If you typically move footage to your PC for editing, the Everio's storage scheme works wonderfully.

Of course, once you do fill the camera's drive, you can't swap discs-you won't be able to record more until you move some files to your personal computer or delete some footage. This is a dramatic improvement over MiniDV (1 hour at high quality) or MiniDVD (a mere 20 minutes at high quality). You can store from 7 (Ultra quality) to 14 (Normal) hours of 720x480 MPEG-2 video on the drive, or as much as 37 hours of 320x240 footage. The most notable feature of the JVC Everio GZ-MG30U is its 30GB hard drive. You'll have to remove the camera from a tripod if you want to swap an SD card, but it's not an issue when recording to the nonremovable hard drive. Things get a lot busier under its LCD, however. One nice touch is an Info button that gives one-touch access to the amount of available recording time, as well as estimated battery life. Flip open the LCD to find just five more buttons and a gamepad-style menu navigation control. The exterior of the case has only three switches: a power/mode control, a zoom rocker, and the record button. The Everio's smallish size precludes a lot of external controls. A feature that senses rapid acceleration (read: dropping the camera) protects the disk by shutting down the drive.

Weighing just 0.9 pound with battery installed, the Everio is very lightweight, but its thick plastic case feels solid enough to withstand typical handling in the field. This gives it a boxy look, but it's amazingly comfortable for one-handed shooting and easily drops into a jacket pocket. It's short in both height and length, though it's as wide as a typical DV camcorder. For such a capacious camcorder, the JVC Everio GZ-MG30U is extremely small. With a 25X zoom lens and a built-in video light, it offers solid camcorder features, but its wimpy battery poops out long before you can fill much of the massive storage space with the camcorder's mediocre recordings. The JVC Everio GZ-MG30U eschews removable storage and instead includes a built-in 30GB hard drive (similar to that found in the iPod) for an extremely impressive 7 hours of storage at best quality and as much as 37 hours of Web-quality footage. As the battle heats up between DVD, SD, and MiniDV camcorders, JVC has entered the market with a fourth media option that borrows as much technologically from the iPod as it does from competing cameras.

Jvc everio battery