I'd appreciate some suggestions for portable video recorders that have the
following features...

Long recording time on battery - up to 8 hours if possible.
Fairly compact, say 4" x 3" x 1".
Robust.
AV-in from a suitable bullet camera.
Easy transfer to PC.

It will be used for recording the proceedings during a combat simulation
sport similar to paintball. Target distribution is the web, either somewhere
on my own web space, or the likes of YouTube or Google Video. Would like
final resolution to be around 400x300 or better.

Ideally, I'd like to switch it on, record all day, and switch it off. I'd be
willing to swap out the battery at lunchtime, but there would be no means of
recharging the unit - unless it can recharge from a car battery in, say,
half an hour. There's no need for continuous recording throughout, but
fiddling with the thing outwith the main break at lunchtime is too
inconvenient.

I'll already be carrying a fair amount of equipment for the sport, so I need
something that's fairly small - the above size would fit into a utility
pouch quite nicely, but anything larger becomes a struggle. While I'm
careful with my gear, it will likely get the odd knock or bump - how
resilient are the hard disk recorders? If solid state is the better choice,
can I get decent resolution (640x480?) over the required time? If need be, I
could swap out the card at lunchtime.

Can these things record with the display switched off to save battery life?


-- 
Wally
www.wally.myby.co.uk
Call me a saint, call me a sinner - just don't call me... late for dinner.