Thanks, Steve.

So would your recommendation be to go the AVCHD approach?

AVCHD seems much more convenient for shooting and file storage, so that would be my preferred approach. But does HDV offer any compelling advantages in terms of quality or working with PRE. I don't have a problem dealing with HDV's disadvantages if the end result is smoother editing and higher-quality output.

And, yeah, I know a computer upgrade is due. My PC is around 5 years old and held together with bailing wire and gum. Since money is tight I'm trying to keep it alive as long as I can, but I'm waiting for the day it - like my video camera - gives up the ghost and forces me to upgrade. When I do, my plan is to do a mid-grade i7, 8-12 GB RAM, Win 7 64-bit. I keep hinting to my wife, but she keeps pointing to the leaky roof....

For better or worse, I'm still years behind in getting my videos editing (this is all home movie kind of stuff). So by the time I get around to edit what I'm shooting today, I'm sure I'll have a new PC and PRE will be v.11 or v.12.

But I want to make sure that whatever I shoot today will be easily editable in the coming years. I don't want to shoot a years worth of video, only to sit down and find out it sucks workflow-wise.

Well, Steve said you should stick with a miniDV tape camera with your current computer

Sorry if it was confusing, but I know I won't be able to edit HDV or AVCHD on my current computer. I know I'll need something beefier, and that will come in due time, i.e. before I start editing my footage. In other words, I don't want my current computer specs to dictate the camcorder I get now, because by the time I get around to editing it's not going to be on my current computer anyway.

My question was really more along the lines of if I get an HD camcorder, would HDV or AVCHD be a better long-term choice and give me the best editing experience (including quality, ease-of-use, and performance)?

I realize there's probably a certain amount of crystal ball gazing required, but it was just pure dumb luck that I found the Holy Grail of PRE of SD shooting (DV-AVI over Firewire) and I'd just like my HD choice to be a more considered approach.

But, as we've warned you, until you get that new computer, you may find working with it on that Pentium a bit slow and frustrating.

I actually find editing Standard Def a bit slow and frustrating on my current computer, so trust me that I have no illusions about doing High Def.

Thanks for the advice all. I've had good luck with Sony in the past - will probably stick with them going forward. I'll see what's out there for both miniDV and HD.

Thanks, John, looks like some good info out there.

I was toying with the idea of building my own next go-around, or maybe white-box. I don't know if it's any cheaper, but at Dell, for example, it's pretty hard to find a 750W power supply or even to configure 3 hard drives.

My own experience has been that Dell *used* to be a good general purpose computer, but lately the quality just seems to have nosedived. Obviously people will have different experiences, that's just mine.

I use a Dell desktop for video editing, and its shortcomings have been a main driver behind finding another solution this time around.

Thanks for the links on home-building your PC. I'm strongly considering that.