Anyone notice that there are two threads (maybe three) going on at the same time?  I find them all interesting and useful.

Re flashcams:  All comparisons are useful to me, apples to oranges, pineapples to potatoes.  I wouldn't invest in a $2700 cam and probably not a $1500 one.  Anything below $1000 is a possibility if it fits my needs.  The one thing that I consider essential in a camcorder is lowlight capability.  Too many family video opportunities occur in poorly lit indoor situations to let that feature go by.  The reviews I have read about the low end flash cams have specifically mentioned poor low light performance.  So that is one thing I have to look out for.

 Re editing programs:  I like Liquid and will stick with for the foreseeable future.  I also bought a copy of Sony Movie Studio.  Don't really like it much but it accepts some formats that Liquid doesn't so it may be useful when I get a new cam.  (It was also pretty darn cheap so worth looking at.)

I'm copying down a lot of these posts for future reference.  Thanks to all who responded to my questions.