i think the canon elura 100 would be a great choice. it is feature-packed, yet it has a nice and simple point-and-shoot interface in the easy mode. the canon elura 100 can even shoot in 16:9 TRUE widescreen with the switch of a button!! i have heard about loud motor noises in the camcorder, but an external microphone should fix that (but it has no accessory shoe, so that might be a bit of a problem)...but even so, the canon elura 100 is very compact, and stylish. it has 20x optical zoom!! transfer to the computer can be done using any type of firewire cable. hope this helps your concern!!