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1. IMHO, get a Hi8 model. Yes, D8 cams are generally newer, but only some of them have the circuitry to playback analog tapes. So you will have more options if you stick to Hi8 Sony Handycams. You most likely don't need to find one that can do Hi8 XR, since it sounds like your tapes are all Video8 anyway. Many of the non-"bottom of the barrel" Hi8 Handycams have S-Video. There's a spreadsheet in a sticky post in one of the forums here that attempts to list the various models and what features they have. Last I looked it was sort of incomplete, but should give you a starting point of models to research anyway.
2. There are a bunch of models that should all do basically the same job. Remember that a lot of the differentiators in the various models had to do with their camera specs--big optical zoom range, night vision, image stabilizers, etc. When using it like a VCR for capturing tapes there are just a few features you need to look for:
a. Sony Handicam Hi8 or D8 (just make sure it's one of the D8 cams that can playback analog tapes). Other brands may be OK, but hard to go wrong with a Handycam.
b. Has TBC and DNR options in the menu. These features are often touted on the side of the camcorder itself or on the feature stickers that electronics manufacturers seemed to love to stick on their products back then. But you can also use google and/or user manuals to figure out if a given model has TBC and DNR options.
c. Has S-Video out
d. Stable transport (this has more to do with the condition of the individual camcorder than model-by-model)
e. Stereo audio output is good if any of your tapes were recorded in stereo. Otherwise, not required.
3. Not that I know of. You'll likely need to play the ebay game. You could always try posting a want ad in the marketplace forum here, and can also try local marketplaces like craigslist, Facebook or mercari. But quite likely you'll end up on ebay. Just hard to beat the breadth you can find there. Of course you might end up with trash, but the buyer protection is quite good (i.e. if the seller states it's fully working in the ad, and it isn't fully working when you receive it, ebay will have your back if the seller tries to renege).
I'll just say that I have the Sony TRV615, and while I haven't transferred a whole lot of tapes with it, it seems to be working well so far. But there are a bunch of models that are all basically equivalent to that one in terms of playback, so you may want to make a list and then check ebay to see what's available.
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