Just to add some detail to my earlier point about 'there are and aren't good times to upgrade," here's yet another (somewhat involved) example:
While on the 3/23 cruise, I unfortunately left my splashcaddy waterproof bag open while playing with my son (building a sandcastle) on the rocks at the southern end of Dawn Beach on St. Marteen. A big wave rolled in and swamped the bag, which contained among other things my 1998 vintage Sony TRV940 Hi8 camcorder.
After drying it out, the CCD still worked, but the camcorder would neither record nor play back. Dead for rest of cruise. When we got home, I investigated repair and found it would require (as I expected) a new head, which with labor would run a little over $200.
So I investigated repair vs. replace. Where are we in early 2002? Well, while Hi8 is still alive and well, Sony is already heavily marketing their "transitional" format called digital 8 (records and plays in either 8, Hi8 or digital on 8mm tapes) and everyone is heavily pushing mini DV (ergo, pure digital).
To replace my old Hi8 with a brand new one will run $260-300, albeit the current Hi8 models have been cheapened by Sony (such as no stereo audio or flying erase heads like my old TRV940) because Sonys marketing strategy is to force the bells and whistles segment (me) into digital 8 or mini DV. Problem is, acceptable digital 8s start at around $500 and I am uncomfortable buying a "transitional" format that only one company (Sony) markets or supports (buying that is asking for trouble five years from now - just look at what has happened to owners of Sony Beta equipment). As for mini DV, yes, those little palm-sized recorders are sure sexy, but the decent ones run $1100 and up and frankly don't do much better video than Hi8 (latter has 500 lines of vertical resolution in super VHS mode, vs. 525 for digital. The visual diifference is impossible to see, I've seen side-by-side demos).
So where did that lead me? To eBay, where I picked up a lightly used (4 hours) still warrantied demo model of a Sony TRV87 from a credible retailer in Canada. It's an older model Hi8 (with all the bells and whistles like stereo, flying erase heads and multiple fade modes that Sony has subsequently removed from their Hi8 line, and in fact has some features that my old TRV940 didn't have, like snapshot mode) and I picked it up for less than $300. That "last-of-the-good-TRVS" (as one on-line review put it) will suit me just fine until mini DV becomes (a) more affordable (I give that a year to a year and a half at most) and (b) contains better digital photo capabilities (Like others, I'd love to have a single decent camera/camcorder combo and am willing to wait for that).
By the way, for those who have heard the "analog video is bad because your tapes will disintegrate over time, so buy digital" propoganda, don't buy it. I have VHS tapes of me blasting away in a rock group that were shot way back in 1982 that look still look brand new today, and video of my daughter as a newborn shot back in 1993 on Hi8 also looks brand new (my gut is wear and tear - not age --is what destroys analog videotape, so it will hold up well as long as it isn't continually played; none of that "archival stuff" I mentioned gets looked at very often, which is why it's still healthy). And if those ever do begin to have problems, technology to copy them into digital format (tape or disc) will be readily available and cheaper than that costs to do today.
My cruise is less than 2 months away. Should I just go ahead and buy another film camera while I'm deciding/pricing a digital? I hate to just rely on a new piece of equip. that I may not have time to practice using. Also, where did you buy your camera? Where do you feel had the best value?
inkbounc 
