Replying to A few camcorder questions

I'm considering getting a camcorder for this season to make some edits  and such, and I have a couple questions. I have heard good things about the HV series and was wondering if the 40 is, for my purposes, better than the 30. They are both in my price range, and people who use them seem to like them. Second, might it be better to get a camera with flash memory instead of tapes? I know  Panasonic has a good HD camera similar to the HV series that uses flash based memory, but I'm blanking on which model.
Essentially, I want an HD camcorder to shoot skiing and biking, for less than 1000. Whats my best bet?