Travel camcorder

Travel camcorder - Canon VIXIA HF S20 Full HD Camcorder w/32GB Flash Memory & Pro Manual Control

What are you going to be shooting? If it is anything where audio is important you need to consider a mic input. The flip is OK... At least it has a tripod mount. It only has a digital zoom too. Not one of your requirements, I believe. A couple models come with an underwater case, which is cool if you do any snorkeling. I would almost get it just for that as an underwater toy.

I would recommend the vixia . There are several models out and they are all pretty good. Internal memory and it can record onto an SD card. Has "HD" video, a mic input and a headphone jack to monitor your camera audio. The chip is also bigger, approx. 1/2" vs 1/4"

Canon VIXIA HF S20 Full HD Camcorder w/32GB Flash Memory & Pro Manual Control

Basically if you want something decent you are going to have to pay about $1000. But it really comes down to what you think will work for your purposes. EG: you dont need a mic input if you dont plan on buying a mic, thus you should expect average or less audio and if that is fine for your purposes, then cool.

The camera is only a small part of the whole package. You should also consider the other tools needed to make good looking video: tripod, mic, light, an interesting story.

Good luck. Would love to see some of your videos.