Maybe this is a silly idea, but what about using the Sanyo HD1 as a portable HD player for output from other HD sources? According to the Sanyo specifications (see below) it comes with a dedicated component video cable and a remote control, so why not? All we need is a way to encode HD content to the the HD1 recording format, and then transfer the resulting files onto a suitable memory card for playback in the camera. Anyone care to guess whether this will be feasible without a lot of fussing?

http://www.sanyo-dsc.com/english/products/vpc_hd1/spec/#cap_04

Sounds real plausible (downright likely). I just took a quick look at that link you posted. They are apperently using a codec that requires Quicktime to play, on a computer, so odds are a suitable codec is available for coding using a computer (not just decoding) for something way less than a boatlaod of federal reserve notes. They don't mention using some proprietary codec they invented specifially for this device, for playback on a computer.

If you look at "Photo Capacities" (weird place to put it), it says "ISO MPEG-4 standard (MP4); Audio: 48 kHz sampling, 16-bit, 2-ch, AAC compression" next to "Recording File Format" for video. Shouldn't be a problem.

And there we have it: solid state HD player with preview screen for $800.

And there we have it: solid state HD player with preview screen for $800.

Which also conveniently doubles as a nice, small video camera. If anyone buys an HD1 and is able to successfully use it as proposed here, let us know!