Who wants to use their HDV camcorder as a playback deck? It's a sure way shorten the life of your expensive cam, and is a real hassle to always connect and disconnect to your TV. Come September, fans of HD video will be able to show off their works on the road with the world's first HDV Walkman from Sony Europe.

The GV-HD700E is able to play both HDV and high-def MiniDV tapes, making it practical to check video when shooting in the field. If you think the best feature is the 7-inch, 800 x 480-pixel widescreen LCD, consider the cam also has both i.Link (FireWire) and HDMI ports. This means the deck not only plays back video on its built-in screen, you can also use it as a recording deck or hook it up to your HDTV to impress your friends. While the HD700E will be available in Europe in September, it shouldn't take too long for this deck to jump across the pond. — Stephen Schleicher

Sony, via Gear Fuse

Take the jump for the specs of the unit if you're into that kind of thing.

Key features:

• Format: HDV / DV SP / DV LP
• LCD panel: 7.0 inch (16:9 widescreen)
• Panel resolution: 1,152K dots 800(H) x 480(V) x 3RGB
• All-scan function
• User-assignable LCD setup profiles: 6 (settings for Brightness, Colour Level, Contrast, Sharpness, Colour, Phase)

Inputs:
• i.LINK (HDV/DV)
• Video (RCA x1)
• Audio (RCA x2)
• S-Video

Outputs:
• HDMI
• i.LINK (HDV/DV)
• Component HD/SD (Special D)
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• Video/Audio/S Video (AV Multi-connector)
• USB
• Memory Stick Slot
• Headphone jack
• Stereo speaker
• Battery: InfoLITHIUM L / M series
• DC power in