thanks for all the help.
i guess my thoughts for flash based camcorders come from my audio taping experience. i srarted taping w/ a JB3, but at the time many still ran DATS. now i usually run a flash recorder (PMD 660) and archive on Hard Drives - it has been reliable and fairly easy. i think the pros and cons or tape apply to both audio and video, so i assumed the pros and cons of flash applied as well. but the argument for flash camcorders not being around for a while makes sense...maybe i will re-think it. flash does have some other nice benefits for camcorders based on what i read (small form factor, better at handling shocks, longer battery life, etc.). decisions, decisions. i am gonna spend some time on that avs forum before deciding what to get. thanks again, i appreciate it. cheers, ingsy