"pfgpowell" wrote

But have I misunderstood something? Can anyone set me straight? Once
again: all I need is a digital camcorder with Firewire (i.e. iLink)
which will play ANALOG Hi8 tapes and let me input them into iMovie/
Moviemaker for editing. Your views and advice are very welcome as I am
looking to replace my TRV460E but I want to be damn sure I don't get
something I don't want or need. Thanks.

Hi. I'm in the same boat. I have a lot of old 8mm and Hi-8 analogue tapes.
I can add to your list the DCR-TR7000E.
I used one of these for many years to import DV into Premiere, from my
analogue tapes. It worked well until the firewire port broke.
Like you I then got a TRV460E, which continues to work well.
Good luck in your hunt for a replacement. I am pretty sure that the later
Digital8 camcorders more often than not would NOT playback 8mm and Hi8 tapes
through the DV port., but you'll have to Google the specs of each one to
find out for certain.
hth