Hi, I will be getting a video camera very soon and I could use the help in finding one that fits my specifications.

First off budget-
$1000-$2000

What I will be using it for-
I will be heavily editing the footage in several highend programs doing special effects and what not.It would be very nice if the footage could easily be transfered and manipulated without all the hassle :)

I want the best video quality for the price of course. I could care less about still images. In the future, if possible, have the ability for a microphone input (not a huge deal).

What I've looked at-

I've done a little searching and for a good price there is the Sony HDR-SR7 (http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?ProductSKU=HDRSR7&INT=sstyle-camcorders-tophero-HDRSR7) which will be coming out soon...

I'm a bit lost when it comes to this area so any help would be appreciated

How about the JVC GZ-HD7.
-It's in your budget.
-It's has HD
-It's also 3CCD
-It's tapeless
-Avail right now

I don't know well it will suit your "editing" demands but I just wanted to throw it out there.

At the $2000 price point the Sony HVR-A1U (for the US) is my favorite. We match it to the higher end Z1U when we shoot action items and need to do helmet mount etc. It has solid XLR audio inputs which is important for higher end production. Using HDV to shoot and then downsample to SD will give you good color sampling (if the NLE is strong at downsampling) and good resolution for the effects shots.

I use Vegas to apply most effects which handles the downsampling by passing through a 4:4:4 color sampling at the time of effects additions or by downsampling in Vegas to a SD YUV CODEC which is a 4:2:2 source for you to work with.