Replying to Looking to buy a new video camera... any suggestions?

So I sold my DVX over the summer, but I want to get back into filming... My price range is around $1000-1500. I want a camera that is HD and I want something that records onto a hard drive. Im sick of capturing footage from tapes onto my computer. Im only going to be using this to make skiing edits, and Im not exactly serious about filming. I'd prefer a camera where you can adjust the settings in it to get different colors and whatnot, but I'm not sure if there are any cameras with adjustable settings like that for my price range.

I was thinking of getting something like a canon HV40. But before I make my final decision, is there anything better than the HV40 out there that is around my price range?