Pocket-sized camcorders have been all the rage. Since the Flip was released, almost every other camera maker on the planet has jumped onto the bandwagon trying to surf the wave of this form factor's popularity. Toshiba, looking to leverage off their popularity in the notebook market, has released the Camileo X20.

This $299 camera can record at 1080p and shoot stills at 5MP. It's about the same size as a smartphone - made to easily slip into a pocket or bag and weighs about 100g. There's no on switch - just flip open the 3-inch LCD and the S20 is ready to use. It's designed to be held in a pistol grip.

While video quality was very good for this sort of camera we did hit on usability issue. As the S20 is so slim, we found that we needed to grip it tightly. As a result it was very easy for one of our fingers to creep over the lens or flash. Otherwise, the other controls, for the 4x optical zoom and to toggle between still photography and video were easily accessible.

Unlike its big brother, the Camileo X100, the S20 lacks a touchscreen and internal memory. However, it does boast image stabilisation although this is limited to shooting at up to 720p.

In our view, the Camileo S20's competition doesn't come from the camcorder market. It's smartphones that it's battling with. If you've got a basic mobile phone and a spare $299 then the S20 is worth considering. But if you've got a smartphone with a decent camera then you might need to think a little harder.

By Anthony Caruana

With a diverse educational background of biological science, education, information systems and theology, Anthony Caruana drifts between being the "most technically literate end user and least technically focussed IT expert". For Anthony, the technology is all about how we can get the most from it rather than entering into pissing contest about the fastest processor, biggest hard disk or most RAM.

With three young kids, the video and photography bug has bitten hard. Anthony shoots, edits and publishes several videos each year of various school productions as well as the occasional instructional video. Most of this work is done on a couple of Macs running in his office as well as MacBook Pro that is almost always in a bag hanging off Anthony's shoulder.

As well writing for auscam and a number of other publications and newspapers, Anthony works full time as a project manager in the energy industry, studies part time, delivers corporate presentations and is addicted to chocolate. His personal blog, that isn't updated nearly as often as it should be is at www.pocketmojo.net