Ok, I'm willing to spend up to around $2,000, and I'm wondering what exactly I should be looking for.

Do HD cameras produce better quality films? or is it so slight that you don't even notice it?

Should I get a microphone that's seperate from the one on the camera? If so, how do I link them up? Is there a port on the camera that will take input from a mic and synch it up with the video? How many of these ports are there? For example, can I hook up two small microphones that can be pinned to shirts as well as having an "area mic" (no clue what those are actually called)... or do I have to plug those into some sort of hub that joins all of the signals prior to using them as input into the camera?