Looks like we may be getting those Hitachi hybrid camcorders sooner than expected. Hitachi’s 
Europe site has product pages for the [tag]Hitachi DZ-HS301[/tag] and [tag]Hitachi DZ-HS30[/tag]3 up and active. If you missed it last time, these hybrid camcorders record footage onto your usual MiniDVDs, but also feature built-in 8GB hard drives. Think about it, record all your video to the hard drive, select the best scenes and burn them to a 30 minute MiniDVD. What’s not to like?
The Hitachi DZ-HS301 features a 15x optical zoom and a 2.7″ widescreen LCD. The included battery lasts about 1 hour. 1 megapixel stills can be recorded on the 1/5″, 1.3 megapixel CCD. The DZ-HS301 also features a passive accessory shoe. DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW discs are supported. Audio is recorded in 2-Channel Stereo Dolby Digital.
The Hitachi DZ-HS303 ups the ante with a larger 1/3″ sensor and 3.1 megapixel stills. Zoom is reduced to only 10x optical. The included battery is longer lasting, though, and provides twice the battery life. LCD size remains the same, but an active accessory shoe has been added. Hitachi DZ-HS301 and DZ-HS303 Hybrid Camcorders - Digital Camcorder News