new camcorder suggestions

[kryten]

Looking to replace my ancient Sony PC5E DV camcorder which i've not used enough because editing stuff off the tapes was such a pain.

So, looking for a flash based camcorder with decent zoom and optical stabilisation.

Was thinking I'd probably get an HD one because I might as well but that pushes the costs up to 500ish - anyone upgraded from a flash based SD camcorder to an HD camcorder and reckon its worth the extra for general family stuff, holidays etc?

[bobthemonkey]

Keep in mind what you intend to do with the footage after you shot it.

HD takes up a lot more space than SD on a PC. Also you need a decent amount of grunt to edit it, expecially if we are talking AVCHD.

[kryten]

Grunt and space on the PC aren't a problem in the slightest (Quad core i7 and 6GB RAM with several TB of disk available)

I was really wondering if anyone upgrading has felt that the HD videos are actually noticable better when played back.

I guess most of the time they'll be burnt to DVD so benefits will be minimal (whilst I can play them direct off the media PC as HD files, anything I give out to family etc will be on DVDs)