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I think my beefs with it is more a feeling than actual technology. The image is clear, bright and large. The colors are, after fiddeling with the controls for a couple of hours, almost the same as the Intel iMac it is connected to. It can be pivoted 180 degrees, to portrait mode (without any drivers – quite nifty.)
It has more connections than you can throw a stick at. Alas, no FireWire-ports.

The backside is that it is hot. With the iMac and the Dell and three LaCie harddrives, we don’t need any heating in the office. The Dell is by far the hottest. The design of the monitor is somewhat ‘PC-ish’. It feels a bit flimsy. I suspect the colours are not completely stable (haven’t done any extensive testing on this, as I don’t have any calibrating gadgets other than my own eyes).

So, I think it comes down to personal feel for asetethics more than usability.

For the price I think it is a good monitor. I live in Japan at the moment, and the price here is right ($895). I noticed the price in my native Norway is more like $1600, and that I would not pay for it. At least not without seriously researching other options first (even the Apple 23″ is cheaper).

Anyway, that is my

[Per Steinar]

I just got a 2407 a week ago. No “banding” as far as I can see, but it’s a bitch to calibrate. If I could afford it, I’d pick an Apple 23″ instead (or any other ‘serious’ brand)
It’s ok, and worth the money, but not more.

Anyway, thats my 2

[Per Steinar]

Yes. That’s the beauty of it. The camera does all the job of downconverting to regular DV.

Have fun

Per Steinar

[Per Steinar]

I bought an HC1 in Japan earlier this summer, and having only FCP4.5 (and a TiBook) I had to downconvert to DV to be able to edit the matierial I shot. No problems there. In DV-mode (and in downconverting) it’s just like any other miniDV camera.

Timecode is the same as HDV, the quality is very good DV, and so far I have had no problems with it. I did upgrade to FCP5 because of HDV support, and the difference is incredible!

You can shoot in DV (as a regular miniDV-camera without the MPEG-2 GOP compression), but why? The quality of HDV is mindboggling compared to DV, and you can always select the DV downconvert when you only need DV. Who knows in the future? If you later on decide to edit HDV, then you still have the footage in full quality.

I’m really pleased with the HDR-HC1. It’s easy to use, gives excelent pictures (for the price it is incredible!) and I feel it’s very good value for money.

[Per Steinar]

Yeah, Bill Gates is God – but of which realm…?

I would also suggest uppgrading to FCP 5. The dynamic is worth it – it dynamicly lowers the video quality instead of dropping frames.
My wife has a iMac 2G with 1.5 Gig of Apple Ram. No dropped frames.
We don’t do HD (only HDV and DV) so our requirements might be a bit lower than yours. Anyway, we keep all our footage on a laClie 500Gb disk and swaps the disk between my PowerBook and her iMac depending on who’s working on the projects at the time. My Ti800 drops frames even with dynamic, but so far everything runs smoothly on the iMac. Have quite heavy stuff (multiple layer, channels, and effects) going on. I’m using the iMac for everything my PB chokes on (including capturing HDV footage), as well as a rendering node for Electric Image and Compressor.

[Per Steinar]

Hi, Dagfather

Personally I would go for the 2×2.3.
I love the iMac, but for serious work it don’t quite cut it. For me the most important thing is the lack of dual screen – yes you can hook up one more screen, but it will just mirror, not enlarge your desktop. If you’ve got used to work with dual screens, only one screen is like…restricting.

Then again, if its only for hobby – then go with what you can afford. The iMac looks great and is powerfull enough to do whatever you throw at it – it only takes more time. The PM G5 is a lot stronger, but takes up more space, and you’ll have to buy a screen as well (or two).
My ranking will be as follows: For hobby: maxed out iMac 20″. For serious hobby: 2+G PM G5 2×2.3. For prosumer/Pro: 4+G 2X2.7 G5 with dual screens.
I would say it is better to have a maxed out iMac than a PMG5 hitting the memory roof all the time: plenty memory=plenty speed.

H

[Per Steinar]

Actually, you can use Shake on an iMac – just fill it with RAM. I use Shake on my Ti800 – it’s dog slow, but it is usable. You can also edit HDV on an iMac. I use my wife’s iMac to capture footage from our Sony HDV-camera, then edit it on my Powerbook. As with Shake – it’s bonecrushingly slow, but doable.
I would, however, go for a PowerMac G5 with two screens and as much RAM as you can afford. Yes, Apple goes Intel, but the Intel PowerMacs are not due till 2007 – so you’ll still have a couple of years with the G5.

Per Steinar

Yes, well. It DO be possible. Just give me som time.