Any recommendations for these? Don't mind spending a few quid, but don't want to waste cash on technical features my child-like mind can't master anyway. Other than hd quality and relatively easy to use, I'd ideally like one that allows reasonably smooth panning i.e. footage that doesn't jerk violently due to the inevitable small involuntary movement when holding it. Is that catered for in retail level cameras or am I expecting too much? I know Bodytonic have had soom cool vids on the site, so am assuming someone here knows their shit on this.

Can't recommend a camera myself, but a smooth steady camera shot comes from good operation combined with weight. Unfortunately a lot of cheap / consumer cameras are very lightweight so have little inertia and jog about a lot. A lot of consumer cameras come with built-in image stabilisers to combat this but have their own draw backs are aren't perfect at eliminating the problem. At the end of the day you either need a weighty camera (pro cameras will never over miniturise for this very reason) or else a stabilisation rig (glide cams for instance) for any small cameras if you've your heart set on achieving smooth shots. Learning to operate better goes a long way though, for instance don't move about much if you are zoomed in as this tends to exaggerate even minor movements and bumps.