Im in the market for a new camcorder and its been a while since Ive purchased one. Im currently using canon minidv and have been happy. I edit on final cut pro and like to keep uncompressed video for editing with. Should I be looking at any format other than minidv for consumer..(hobbyist) video? do the ones with built in hard drives compress too much.. (as if im editing from a dvd?) Any suggestions on models?

As Terry said in more than one meeting and numerous times on the BBS, "Stay with MiniDV Tapes". Many of the other mediums, HDs, mini DVDs and whatever are very proprietary in their recording format and make life very difficult when trying to capture the video after it is recorded.

I once tried to save a Sony tape for a friend and it was so screwed up I had to record the camera output to a MiniDV device then import the MiniDV signal into my Mac.

Stay with the higher end Canon, JVC or other name brand with MiniDV tape and your life will be much less complicated.