There are a range of products on the market these days that include a camcorder function as a feature of the device. The quality of the footage varies but it's generally known that it won't be patch on genuine camcorder footage. And that's true. But things are improving.

The number one gadget to have this camcorder feature is the digital stills camera. While mobile phones and personal media players pull over and ask for directions, the digital stills cam is sitting firmly in the camcorder's driveway like the little upstart it is. And Sanyo's VPC-E6 is no exception. Their Xacti range is constantly growing, with the E6 as one of the newest members of the family, over here in the UK at least.

As soon as you get it out the box, the E6's smooth, curved front casing strikes you as pretty cool. A few minutes later, however, when the novelty wears off, the E6 looks no different than most other digital cams. It's a pretty standard design over all. The flash sits directly above the shutter which snaps open and closed when needed with sharp precision; the shutter feels tight and secure when closed.

Because of its curved shape, the E6 sits in your hand quite snugly which helps the whole device feel sturdy and well built. The buttons, located on the back and top of the cam, support it's pebble-like ruggedness. They're ideally positioned for use and work fairly intuitively.

Probably the nicest feature of the cam is its impressive 3in screen. Because the cam is competent with light, the images on the LCD often look excellent and the size means that it's very convenient showing people your pictures on the cam itself.

Features

The E6 sits marginally above average when it comes to a digital camera. It's light, compact and packs figures that aren't too shoddy for a cam in its price range. The E6 comes with a 1/2.5-inch, 6.37-megapixel CCD and uses SD and multimedia cards as a recording media, coupled with a disappointing 16MB internal memory.