[ARSCLIST] Suggestions for small and tough and hopefully not too costly DV camera

[Tom Fine <tflists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi All:

Sorry for the cross-posts here.

I am looking to buy a DV camera to take hiking and other travels.

The requirements are:

1. small and light, hopefully smaller and lighter than a digital SLR camera.
2. rugged and needs to have reliablly long battery life.
3. simple to use. I am no advanced videographer here. I just need something to take good video and 
not be hassle to use. As close to the equiv. of a point and shoot camera or fully-auto SLR camera 
would be great.
4. cost is a factor. I do not need the latest greatest HD camera. Good, crisp NTSC is just fine 
unless HD stuff is cost-effective and as small and easy to use.
5. either decent built-in sound quality or a jack for an external mic.
6. digital output so I can load the video onto my hard drive and burn DVD's. Firewire and/or USB is 
fine.
7. I'm assuming anything I'd want uses tape. The format would best be cheap and readily available.

In my experience, I tend to have a bias against Sony products, but I'd consider one if it were head 
shoulders better for the same cost. The problems I've had with Sony have always revolved around 
stupid design or, more often, crappy build quality and zero customer support. I very much like our 
little Canon point and shoot -- in fact it's what's gotten me keen on video. I love my Nikon D70 SLR 
but it is big and heavy and there are some situations where I'd rather shoot video to tell the whole 
story.

I don't see me making long "creative" "movies," more like short hits that are more about "this is 
what I see right now" visuals where the scenery is too big and too spectacular for my photographic 
skills to tell the story in a still image.

Hopefully, I'm describing what I need correctly. I don't know enough about digital video to say "I 
need these specific specs." That's what I'm hoping to gleen from your wise advice.

Thanks in advance for all help/suggestions.

-- Tom Fine