Not sure if this is the right forum for this, but I'll try anyway.....
My wife and I are expecting to travel abroad this fall some time to complete an international adoption. As our house's designated technology "expert," I am trying to put together a video/stills solution that enable us to document our adoption process. As a result, I'm looking for a good digital photo solution and video camera to take on the road with us. I am expecting that we will have a running blog going during our trip, so I am looking for a no-muss/no-fuss process to interface with a PC laptop so I can upload/download photos and videos easily. I would like recommendations on cost-effective solutions (video: $500-600 range; camera: as low as possible but still good quality) that provide the following benefits:
1. Small footprint/portable
2. Easy-to-use (I'm a gadget hound, but my wife is not)
3. Reliable (if anything goes wrong while we're away, we're out-of-luck)
4. Decent battery life
5. Easy interaction/connectivity with a PC
6. Easy conversion to foreign voltages is a plus
Thanks in advance for any suggestions you can provide. This will be of great help to me as I start my research. I'm looking for specific brand recommendations, though model numbers are always helpful.
One last question about timing: we really don't need either of these pieces until the fall, so if you know of any specific items coming down the pike, we can certainly wait on them.
-dB (a unit measure of noise)
