Prices have come down in recent times and there is no better example than the Sony TRV 355E. Compromising on size and portability, but not on video quality or features.
Despite its size, it's still lighter than many VHS cameras but has more features and equals most for image quality.
The 2.5in LCD display was comparable to the other cameras, except the MV150i, and the black and white viewfinder wasn't considered a major disadvantage.
The 20x optical zoom performed well, even when shooting from light to dark. Sound quality was excellent with excess noise nicely filtered out.
It really excelled with its bundled video editing software. Pixela ImageMixer 1.5 was one of the few packages that handled both still and video image transfer via USB, aided by the fact that video footage was automatically converted to MPEG1 for easy editing.
The software allowed easy creation of video CDs, and it was this easy-to-use package that helped seal the win for the TRV355e. It also offers both USB and i.Link (FireWire), both were equally simple to use.
While the TRV355e maybe an ugly duckling compared with some of the more compact models it's a different story when it comes to value for money.