB model in Europe and the USA starting mid-September, with the rest of the world following late September (MSRP: $149.99).

The secret to any imaging hardware is in the holy trinity of the lens, the sensor and the processor, and Sony has thrown everything but the kitchen sink at the Handycam CX520VE to make it a winner in all three areas. The Exmor R CMOS sensor has backlighting technology to improve camera resolution at low light levels plus the fact that its a CMOS in the first place speaks for itself. The glassware is the same as you’ll find in the top Sony Alpha DSLRs – the G lens – and it contains ED glass elements which keep the light as crisp and the images as high contrast as possible. And all the number crunching’s taken care of by the BIONZ processor. All good so far. On top of basics you get 12x optical zoom, 12-megapixel stills, auto geo-tagging, face detection, smile-shot and a touch sensitive 3-inch LCD. Perhaps the best feature, though, is the Optical SteadyShot ‘Active Mode’ which is touted as the first three-way camera steady function. Sony says that it reduces camera shake by 10x and is designed even to smooth out the effects of walking along while shooting. Very curious to see how well that works. The CX520VE gives you 25 hours of LP recording on its 64GB internal HDD and there’s also a CX505VE 32GB HDD model if you’re happy with 12. Either way, there’s space for one of Sony’s silly memory sticks to expand your storage, if you need. They record in 5.1 surround, they’re capable of burning onto discs without the use of a computer and generally sound like the kind of camcorder that everyone will hate you for having. They’re out in August and I’ll get you prices as soon as I have them. Sony Style Check out our Top 10 HD camcorders you can actually afford here