Backwards Question: Purchasing PE7 is a given, but what camera/format should I get?

Question

I've enjoyed PE3 for the past couple of years and it is matted quite well with my little Panasonic GS-320 MiniDV. I'm realatively new to camcorders and I really lucked out finding how great the PE series really is. Therefore, I consider myself pretty loyal to the Adobe line and especially this forum (special thanks to Steve and Paul for awesome advice and comments over the years --you have no idea how much time and frustration you both have saved me).
Anyway. I'm strongly considering entering the high-definition realm and I really want to upgrade to PE7. The only catch is that I will have to make due with my current hardware setup, which is as follows:
Intel Core 2 Quad QX6600 @ 2.4GHz and 2Gigs RAM. I also have SATAII drives and an nVIDIA 7900 (yeah the vid card is kinda old).
I could upgrade to 4Gigs RAM, but would VISTA 32 recognize it?
So Question 1 is: Could/should I get 4Gigs of RAM?
I'm struggling between the two HD formats: HDV and AVCHD. So I hear HDV is probably the easiest to edit (I do a LOT of editing; lots of scenes and transitions) and less taxing on the computer. I like the idea of HDV, but I'm a bit weary of the real time capture and time limitations per tape.
Therefore, Question 2 is: Should I go the route of HDV or get an AVCHD camcorder that can record more material without the need of switching tapes? HDV seems the more seemless route, but I'm equally concerned about quality. Would the footage be better if I get the full HD resolution in AVCHD at 1920x1080 and downgrade it to 1440x1080, or just work front to end with HDV at 1440x1080?
I will be using the camcorder mainly for general use, with some interviews here and there, some fast paced action scenes as well. I really like vivid colors (I love the 3CCD concept, but most cameras in the $1,000 range dont have 3CCDs anymore, I'm finding) It seems everyone is going to CMOS or 3MOS these days, which I know little about. Ultimately, I really would like vivid colors and smooth video.
Thanks in advance for any help/advice!
-Jon

Answer 1

In my opinion, if you want to edit with Premiere Elements, you want to get an HDV, tape-based camcorder. Most any will work, although the Canon HV20 and HV40 are very popular and produce excellent results. (The HV30 has some problems.)
You definitely have more than enough power, even with 2 gigs of RAM, to do this. But, with Vista 32-bit, you can use as much as 4. With a quad-core processor, that's up to you. You'll know after you test drive.
The challenge with Premiere Elements is that it edits AVCHD natively -- as opposed to, say, Apple's Final Cut, which uses a proxy (sort of a lower resolution preview clip) for editing, then uses your native files for final output. This means AVCHD in Premiere Elements puts a tremendous strain on present technology.
With your rig, you can probably still handle it. But, in my opinion, you're better with having power to spare than working at the edge of your computer's capacity.
Does that help?