This graphic – the Japanese are big on explanatory diagrams – shows how Sanyo sees buyers of the unit making use of the interchangeable hard drives: you could have different discs for different types of programming, or drop the drive into pocket or bag to cart it around.
A 160MB iVDR disc will give around 20 hours of recording of the Japanese 17Mbps Hi-Vision TV, and the unit can output in 1080i, 720p and 480p resolutions.
And the chances of us seeing such a device here in the UK? Somewhere just south of nil, I suspect...