This compact hard disk can hold almost half of a miniDV tape. I'm really looking forward to a camcorder that nearly eliminates the Capture process, has instant on/off record, and can record with less DV compression.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0406/04060901seagate5gbmd.asp

Seagate to introduce 5 GB HDD CF
Seagate has announced it is to produce a 5 GB HDD in the CF Type II form factor, although they can't use the name 'Microdrive' that is essentially what this device is. Details at this point are a little thin on the ground, the metal cased device will be available in 2.5 GB and 5 GB capacities, it has a rotational speed of 3600 RPM and features 'RunOn' technology which appears to be a buffering system which avoids data loss if the unit is knocked or vibrated in use. Seagate will also be producing a 'built in' version of the device which is designed to be hardwired into devices such as MP3 players or PDA's. (08:05 GMT)

Interesting technology, BUT:

I highly doubt any CF technology is fast enough for DV write rates
or higher rates.

Second: don't expect any of the major brands to do recording to
anything other than (H)DV in the coming years. They will stick to
this compression (in my opinion) for a good number of reasons.

5 GB will get 23.7 minutes of recording time (at most)...