The distinctive pistol-grip Sanyo Xacti camcorders have been around since the VPC-C1 in 2003. That model’s video quality wasn’t quite good enough to justify its high price, but things have changed dramatically since then.

This latest model’s half-HD video recording (720p) and 7.1-megapixel stills capability is a world away from the original’s basic feature set. And while image quality can’t match the best dedicated devices, it does a surprisingly good all-round job.

Photographs shot with the HD700 are inevitably limited by the lens, and colours are a little wan, but there’s much more control offered over your stills than on the average pocket camcorder. You get a proper flash for a start, but also more advanced controls such as a choice between spot, centre-weighted and multispot metering.

Video is more the HD700’s forte, and footage is recorded at 1280 x 720 in MPEG4 H.264 format onto SD cards. Shooting options are limited compared with a camera such as the Panasonic above, but the simple interface and digital image stabilisation make it simple to get decent results.

Colours are again a little washed out and, in low light, the picture is quite noisy, but in HD mode outside there’s nothing serious to complain about.

And the HD700’s upright design makes it just as comfortable to hold and use as ever. All the buttons fall directly under your thumb, so you can easily use the camera with one hand. It’s also one of the most pocketable camcorders you can buy, and slips comfortably into a jacket pocket with barely a bulge.

If you don’t need the ultimate in quality, the HD700’s interface, comfortable design and decent images and video make it worth a look. It’s similar in size and weight to a point-and-shoot camera, but adds HD video to the deal, making it a good all-rounder at a decent price.