I have read a bunch of opinions on it already and there are some good and some bad. It requires a whole new method of taping away from home like on vacation. Instead of storing tapes you need to download the video (takes a few minutes on the fastest connection) in order to shoot more video. So a microdrive like device (iPod) w/ a huge HD would work.
Here are some specs:
Similar to the single-CCD Everio camcorders launched in the fall of 2004, the GZ-MC500 is capable of recording up to 60 minutes of DVD-resolution video at 720 x 576 pixels onto a 4 GB Microdrive. New as of this model is the three separate 1.33 Megapixel CCD imaging censors, catering separately to red, green and blue colours. In addition to video, the GZ-MC500 also combines and interpolates data from all three sensors to achieve pictures with resolutions up to 2560 x 1920 pixels, or in leighman's terms 5.1 Megapixels.
According to JVC, this approach results in several benefits over previous models, including sharper and more vivid colours; from what little I was able to determine whilst playing with the model at CeBIT, performance was quite good when considering the small size of the camera. A 10x optical zoom (8x for stills) JVC lens comes in handy for close-ups, and shoots video in native 4:3 or 16:9 formats.
At its highest quality mode, the GZ-MC500 records at a fixed data rate of 8.88 Mbps including Dolby Digital audio (8.5 Mbps video plus 384 Kbps Dolby Digital Audio) at 50i FPS and a resolution of 720 x 576, which is comparable to DVD quality video. At this setting, JVC lists the GZ-MC500 as capable of storing up to one hour of video on a 4 GB MicroDrive, which can easily be exchanged. If you prefer quantity over quality, the GZ-MC500E can also muster a lowest setting of 30p FPS, a data rate of 1.5 Mbps and resolution of 352 x 240 pixels, which should allow for up to 5 hours of video.
Due to its use of hard drives as the storage of medium of choice, the GZ-MC500 is also equipped with a floating suspension system to dampen vibrations through polymer shock absorbers that automatically engage when the disk is writing/reading and disengage to allow disk ejection/loading.
