Help! Canon ZR500 VS Sony DCR HC 26

[Sikander]

Hello, Camcorder Guru's please help, im in a tough spot here.

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Canon-ZR500-Camcorder-Review.htm
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Sony-DCR-HC26-Camcorder-Review.htm

I need to buy a decent camcorder, all I need is a camcorder that has good video quality and I can easily transfer stuff from the MiniDV to my computer and burn DVD's
What I do NOT want is still capture, analog input, top loading casette, these things are just extras that if present, good enough but I don't want to pay extra for them.

I bottomlined two cam's, Canon ZR500 and Sony DCR HC 26. This is what I found about them.
Canon:
Good video quality, MiniDV, all the good stuff I want, MOTOR NOISE IN THE RECORDING (People in the consumer reviews have been complaining about it again and again and a guy at best buy told me that it's a problem with all canon's), Cheaper than Sony. 80 mins battery life

Sony:
Mediocre video quality, No complaints about motor noise. A little more expensive. 144 mins battery life

What I want to know is, should I go for the better video quality with motor noise cheaper and low battery life, or the mediocre video quality without any noise plus increased battery life.
ZR 500 is for near 270 and Sony is for near 310 dollars.
Please help me out here, also if you can suggest any other cameras in the same price range but not too expensive, I will be obliged.
Thanks.

[Sikander]

Oh and also, before I short listed these two camcorders, i looked at the Canon Elura 100, Panasonic PV GS39 and Sony HC 36, but they didn't suit me. Infact Canon Elura is very good but its expensive and the same thing about motor noise applies.

[redwudz]

You could consider a separate microphone for the Canon. Assuming the motor noise comes through the mike. Kind of a pain, though. A radio microphone would be nice.