Hi
I currently run a video blog using a Canon MV800i DV cam with internal mic.
Video quality is fine for the 640x480 and 320x240 versions of the blog I run, but I have two problems that bug me:

1) Audio quality. The internal mic is less than ideal, lots of echo where I film my blog, and you can hear the tape noise a lot. My Canon does not have an external mic socket. This is my main driver for a new system.

2) Transferring DV to PC is not fun, takes time. I'd prefer a direct MPEG2/4 to SD card.

I thought about recording the audio to a PC separately, but that's way too much hassle. So it looks like a new cam with external shotgun mic (Rode VideoMic looks good) is in order.

Unfortunately the wife doesn't want me to spend any money on this, so I need to keep the cost low to sneak it under the radar.

Any advice on any cheap solutions to this?

Cheapest new SD card cam I can find with external mic is about AU$450 (canon FS100). That's too expensive for my needs I think. Any other options?

2nd option seems to be a 2nd hand cam from eBay with external mic. Older DV tape ones are in the price range, but I'd prefer SD card and these are more expensive, approaching new prices.

I don't trust those cheap no-name ebay cams, they look dodgy. But considering I don't need super video quality, are there any half decent ones with external mic socket?

Would be nice to have a hot shoe on the cam, but I can use a flash hotshoe adapter bracket I guess.

Any help or advice appreciated.

Thanks
Dave.