Forgive me if this is a silly question, but why BOTH internal flash and SDHC cards? I can see why solid state, and SDHC seems a good choice, but why then have internal memory as well?

I hear what you say about immediate file sharing - but couldn't that be as well achieved with card to card copying? Use the cost/space of the internal flash drive to provide extra slots/extra cards - 4 SD slots shouldn't take up very much room.

I could see multiple card slots on pro gear... such as currently found on some D-SLR's which have both an SD and a CF card slot. On consumer gear I think internal flash plus one card slot makes sense. Here's another advantage: hot-swap cards while recording; the internal flash provides a recording buffer during the swap. Nothing wrong with the dual-slot or multiple slot concept, but I think they're doing internal flash "because they can."

I will defiantly be getting one of them, and since there are three, good chance Canon might have made some of the AVCHD bit rates higher than the HG10. I image thought he image processor will be the same as the HV20/HG10, and will likely have 24p as well. But really I just wanted something more compact than the HG10, and was leery of the Sanyo HD1000, so I figured wait to CES, and Canon delivered (hopefully anyway because they look awesome!).

Does Canon do their announcement today or tomorrow?

Tomorrow morning (that is, Monday 7 Jan., the first day of CES).

Steve, I too wanted something very compact and read good things about the HG10- but ended up getting an XactiHD1000- which is allot better than its given credit for....at least it's not AVCHD and you CAN edit on a pc or Mac....here's a quick raw clip showing it's indoor performance which I think isn't too bad at all-
http://www.stevenunez.com/hosted/bikerear.mov

But I WILL be getting one of these new Canon's if they perform as good or better than the HG10!
Let's not forget- Panasonic Unveils Two New High Definition Camcorders: HDC-SD9 and HDC-HS9 at CES as well- might be an interesting battle between Canon and Panny!

I am very impressed with the Panasonics as well...they added 24p...should be very interesting to chose between the two...can't wait for Canon to reveal the full specs on their new line.

Steve, was wondering if you had used a Canon HV20 and if so how it compares to the HD1000? I had a HV20 that broke, so I go a new one that I have yet to open. The idea of going tape less really interests me, but not to fond of AVCHD. Also I do a lot of in car taping and the HV20 has not worked for me. So might change over to a different camera.

Also I assume that these new Canons are AVCHD?

Duane, as far as I'm aware all these small consumer HD cams are indeed AVCHD (unfortunately.) The Xacti is unique in that it doesn't use that codec but one very similar called AVC/x.264 which is a type of mpeg-4 which many NLE's can edit no problem.

I haven't used a HV20 myself but have had a HV10, XH-A1 and various other Canon cams and the Xacti will not deliver the image quality of those cameras. Those cameras all record to tape in the HDV spec which is far superior to any of the non-tape codecs being used today (with the exception of Pan HVX proHD codec and Sony's new EX camera.) The Xacti excels as a quick point & shoot consumer HD camera but wont produce stellar broadcast quality footage- it does produce nice footage under the right circumstances, but even the HG10 is superior. Having said that- I'm actually found of it and wish for a few improvements and enjoy using it as is.

I am however going to keep a keen eye on these new Canon and Panny cams and see what reviewers have to say- I'm always in the market for something new to add to my collection.