Tech question!

Hey out there...! This is a question to all tech-saavy people on my friends list. If you could give me any info on the following, I'd be most thankful. :3

I'll be going on vacation in May, and I'd like to bring a camcorder with me (I have a photo camera; I want video + sound ^.^;). I have NO idea what sort of camera I'd want or need, though. So if any of you out there can give me any reccommendations/comments on various brands/types, thank you. :)

I'm not looking for anything too fancy, nor the most expensive one on the block. I don't want the cheapest thing out there, either, though. Something affordable, but reliable. A good/decent battery life'd be nice, too. (I'm assuming ALL batteries are rechargeable in these things?) I have an Acer PC, so it would have to be compatable with that. Is video stored on SD cards? Can you transfer the video to the PC through SD cards, or a USB cable? Can you also hook up the camcorder to the TV, and show the video that way? What format(s) are the video recordings saved in?

...and anything else I might need to know... Thanks for all your help. *^__^*