"Some sort of weird on-top thing above the mic - another LED? "
That's the 16:9 LCD. Note the transport is on where the LCD usually is.
Steve Mullen
Digital Video Consulting
http://www.mindspring.com/~d-v-c
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* GR-HD1 and JY-HD10 HDV Shooting Guide
* HDVcinema Pro -- realtime Edit HDV with FCP
* HDVcinema Partner -- Realtime HDV Editing with an Indie HD Toolkit