i say dont worry about going HD yet. cause unless you can make HD DVD'S and the people watching your stuff have the ability to watch in HD its just not worth it. if you like the sony look, get a vx2100, honestly the picture looks extremely similar. or a DVX, just cause they are awesome. if you have to go HD id say go for a canon xha1. but i really thiink HD is kinda overrated, especially with prosumer cameras, most the time the only difference your gonna see is more sharpness (which i think is bad if anything) and more resolution. neither are "better" its just another aspect of filming and too much or too little can be a bad thing. hell id rather watch super 8 footage than any HD footage any day, and that has shit for resolution, but it doesnt matter cause it looks awesome and it works great for alot of stuff.