I recently purchased the Sony DCR-HC40 and recommend it. It uses the miniDV tapes and Memory Stick Duo. It's little sister is the DCR-HC20. This is a palm sized light weight digital camcorder with all the standard features. It can also double as a 1 mega pixel still camera in a pinch. There are better cameras but these are what I consider good quality/value cameras.

There were a couple of reasons that I purchased the 40 vs. 20. The only one I can remember right now is that it had the Memory Stick.

You can get good deals at BestBuy. Better deals can be had online. I purchase my camcorders at brick-and-mortar shops. I want to feel the camera, look thru the view finder, and be comfortable with how it works. I do buy the extended warranty, which covers the original battery and yearly cleaning & tune-ups.

If you buy at BestBuy, get yourself a Rewards card for the purchase. All together I got something like $40 in BestBuy rewards dollars I later used to purchase a 256mb Memory Stick Duo (on sale of course). I'd also suggest buying a longer life battery. Do NOT buy the extra battery from BestBuy or other retailers. Got to ebatts.com where you can get them for significantly less.