gdgt

A solid hard-drive based HD camcorder, the Canon HG10 nevertheless has its share of annoying quirks.

Footage displays naturalistic (if slightly warm) colours, with the auto white balance getting it right under a wide variety of lighting conditions. Played back through stereo speakers, sound quality is OK rather than knock out. Despite these gripes, the HG10 gives a solid and reliable performance.

Despite minor gripes, the HG10 offers solid performance at a reasonable price. And that's enough for us to recommend the Canon HG10.

If you’re in the market for an HDD camcorder, the Canon HG10 is the best on the market. If you’re in the market for an AVCHD camcorder, the HG10 offers the highest video quality we’ve seen so far. ... if you walk in armed with the pros and cons, we think you’ll be pleased.

If jumping into a new format is not too frightening, the Canon HG10 is the best camcorder to date in the AVCHD format. It has its flaws, and the cost is still prohibitive, but the HG10 is hard to top.

Although the HG10 doesn't bowl us over quite as much as the HV20, it's still an impressive piece of kit. ... So, not the perfect high-definition camcorder with a hard disk. But the best we've seen yet.

As good as the HG10's pictures, sound and features are, the extra hassle of hunting down a pricey cable is unforgivable. For that reason alone, we are marking down an otherwise very impressive performer. If you can get the cable for free, it's a worthwhile buy, if not it may be better to walk on by.