Photos: Samsung SC-HMX10

The HMX10 sports a compact, clean design, but results in some annoying interface quirks. For instance, you cycle through the video, still and playback modes by pressing the Mode button. Simple, yes. but that means when you're going from still mode back to video, you have to go through playback. And the minute you get there the camcorder load all the thumbnails for the existing stills and clips before it will respond to the button press necessary to continue. That can take long enough to make you miss some shots.

The HMX10 has some nice design touches, including plastic covers for the jacks and ports (many camcorders simply use the LCD as a "cover"). It includes full-size HDMI, proprietary video out, and USB connectors.

Samsung locates the battery and SD card slot on the top of the camcorder, which is a more convenient location than you usually find in these models. It also enables the company to make the unit just a tad more compact than competitors like the Panasonic HDC-SD9.

The HMX10's Quick Menu provides large targets for accessing a few of the frequently needed settings, but the touch areas for the submenus are too small given the screen's size and relative insensitivity.