Greetings,
My thanks to everyone who responded with suggestions. Ah, another
complicated purchase. ;)
I decided to buy a Samsung SC-D382, a miniDV camcorder that has positive
reviews from Linux users. Cost was $99US, with free shipping, and I can
get cassettes and a FireWire cable locally. I'm looking forward to
getting into editing my own videos, but don't worry, I won't plague you
all with home movies of the grandkids harassing my dog.
Best,
dp