but as i said, i am not doing professional work, so i don't think i need professional sound equipment, just something better than the onboard, something that will be competent

Any mic will be better than the built-in mic. Maybe a trip to Radio Shack is in order?

Michael--

I guess I'm not understanding why, if you liked the Rode VideoMic, don't need anything fancy and can't use an XLR mic anyhow, you don't just get another VideoMic? It's only $150 everywhere and B&H has a brand-new open box one for $115. For what it costs it's a fine performer and probably the best value out there. You're not going to find a better mic for the price and certainly not for under $100.

Note that both the Senny and the Rode can easily be mounted on a boom pole with a cheap screw-to-shoe adapter to get them off-cam.

In my mind, competent = professional.

The stock situation has these problems:
* Mic is too far from subject
* Mic is cheap (little dynamic range, poor frequency response, etc)
* Mic is omni
* Auto-gain
* Low signal to noise

To be competent, all these items should be solved.

The Rode videomic (or the Sennheiser MKE-400, which has better sensitivity for somewhat better signal to noise) solves the omni problem and has higher quality than the built-in, but it still doesn't get you close to the subject, solve the auto-gain problem, or combat signal to noise. Let's call it semi-competent, but a definite improvement.

well thats what i was looking for, i like the rode video mic, but i was wondering if there was anything better out there in the same price range or cheaper, you just answered my question

I do not record into my Canon 7D but I do use a mic to record a sync track and catch any room ambient - I use this small Azden because the Rode is too large for me.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/444022-REG/Azden_SMX_10.html
At $65 just read the reviews.