Digital Camcorders, what to get?

[West]

So its time we get a digital camcorder. I am not sure what I want or need so I wanted to see what you guys suggest.

I like the Idea of the DVD-R built into the camcorder. However, I'm not sure how long it takes to transfer video to a computer via Firewire. Would I be better off getting a more feature packed digital camcorder vs. a DVD-R type camcorder?

There are a few DVD camcorders on ebay for about $550, which is more than I wanted to spend. I’d like to keep the price well below $550, so given that price range and what’s on the market now, what would everyone suggest I look into?