Toshiba Camileo Pro HD: Cheap, pocket-friendly HD camcorder
In a desperate bid to distract us from the embarrassing death of HD DVD, Toshiba has been throwing new products at us left, right and centre this week, including this budget hi-def shooter
Toshiba -- perhaps trying to distract us from the newly deceased HD DVD format -- has been throwing new products at us left, right and centre this week. Unfortunately we can't yet tell you about the coolest stuff Tosh has up its sleeve, but we can tell you about the new Camileo Pro HD camcorder.
It's like the handheld Camileo Pro we reviewed last year. But whereas that "put the 'standard' in standard definition", this baby records in 720p hi-def. Not impressed? How about we tell you it costs less than £150? Got your attention? Good.
Video is encoded in the H.264/MPEG4 format and recorded either to the 128MB internal memory or to an optional memory card. It has support for 32GB SDHC storage, which is handy, since that gives you the ability to record up to 16 hours of HD footage. Once you've recorded your video, you can spit it over the integrated HDMI port directly to your TV.
The Camileo Pro HD is a tiny bit fatter than its predecessor, but it's still easily pocketable and can be used as a standard digital stills camera. The 7-megapixel CCD is fine if you ask us -- although it's possible to interpolate images up to the equivalent of 11 megapixels using software. It also has an MP3 player, voice recorder, motion-sensing ability and will let you read ebooks. It's available in April 2008. Watch for a full review soon. -Rory Reid