Canon HV30 and video editing software

[kitecruiser]

Need to upgrade old camcorder and find myself a bit confused. Shoot mainly family stuff with a fair bit of surfing, kitesurfing, skiing, snowboarding etc stuff. Want optical image stabilistaion, instant auto focus, at least 10Xoptical zoom, good image definition etc and keep coming back to the new Canon HV30.
Have a bit of confusion in that the new HDD AVCHD format camcorders, especially some of the Sony and Canons, are great pieces of kit, nice and small, great features, excellent storage and images, but seem to have a major problem using existing video editing software.
I presently have an Apple G4 Powerbook using iMovies HD and iDVD and have found this good for movies/DVDs for friends and family.
I want to get a good quality upgrade camcorder but do want to be able to plug in and use the imaging without having to spend large sums on a new comp and software.
Seems the many review websites just review the camcorders (great gear) but do seem to ignore the user friendly aspects of the end product ( I have no interest in plugging the camera into a HD tv and watching ages of boring stuff).
Any advice greatly received as a little confused as do not want ages of hassles after plugging cam into PC and not able to access the foootage.

[Skyman]

almost all video cameras these days come with a firewire connection so you should be fine with plugging them straight into the mac. one consideration though would be that HD takes up a lot of space on your hard drive and may make the g4 struggle a little bit. In terms of quality as well, you may not be able to output to hd unless there is a firmware upgrade for your superdrive??