i bought DH an HD camcorder 2 hanukkah's ago and ended up NOT getting the kind with the built in memory becuase they are apparently really fragile. if you should drop or even bump the camera into the wall, that can be enough to completely bust your memory. i'd keep that in mind b/c i was told that by lots of people (dont have first hand expereince).
we ended getting one that has tapes (i think!!) i'm seriously little help. i can't even remember, but i'm almost 100% thats what we bought. Sony. (and this way you dont have to worry about memory at all! - just swap in a new tape).
oh, and the ohter thing is...if you buy memory camcorder, that you apparently have to be pretty diligent in uploading it to your computer, b/c even though it says up to 12 hours recording time (the camera with the most memory at the time i was shopping), it really is over about 4 hours in the highest quality.
lots to think about!
Mom to DD 7/06, DS1 8/08 & DS2 9/11!