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Audio quality and recording time on Panasonic AG-DVC60 and Sony HVR-HD1000U Camcorders?

I'm interested in purchasing either a Panasonic AG-DVC60 or Sony HVR-HD1000U for legal video, but reviews say audio is really bad on those camcorders.

If I'm going to hook lavaliere mics to a mixer, and then connect the mixer to the camcorder, will the camcorder's mic interfere with that (lessen audio quality) in any way?

Secondly, these cameras will only let me record 60 to 80 minutes before having to stop proceedings to reload the camera. Can I hook up either camera to a laptop and record directly on a hard-drive?

Public Comments

1. Check out Firestore hdd recorders w/ up to 160gb capacity:(costs like a vcam tho)
http://www.sirentechnology.co.uk/product_info.php/products_id/37
http://www.firestore.com/company/article.asp?id=135223

For better audio, you are on the right track with audio mixer of course for control (HVR-HD1000U has no manual gain adjust)... the external mike takes over the internal one

2. TiddiVisual is correct...

On lavaliere mics, if you need to use more than 1 mic, you will need something they can plug into...

BeachTek makes some...
http://beachtek.com/

So does juicedLink. The juicedLink units will behave better in low-audio situations because of their pre-amp implementation.
http://juicedlink.com/index_files/CX_camcorder_XLR_microphone_adapter_audio_mixers.htm

If you only need 1 lavaliere mic, Sennheiser makes a good one that uses 1/8" plug, so the mixer is not necessary.
http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-EW122PG2-Mountable-Lavalier-Microphone/dp/B0007OK78O/ref=pd_bbs_5?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1209686203&sr=8-5
I use Shure lavs - but their base stations are big and they use XLR connectors.

Sony makes good wireless lavs and mics, too (but expensive):
http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/cat-audio/cat-wirelessmics/?offset=0&navId=4294966883