As I type this, the Canon HV20 is available on woot.com for $550. The sale will probably be over by the time you read this (Woot features one deal per day), but its successor, the HV30, is only $760 on Amazon tonight, and the AVCHD-shooting HG10 is only $635.
And while I'm a fan of burying these Coke-can-sized 1080p24 shooters under a ton of accessories, sometimes the DV Rebel needs to focus her limited budget on stuff that goes in front of the camera. Just as often, agility is more conducive to production value than shallow focus. Lest you ever allow the perceived need of fancy lens adapters and Nikon glass to slow you to the Just Do It phase of filmmaking, keep a 720p MP4 of Ayz Waraich's teaser for White Red Panic on your desktop for a quick refresher on the power of going naked.