I've got a stack of Hi-8 tapes but I got rid of my Hi-8 camcorder a few years ago. Some of the films are fairly important (weddings, etc). In the past i've used a duplicating/conversion company for the odd tape to be converted but i've got around 50 tapes that i've discovered and need converting! Is there a cheaper way that I can read these into my computer and convert them into DivX/DVD/AVI?

Would it be best just to buy a cheap and cheerful Hi-8 camcorder off eBay?