Camcorder recommendations are always a toughie as ultimately end users tend to only ever have their one "pride and joy". As such, ask anyone what's the best cam, and they'll recommend the cam they've bought
So, I would say the cannon XM2 (GL2 in the states) is a top notch cam to buy
You can pick up a used one for about $1k.
The PV-DV953 looks like a sensible buy though...
Hopefully others will throw their cam into the hat