Dave- The MZ-30 is in my experience more reliable and just as good sound-wise as the newer smaller Sony's. The best bet for keeping things in the digital domain is to pop down to Richer Sounds and get a full size Sony deck. These have digital ins and outs and far more comprehensive editing facilities.
Incidentally, Richer Sounds sell a tie pin stereo mic- Vivanco EM216 for about 30 squids which was used in W.Africa to record the kora playing on the CD to be found here
I had to master up this CD from the minidiscs it was recorded on and was so impressed with the quality of recording I bought one right away.