Well, it's arrived and as I expected, I haven't got a chance to do much with it right away, but here's some immediate impressions before I even get to turn it on! -
It's a robust-looking piece of kit, and it's correspondingly heavier than I expected. Mounted beneath my Panasonic GH1 on a bracket that also takes a Rode Stereo Video Mic, it's crying out for a tripod rather than being inviting to use hand-held. This isn't really a criticism, I'm just trying to make it clear that it's not any kind of toy, and its size and weight point to it being designed for serious videographers rather than casual use.
I've also tried it with the Rode mic fixed above the recorder, omitting the camera, to make a hand-held one piece recording device - like the usual "shavers" but with my own choice of mic, not the often-dubious built in ones. That's not too bad for combined weight, but the display angle is not ideal unless the outfit is held rather higher than you would hold a device of the normal form factor.
For a table-top device it should work pretty well, except again the display is vertical and on a table you'd want a bit of an angle towards you. However in that scenario it would be easy to mount it to a low mini-tripod and angle it on the tripod's adjustable head.
All in all it's a nicely designed piece of kit, which looks like it should have been bigger (maybe like an FR2??) but has been shrunk down for video applications. The handles either side not only provide a strap attachment point, but also enable you to put it face down without any of the controls touching the surface it's placed on.
Ah yes - another slight irritation - the screw thread under the device is recessed too far. The bracket I want to mount it on has a screw too short to mate to the device's thread.
So, that's my first thoughts - maybe tomorrow I'll have five spare minutes to actually turn it on!