One of the most effective and smallest camcorders in the market right now, the Vado HD is a video titan. But a small one. The 8GB of onboard storage is acceptable, and an HDMI output is built into the hub for easy connection to your HD TV. There’s also a flip out USB stick that makes transferring videos to your PC – and thence to YouTube – a cinch.

Your home videos can be recorded in a number of resolutions up to 720p, and even if you refuse to shoot in anything but HD, you will fit an impressive two hours of footage on this killer compact. Hey, go ahead and spend that $150 or so one something useful!

Hitachi fuses a Blu-ray drive, a 30GB hard drive, and an SD/SDHC Card slot in this versatile camcorder. The 7-MP sensor can capture stills (on a memory card) and video in full (1920 x 1080) HD. You can transfer the contents of the hard drive and memory card to a Blu-ray disc right within the cam, giving you virtually limitless on-the-go shooting. Handy features include optical image stabilization and face detection, but the onboard editing options are especially compelling, including splicing, merging, transitions, and transporting (which allows for standard DVD recording).

Price for Hitachi DZ-BD10HA: $1,099